This is the most anticipated wedding of the year, as well as the most secretive.
It was grandly celebrated over three days, costing $55 million (approximately 720,000 RMB per dollar).
Recently, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, used his “wealth power” to host a lavish wedding for his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy.
This was the most anticipated wedding of the year, with over 200 guests in attendance, including numerous celebrities: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Jordanian Queen Rania, President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Kushner, Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio…
Ivanka and husband Koschitzke attended Bezos’s wedding.
This was also the most secretive wedding of the year.
All guests kept the details of the wedding under wraps, even the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who are known for their social media prowess, did not post any photos from inside the venue.
The only wedding photo was released by the 56-year-old bride Sanchez herself.
Sanchez posted a wedding photo on social media.
Despite being described as “low-key”, this wedding still attracted significant attention from the outside world, followed by criticism and protests.
On June 26th, local time, on the first day of the wedding, as guests arrived one after another, a welcome party kicked off.
For safety reasons, local police deployed a large number of officers near the venue – St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The Venetian municipality also issued a traffic regulation prohibiting pedestrians from crossing the church area from later in the afternoon until midnight.
However, bad weather struck that night, with a sudden thunderstorm causing heavy rain, which soaked many guests.
The party had to be cut short.
This affected subsequent wedding arrangements.
On June 27th, local time, Bezos and Sanchez held the official ceremony of their wedding on Saint George Island near the San Marco Square in Venice.
Sánchez and her ex-husband’s three children also participated in the ceremony: two sons accompanied her down the red carpet, while her daughter served as her bridesmaid.
At the ceremony, the most eye-catching item was the wedding rings and the dress. According to the Daily Mail, Sánchez’s wedding ring is set with about 30 carats of diamonds, valued at approximately $4 million, which is more luxurious than the $2.5 million engagement ring.
The inspiration for the dress came from a space travel experience.
On the day before the wedding, Sánchez told Vogue magazine that she took a space flight on Bezos Blue Origin’s spacecraft in April this year.
“Looking down at Earth from space is unparalleled,” she said, which led her to have new ideas for her wedding dress.
From wanting “a simple, sexy modern dress” to
wanting something more timeless and capable of evoking a particular moment of memory.
Ultimately, she chose a high neck dress, quite different from her usual bold style. It was inspired by the classic high neck lace dress design from the 1958 film “The House on the Hill.”
Before the wedding, Sánchez tried on the dress.
On the 28th local time, the couple held a “sweet night” themed睡衣派对 at the historic building “Arsenal.”
The “Arsenal” was once a national shipyard and armory, now it hosts the Venice International Art Biennale. According to The Wall Street Journal, the dinner was originally scheduled at the historic Great Charity Hall but had to be moved due to protests against the wedding by local residents.
At the party, guests were required to wear pajamas, which was quite eye-catching.
Bill Gates wore black pajamas and stepped out of the hotel.
On the day of the wedding, Sánchez deleted all posts she had previously posted on social media Instagram with her husband’s name, reverting to “Lauren Sánchez Bezos,” and then posted two posts related to the wedding.
Screenshot of Sanchez’s social media account.
This seems to send a message to the outside world: she wants to redefine her image.
Bezos and Sanchez’s relationship began with a scandal.
Just nine days after Bezos abandoned his 25-year marriage, he was seen in the audience at Wimbledon men’s singles final wearing striped couple’s outfits, publicly announcing their relationship to the world.
Their decision to cheat on their families and stay together has shocked the entire world.
The two watched Wimbledon matches together and publicly declared their love.
However, as the public seemed to doubt their choice, they seemed determined to prove it right. With their relationship becoming public, their “showing off their love” became more frequent.
Bezos took Sanchez on vacations and attended various events. Every Bezos’ birthday, Sanchez also posted about their love, writing on social media:
“They can’t see the man who gave up everything for a sick friend, but I can; they can’t see the man who wakes up early every day to make breakfast for their children, so they can laugh and talk about life, science, and how to make the world a better place, but I can.”
In May 2023, Bezos proposed to Sanchez on a luxury yacht named “Kuru,” hiding the ring under Sanchez’s pillow, which she discovered while going to sleep, saying she was “a little dizzy from surprise.” The name “Kuru” means “new beginning” in Maori.
Six months later, they held a wedding party in Beverly Hills, attended by celebrities.
Despite Bezos being preoccupied with his romance in recent years, according to media reports, his work did not stop. Last year alone, he invested in at least seven companies, all of which are AI startups. Bloomberg estimated that by June this year, Bezos’ net worth was $244 billion.
Despite their frequent public displays of affection, the information currently available does not suggest that Jeff Bezos is willing to fully cede his vast fortune for this wedding. The Venetian authorities have not received a formal marriage application from the couple. Whether the newlyweds have obtained a marriage license in the United States remains unconfirmed. However, according to sources cited by the Daily Mail UK, the couple has legally married and signed a prenuptial agreement in advance.
“He’s Not Popular Here”
As netizens around the world watched the lavish wedding and delved into its details, local residents of Venice were not pleased.
Over the past few days, nearly a thousand people have taken to the streets to express their disapproval of the wedding.
Some hung banners on bridges reading “Jeff Bezos Nowhere to Be Found,” while others set off colored flares; a model of Bezos was placed in the Venice River to mock him—the figure clutching Amazon parcels, floating on the water surface, making a very comical sight.
A model of Jeff Bezos floats in the river.
A Chinese resident living in Venice told Global Personnel: “In recent years, local residents have been increasingly dissatisfied with the inconvenience caused by excessive tourism. And Bezos’s wedding, with its private planes and yachts, also poses a significant environmental pollution, which led to their outrage.”
According to La Stampa Italiana, at least 95 private planes and several large yachts were involved in the wedding, significantly burdening local transportation and environment.
In response, Bezos and his wife had made contingency plans in advance. The Wall Street Journal reported that they specifically hired a well-known wedding planning company to organize the event, demanding “minimizing disturbance to the city and hiring locals as much as possible during the preparation process.”
It is known that the company had previously planned George Clooney’s wedding in Venice in 2014, when the Venetian public gave the wedding a positive review. However, this time, Bezos’s wedding did not meet the expectations of the locals.
However, the Venice Tourism Department is very welcoming of the Bezos couple—their wedding is expected to bring nearly 68% annual tourism revenue growth to the city. According to Reuters, the Bezos couple also donated a total of 3 million euros to three cultural institutions in Venice.
Regarding Bezos’ “wealth,” protesters are not convinced.
A Venetian expressed that Bezos views Venice as a place to flaunt his wealth. “We don’t envy him for making so much money; he is now using his wealth to hit us where it hurts. He is not welcome here.”
Another protester said, “Bezos has donated to Venice, but it was after we raised our concerns. And for a business magnate, this amount of money is negligible.”
In response to these protests, the Bezos couple did not make a clear statement. A local once loudly asked them about their views on the protest activities, but Sanchez ignored him, while Bezos gave a kiss to the camera.
Foreign media predict that the “topic couple” will start their honeymoon after leaving Venice, although the details have not been disclosed yet, it can be anticipated that there will be no shortage of highlights and topics ahead.