Bezos to hold pyjama party as part of lavish three-day wedding

Telegraph

6 days ago

Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez will throw a pyjama party for their guests as they embark on three days of wedding celebrations in Venice.
Celebrities, business tycoons and giant yachts are arriving in the World Heritage city for a series of lavish events in historical locations. The week will also include a Great Gatsby-themed party and cocktail receptions.
The pyjama party may be held in the luxury Aman hotel on the Grand Canal, one of several luxury hotels booked for the Amazon founder's guests.
The wedding is to be attended by around 250 guests, including Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Kim Kardashian and Robert Pattinson.
While hoteliers, water taxi operators and Venice's mayor have welcomed the wedding and talked up the millions of euros that it will pump into the local economy, other Venetians are distinctly hostile to hosting what has been described by the Italian press as ' the wedding of the century '.
But before the celebrations, Mr Bezos, 61, and his fiancée threw a foam party on board the Koru, his $500 million (£371 million), three-masted superyacht.
Mr Bezos was photographed wearing swimming shorts, laughing and joking with Ms Sanchez, 55, as a giant cannon blasted foam onto the deck of the Koru. Younger guests were photographed driving golf balls into the sea from the deck of the huge vessel.
In the latest protest against the nuptials, a life-size mannequin of the Amazon founder appeared floating in the Grand Canal, just beneath the famous Rialto Bridge.
The dummy, which bore a striking resemblance to Mr Bezos, was clutching several dollar notes and clinging to a large Amazon cardboard box.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the stunt, which was witnessed by tourists, including a family of Americans.
'We were just having dinner next to the Rialto Bridge right by the water when we looked down and it was just floating there,' said Madelyn Eno, 16, from Williamsburg, Virginia.
'Lots of tourists were taking photos. People were laughing. We didn't see who put it in the water though.'
Her mother, Ashley Eno, 45, said: 'Whoever made it took some time over it. The face looked just like Jeff Bezos. The dummy had dollar bills in its hand and was wearing an Amazon workers' outfit.'
Guests have already started arriving, including Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner. The US president is not thought to be coming to the wedding.
Ms Sanchez, a former television reporter and a licenced helicopter pilot, is reportedly planning on going through 27 changes of outfit during the three-day festivities, at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. Designers such as Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta are said to be providing the clothing.
At least four huge yachts are now berthed in the Venetian lagoon. Among them the $360 million 122-metre-long Kismet, which is owned by billionaire Shahid Khan, the Pakistani-American owner of Fulham FC and the American football team the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Moored at the entrance to the Grand Canal is the Arience, a $70 million, 60-metre-long navy blue and white yacht that belongs to Bill Miller, a billionaire fund manager who was one of the first people to invest in Amazon when it was in its infancy.
The wedding celebrations are expected to begin on Thursday with a party on a tiny island in the Venetian lagoon, far from the tourist-saturated sights such as St Mark's Square and the Rialto Bridge.
The event will be held in the gardens of Villa Baslini, on the islet of San Giovanni Evangelista (St John the Evangelist), which is connected to the larger island of Torcello by a bridge.
There will then be an evening reception in the walled cloisters of La Madonna dell' Orto, a church that is tucked away down a little-known canal.
When The Telegraph went to the venue on Wednesday, Italian carabinieri police were stationed in the piazza in front of the church while staff from the London-based wedding organiser Lanza & Baucina carried furniture and supplies into the cloisters.
On Friday, the couple are expected to exchange their rings on the island of San Giorgio at the entrance to the Grand Canal. There will be fireworks and a performance by Matteo Bocelli, son of the famous tenor Andrea Bocelli.
On Saturday there will be a grand party in Venice's centuries-old shipbuilding yards, a huge complex of warehouses, rope-making workshops, canals and slip ramps known as the Arsenale or Arsenal. Its main entrance is guarded by stone lions and it is surrounded by high crenellated walls, making it easy to secure.
The Arsenal was chosen at the last minute after the original venue, a historic building called the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, was cancelled amid fears that protesters were threatening to disrupt the event by leaping into the surrounding canals.
Activists have vowed to continue their protests and will stage a march on Saturday afternoon from Venice's train station.
They object to the low tax rates that Mr Bezos reportedly pays, the extravagance of his wedding and his support for the Trump administration.
Critics said they were misguided and insisted the wedding would bring huge economic benefit. Luca Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region, said it would boost Venice's image and ultimately benefit the city to the tune of €2.5 billion.
Mr Bezos and his entourage should be welcomed warmly. Protesters were a minority of Left-wing activists, he said. 'I would hate other VIPs to decide in future to go to Saint Tropez instead of Venice,' said Mr Zaia.
While security will be tight, with police reinforcements drafted in to help their colleagues in Venice, Venetians and tourists are hoping to catch a glimpse of the guests.
Bill Gates is said to be particularly keen to visit the Gallerie dell'Accademia museum, where Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is on display.
In 1994, the Microsoft founder bought Leonardo's Codex Leicester, a collection of scientific drawings and writings, for $30 million.