Venetian vows: Bezos, billionaires, and backlash – DW – 06/27/2025
Image: Luca Bruno/AP Photo/picture alliance
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were in high spirits as they cruised through the waterways on Thursday for the welcome party for their multi-day wedding in the lagoon city. Entire neighborhoods have been cordoned off. Boat traffic on the busy canals has also been restricted. The couple is staying at the luxury hotel "Aman" on the Grand Canal. Image: Luca Bruno/AP/dpa/picture alliance
US billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of online retail giant Amazon, and former TV presenter Sánchez were set to tie the knot on Friday on the island of San Gregorio Maggiore. The small island, covering around 10 hectares, is located in the Venetian Lagoon and is home to a Benedictine monastery, a church, and the Teatro Verde, where the ceremony is expected to take place. Image: Matteo Chinellato/ipa-agency/dpa/picture alliance
The police are patrolling the entire city and monitoring the canals with jet skis. Due to the protests that have been going on for days and the possibility of attacks, the highest security measures are in place. The dates and details of the multi-day celebration remained strictly confidential. Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance
A few days ago, a large Greenpeace banner caused a stir in St. Mark's Square. The poster, prominently placed on the ground, reads: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax." For weeks, local and international activists have been protesting against the wedding and have already announced their intention to disrupt the celebrations. Image: Yara Nardi/REUTERS
On the Rialto Bridge, protesters unfurl a banner reading "No Space for Bezos." The tech billionaire's lavish wedding brings together several controversial aspects: One of the richest men in the world is celebrating in a city that has become a symbol of mass tourism and the dramatic consequences of climate change in recent years. Image: Manuel Silvestri/REUTERS
Tourists pose in front of an art installation by the collective "Konn Artiss," which depicts Jeff Bezos as a mannequin sitting on a toilet made of Amazon boxes. With several provocative installations throughout the city, the artist collective is protesting the mega-wedding in a unique way. Image: Click News/Handout via REUTERS
Despite numerous protests, celebrities are everywhere: Even the Kardashian clan is not missing out on the spectacle, attracting attention on a boat on the Grand Canal. A total of around 200 to 250 prominent guests from politics, business, and entertainment were expected, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, and actor Orlando Bloom. Image: Guglielmo Mangiapane/REUTERS
Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, traveled to the wedding marathon with her husband Jared Kushner and their children. The cost of the opulent celebration is estimated at at least $10 million (€8.5 million). The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, even spoke of up to €40 to €48 million. Image: Luigi Costantini/AP Photo/picture alliance
The coming days are likely to be turbulent for guests and paparazzi alike, as the wedding celebrations are set to last for at least three days. Between June 25 and 28, expect to see numerous impressions of the mega-wedding — as well as further protests. Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance 06/27/2025 June 27, 2025
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Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez marry in Venice – DW – 06/27/2025
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married his fiancée Lauren Sanchez in a controversial three-day celebration. Estimated to cost up to $56 million, the guest list included Hollywood stars, athletes and even royalty. Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos married his partner, Lauren Sanchez, in a lavish ceremony on Friday in Venice's San Giorgio Maggiore island. Sanchez first stepped out from the luxury Aman hotel the couple were staying at, wearing a skirt suit, and Jeff Bezos followed some two hours later. Sanchez's wedding dress was still kept under wraps at the time she stepped onto a motor boat from her hotel but she later revealed the dress on her newly branded Instagram page with the name: Lauren Sanchez Bezos. The former journalist reportedly has 27 outfits prepared for festivities, with Dolce & Gabbana having been the fashion house behind her wedding gown. Bezos wore a black tuxedo and a bow tie over a white shirt, as the official photo Sanchez shared on her Instagram photo showed. The interest around the power couple's wedding sent the media into a tizzy, with dozens of photographers having parked themselves in boats outside Aman, and other hotels where guests stayed. Papparazzi took photos of numerous VIP guests including Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Jordan's Queen Rania, US football player Tom Brady, singer Usher and Ivanka Trump — the daughter of US President Donald Trump. But the lavish wedding was not without its objectors. Venice is one of the most iconic cities in the world, but it is also among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change. Its popularity has also led to overtourism, with local residents complaining of a lack of affordable housing and poor access to essential services. At least 95 private planes requested permission to land at Venice's Marco Polo airport for the wedding, the Italian daily reported, while several megayachts have also moored off the city. Environmentalists, housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups have come together to protest the wedding under the banner "No space for Bezos." The slogan is a play on words that references his space exploration company, Blue Origin, as well as the bride's recent space flight. Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St Mark's Square denouncing the billionaire tech mogul for not paying enough in taxes. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Other activists displayed mannequins mocking Bezos around the city, including one that bobbed in the city's canals, clinging to an Amazon parcel to stay afloat. Bezos and Sanchez are donating €3 million ($3.5 million) to the city, according to Veneto's regional president Luca Zaia, and are employing historic Venetian artisans. The celebrations are set to wrap up on Saturday with a party likely at the Arsenale, a vast shipyard complex dating back to when the city was a naval powerhouse and which nowadays serves as a venue for the Venice Biennale. The party bags will reportedly feature glassware from Laguna B as well as traditional Venetian cookies made by the city's oldest pastry maker Rosa Salva. The governor of Veneto told reporters that the most recent price tag for the three-day event was between €40 and €48 million (up to $56 million). That's more than 1,000 times the cost of the average US couple's wedding, which came in at $36,000 in 2025, according to wedding planning site Zola.
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Venetian vows: Bezos, billionaires, and backlash – DW – 06/27/2025
Image: Luca Bruno/AP Photo/picture alliance Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were in high spirits as they cruised through the waterways on Thursday for the welcome party for their multi-day wedding in the lagoon city. Entire neighborhoods have been cordoned off. Boat traffic on the busy canals has also been restricted. The couple is staying at the luxury hotel "Aman" on the Grand Canal. Image: Luca Bruno/AP/dpa/picture alliance US billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of online retail giant Amazon, and former TV presenter Sánchez were set to tie the knot on Friday on the island of San Gregorio Maggiore. The small island, covering around 10 hectares, is located in the Venetian Lagoon and is home to a Benedictine monastery, a church, and the Teatro Verde, where the ceremony is expected to take place. Image: Matteo Chinellato/ipa-agency/dpa/picture alliance The police are patrolling the entire city and monitoring the canals with jet skis. Due to the protests that have been going on for days and the possibility of attacks, the highest security measures are in place. The dates and details of the multi-day celebration remained strictly confidential. Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance A few days ago, a large Greenpeace banner caused a stir in St. Mark's Square. The poster, prominently placed on the ground, reads: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax." For weeks, local and international activists have been protesting against the wedding and have already announced their intention to disrupt the celebrations. Image: Yara Nardi/REUTERS On the Rialto Bridge, protesters unfurl a banner reading "No Space for Bezos." The tech billionaire's lavish wedding brings together several controversial aspects: One of the richest men in the world is celebrating in a city that has become a symbol of mass tourism and the dramatic consequences of climate change in recent years. Image: Manuel Silvestri/REUTERS Tourists pose in front of an art installation by the collective "Konn Artiss," which depicts Jeff Bezos as a mannequin sitting on a toilet made of Amazon boxes. With several provocative installations throughout the city, the artist collective is protesting the mega-wedding in a unique way. Image: Click News/Handout via REUTERS Despite numerous protests, celebrities are everywhere: Even the Kardashian clan is not missing out on the spectacle, attracting attention on a boat on the Grand Canal. A total of around 200 to 250 prominent guests from politics, business, and entertainment were expected, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, and actor Orlando Bloom. Image: Guglielmo Mangiapane/REUTERS Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, traveled to the wedding marathon with her husband Jared Kushner and their children. The cost of the opulent celebration is estimated at at least $10 million (€8.5 million). The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, even spoke of up to €40 to €48 million. Image: Luigi Costantini/AP Photo/picture alliance The coming days are likely to be turbulent for guests and paparazzi alike, as the wedding celebrations are set to last for at least three days. Between June 25 and 28, expect to see numerous impressions of the mega-wedding — as well as further protests. Image: Pierre Teyssot/Maxppp/picture alliance 06/27/2025 June 27, 2025
