Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez tie the knot in controversial wedding ceremony

USA Today

3 days ago

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are officially one.
The billionaire Amazon founder and award-winning TV journalist tied the knot Friday, June 27, in an extraordinarily lavish Venice wedding, after multiple days of star-studded nuptial events (likely to the relief of the Italian city).
The pair raised eyebrows earlier Friday when Sánchez Bezos waved and blew kisses to onlookers as she boarded a sleek motorboat from the luxe Aman hotel to head to her wedding ceremony while, two hours later, Bezos was snapped waving to the crowd during the spectacle.
A-list guests were spotted by photographers on the way to the ceremony, including sisters Kim and Khloé Kardashian, their youngest sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner and family matriarch Kris Jenner; Oprah Winfrey, model Brooks Nader; Leonardo DiCaprio and his model girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti; and Bezos' fellow billionaire Bill Gates.
Jeff Bezos' wife Lauren Sanchez: Wedding dress was from Italian designers
Sánchez Bezos wore a Dolce & Gabbana silhouette dress with a high-neck, adorned with 180 silk chiffon-covered priest buttons paired with a tulle-and-lace veil, inspired by a similar veil that iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren wore in the 1958 film "Houseboat," according to a Vogue magazine exclusive.
"As you get a little older, not many things surprise you," Sánchez Bezos, 55, told the magazine about the couple's nuptials. "I can't wait to see his face."
"I went into a lot of therapy, and it's changed me in a bunch of ways. But it's really Jeff," she continued. "Jeff hasn't changed me. Jeff has revealed me. I feel safe. I feel seen. He lets me be me. Like I said about Sophia Loren being unapologetically free, he lets me be unapologetically free."
Everything to know: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding
Vogue revealed that of the 200 guests, around 70 are the duo's family members: "The wedding is extremely intimate," Sánchez Bezos said. The traditional dress Sánchez Bezos wore for the fête is a disruption from her normal fashion tastes: at times, her tight, sexy wardrobe has caused frustration.
She wore a lingerie-inspired all-white look to President Donald Trump's second inauguration in January, which ignited both fierce criticism and applause.
"It went from 'I want a simple, sexy modern dress' to 'I want something that evokes a moment,' and where I am right now. I am a different person than I was five years ago," she told Vogue.
Lauren Sanchez Bezos: The subtle way Jeff Bezos' wife revealed name change
Before posting a wedding photo of the pair, the former guest cohost of "The View" scrubbed her Instagram with only three photos (now archived) remaining on her feed. Eagle-eyed wedding onlookers noticed that the journalist also made another change: shifting her display name to "Lauren Sánchez Bezos" and her handle to @laurensanchezbezos.
Kylie Jenner, Tom Brady, Kim Kardashian sail to attend Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez wedding
The couple's controversial luxury Venetian wedding will have no legal status under Italian law, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.
Bezos' multimillion-dollar affair has drawn ire online and in person, as protests erupt in the region calling for the Blue Origin owner to pay more in taxes amid global frustrations about class and wealth divides.
Bezos, 61, and Sánchez were first reportedly linked in 2019, around the same time both parties announced splits from their previous partners.
Jeff Bezos started dating Sánchez after Mackenzie Scott split
Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, with whom he shares four children, split officially that same year. Sánchez was already in the process of divorcing her husband, Patrick Whitesell, with whom she shares two children. She has one more child with former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez, who is expected to attend the ceremony with new wife October "Tobie" Gonzalez.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner arrive for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez wedding
Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez engagement
The pair have been side-by-side ever since, with Bezos popping the question to Sánchez on his yacht during a trip to the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023.
He hid a box containing a $2.5 million pink engagement ring under her pillow, Sánchez shared with Vogue.
Who went to the Bezos wedding?
In attendance over the course of the wedding festivities were Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, Belgian fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom, Gayle King and more. President Donald Trump was also reportedly invited but did not attend, The New York Times reported.
Before the "I dos," Sánchez hosted Hollywood and nonprofit friends alike at her Paris bachelorette party in May, where Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Eva Longoria and Katy Perry were among those in attendance.
After the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds and their guests are expected to head to a hall of the Arsenale, a renovated maritime area on the outer edge of Venice. The vast 14th-century complex in the eastern Castello district, known for hosting the Venice Biennale art fair, is surrounded by water and impossible to reach by land when connecting bridges are raised.
Contributing: Saman Shafiq, Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY; Reuters