From inflatable crocodiles to the celebrity guest list: What we know — and don't know — about Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's Venice wedding

Yahoo

4 hours ago

It might be the most anticipated, and controversial, wedding of the year: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are getting married this week in a multiday event that is set to bring Hollywood stars and power players to Venice, Italy. At the same time, the billionaire Amazon founder and the former journalist's wedding has brought out protestors from different activist groups, some of whom are using the moment to hit back against Bezos's politics and environmental impact, as well as issues that arise with mass tourism.
With the couple already arriving in Venice for the event, there's still much we don't know about the celebration, including when the pair will actually tie the knot. Here's what we've been able to figure out from news reports, and what we still don't know.
So far, all we know is that Bezos and Sánchez will likely tie the knot some time between Thursday and Sunday — and that it will not be held at the Venice City Hall, per the New York Times, due to Venice's rules around marriage rites. (George and Amal Clooney got married at the venue in 2014.)
Outside of Venice, it's not clear where the actual 'I dos' will take place. Luca Zuin, spokesperson for Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, suggested the ceremony would be held on Bezos's superyacht, per CNN, while some outlets have reported that the two will marry on the private island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
We also don't know whether Bezos and Sánchez have signed a prenup. Experts told Yahoo this week that it's a good idea for the ultra-wealthy couple, who both have kids from previous relationships, to do so.
Mayor Brugnaro confirmed that the couple was hosting their event in the floating city in a statement back in March. In the statement, a translation of which was made available by Good Morning America, Brugnaro shot down critics, saying that the wedding would be a manageable affair with only 200 guests and insisted there would be no 'disruption whatsoever to the city, its residents and visitors.'
Those 200 guests, per People, will include Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who reportedly arrived in Venice on Tuesday. Jared's brother Josh Kushner and his wife, Karlie Kloss, are also reportedly on the guest list.
Designer Diane von Fürstenberg, who previously threw the couple an engagement party in 2023, was also spotted arriving in Venice, seemingly to attend the festivities.
While details of who else is invited are scarce, there has been some speculation based on the couple's social circle. For example, Sánchez recently took a high-profile, all-women Blue Origin space trip with Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn and Kerianne Flynn, so they could potentially be on the guest list. Sánchez is also friends with Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian, both of whom attended her Paris bachelorette party in May, so they may make the cut as well.
Others who were in attendance for the bachelorette party include actress Eva Longoria, as well as Lydia Kives, who is married to Hollywood power broker Michael Kives; Veronica Grazer, wife of Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer; and October Gonzalez, who is married to former NFL star Tony Gonzalez — who also happens to be the father of Sánchez's son, Nikko. Tony himself is also expected to attend, per People.
In addition, Leonardo DiCaprio's name is also floating around as a potential guest of the high-profile couple.
TMZ reported that the wedding guests will stay at the swanky Aman Hotel in Venice, which ranges from $2,000 to more than $10,000 per night. Bezos and Sánchez may be staying there as well: On Wednesday, they were seen arriving in Venice on a helicopter and, later in the day, made their way to the Aman Hotel.
Multiple groups are protesting the Venice wedding, each with a shared frustration over billionaire excess and its impact on the city.
No Space for Bezos, a local coalition of housing advocates, student groups and anti-cruise activists, argues that the wedding symbolizes how Venice is being turned into a playground for the ultrarich while the city's residents face a housing crisis.
Meanwhile, environmental group Greenpeace Italy teamed up with Everyone Hates Elon, a U.K.-based activist collective, to stage a demonstration in St. Mark's Square on June 23 with a massive banner that read: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.'
Together, these groups are using the wedding to spotlight broader issues like over-tourism, inequality and climate injustice, and to call for more taxation for billionaires like Bezos.
Some protesters have even threatened to use inflatable crocodiles in an effort to disrupt the nuptials, forcing the couple to rearrange some of their plans for the event, per reporting from the Guardian.
According to protest group No Space for Bezos, Venice residents stated they planned to throw the blow-up reptiles into the canals to block celebrity guests from arriving by gondola or water taxi for the wedding. Out of caution, the Guardian reports, the couple moved the wedding reception from Scuola Grande della Misericordia to Arsenale, a complex of shipyards surrounded by fortified walls. As the Guardian notes, local press reports have also cited security concerns due to the current conflict between Iran and Israel as a reason for the change of venue, particularly in light of the fact that President Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is among the expected guests.
Still, local activists are taking it as a win.
'We feel as if we scored a victory,' one activist, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Guardian. 'The crocodile initiative would have given a bad impression of the city — this is why the venue was changed, even if the authorities might try to claim it was because of the war.'