Wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez

Wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez
The Venetian Arsenal, where the celebrations took place
DateJune 27, 2025 (2025-06-27)
Venue
LocationVenice, Italy
Participants

The wedding of American businessman Jeff Bezos and media personality Lauren Sánchez took place in Venice, Italy, between June 26–28, 2025.[1] The multi-day event, held at various historic sites across the city, drew significant media attention due to its high-profile guest list, lavish celebrations, and extensive security measures. It also sparked local protests and criticism from Venetian activists over the city's commercialization and use as a venue for private luxury events.

Background

Businessman Jeff Bezos was married to MacKenzie Scott from 1993 until their divorce in 2019.[2][3] Lauren Sánchez was married to Patrick Whitesell from 2005 to 2019.[4] Bezos and Scott have four children, while Sánchez and Whitesell have two children together.[2]

Engagement

Bezos proposed to Sánchez while on holiday in the south of France in 2023. He proposed with an engagement ring featuring a large pink diamond in a cushion cut, set on a platinum band.[5] The diamond is estimated to weigh 30 carats (6.0 g) and to have cost between $3–5 million.[5]

An engagement party was held on Bezos's yacht, Koru, on the Amalfi Coast, two months after the proposal.[5] Guests reportedly included Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Gates, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Kris Jenner, Wendi Murdoch, Sarah Staudinger, and Queen Rania of Jordan.[6][7]

A second engagement party was held for the couple at the home of their friends Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg in Beverly Hills.[8]

Wedding

A party was held prior to the wedding in the cloisters of the Madonna dell'Orto church

The wedding took place in Venice on June 27, 2025, with the couple exchanging vows at the basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore on the island of the same name.[2][9] Matteo Bocelli was expected to perform at the ceremony.[10] Other parties held as part of the celebrations included a party themed around The Great Gatsby, a pyjama party, and a foam party.[10] Sánchez reportedly had 27 outfits for the extended nuptials.[10] The couple was staying at the Aman Venice hotel, in the former Palazzo Papadopoli.[10] A party on the Thursday prior to the wedding was held in the cloisters of the Madonna dell'Orto in the district of the city.

The Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, said that the event would "bring economic returns of millions of euros" to the city.[2] Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Nick Squires stated that it would be "a bonanza for hoteliers, restaurant owners, water taxi drivers, and gondoliers" and the most significant celebrity wedding in Venice since the wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin in 2015.[2] The event was organized by the event planners Lanza & Baucina.[2] Potential venues for the wedding included the Doge's Palace, the Venetian Arsenal, and the Fondazione Cini on San Giorgio Maggiore.

During the ceremony, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez likely exchanged rings symbolically, but it remains unclear when the couple legally wed (or if they already have, in the US).[1]

Italian media reported that several top hotels in Venice were fully booked, including the Hotel Cipriani, Hotel Danieli, and Palazzo Pisani Gritti. Every one of Venice's water taxis had also reportedly been reserved to transport guests.[2]

The couple donated 2 million euros to a project studying the lagoons of the Veneto region.[10]

Guests

Between 200 and 250 guests were expected to attend.[11] Ninety private jets brought guests to Marco Polo Airport, generating an expected revenue of €48 million.[11][10] Guests included Tom Brady, Tony Gonzalez, Sam Altman, Ted Sarandos, Ari Emanuel, Jerry Seinfeld, Usher, Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand, Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Eva Longoria, Ivanka Trump, and Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan among others.[12][10][13]

Local opposition and protest

Graffiti opposing the Bezoses wedding

The wedding attracted opposition and protests from Venetians.[14][15] An activist from the group No Space for Bezos stated that the wedding was "...the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders... Venice is now just an asset" and that "Venice is being treated like a showcase, a stage." The group hung banners from the Rialto Bridge and the bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore.[14][16] Activists had planned to protest at the Scuola vecchia della Misericordia, where the wedding celebrations were due to be held, by filling the canal with inflatable crocodiles.[9] The venue was moved to the Venetian Arsenal in the Castello district, which was described by Reuters as "surrounded by water and impossible to reach by land when connecting bridges are raised."[11] The venue was also purportedly changed due to heightened security following the Iran–Israel war and the expected attendance of Ivanka Trump, daughter of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.[9][17]

In addition to protests organised by local groups, activists from Greenpeace and British political campaign group Everyone Hates Elon unfurled a large banner in Piazza San Marco on June 23; the banner featured an image of Bezos laughing, along with the slogan "If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax."[18][19] A statement from the two groups explained that although Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world, he "is reported to pay a 1.1% true tax rate",[18] and that the aim of the protest was to highlight the comparatively low tax contributions of billionaires, who nonetheless "exacerbat[e] the climate crisis with environmentally unsustainable lifestyles".[20][21] The banner was soon removed by local police.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Dolan, Leah; Palumbo, Jacqui; Braithwaite, Sharon (June 28, 2025). "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez wrap up three-day Venice wedding extravaganza". CNN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Squires, Nick (March 27, 2025). "Jeff Bezos to hold star-studded three-day wedding in Venice". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on April 18, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  3. ^ Snider, Mike (January 9, 2019). "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and wife MacKenzie to divorce after 25 years of marriage". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  4. ^ "Lauren Sanchez Files for Divorce After Bezos Split Finalized". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Associated Press. April 6, 2019. Archived from the original on March 3, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Quihuiz, Ariana; Blair, Caroline (June 24, 2025). "All About Lauren Sánchez's 30-Carat Engagement Ring From Jeff Bezos (Including Its Massive Price Tag)". People. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  6. ^ Adams, Abigail (August 3, 2023). "Jeff Bezos and Fiancée Lauren Sánchez Host Engagement Party on His $500M Yacht: Source". People. Archived from the original on June 28, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  7. ^ Stamp, Elizabeth (May 14, 2025). "Jeff Bezos's Yacht: Everything You Ever Wondered About Koru". Architectural Digest. Archived from the original on May 15, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  8. ^ Malle, Chloe (November 13, 2023). "Lauren Sánchez on Going to Space, Giving Back, and Her High-Flying Romance With Jeff Bezos". Vogue. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Giuffrida, Angela (June 24, 2025). "Jeff Bezos alters Venice wedding plans after threat of inflatable crocodiles". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Giuffrida, Angela; Jones, Sam (June 26, 2025). "Kardashians, critics and copycats kick off €40m Bezos wedding bash". The Guardian. Rome, Venice. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Rossi, Sara (June 24, 2025) [updated 25 June 2025]. "Bezos' Venice wedding party moved to isolated area on security concerns". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 25, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  12. ^ "Bezos' Hochzeit: Zwischen Unmut und Schaulust" [Bezos' Wedding: Between resentment and curiosity]. ORF News (in German). June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  13. ^ Berg, Madeline; Vlamis, Kelsey. "See Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's A-list wedding guest list". Business Insider. Archived from the original on July 3, 2025. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Gozzi, Laura (June 17, 2025). "Venice activists plan to disrupt Jeff Bezos's wedding". BBC News. Archived from the original on July 4, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  15. ^ Pinkney, Lauren (June 26, 2025). "Why protesters have vowed to make Jeff Bezos's Venice wedding to Lauren Sanchez a 'nightmare'". Sky News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  16. ^ Williams, Zoe (June 24, 2025). "Inside the No Space for Bezos movement: 'One man rents a city for three days? That's obscene'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 12, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  17. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (June 26, 2025). "Guests including Ivanka Trump arrive in Venice for divisive Jeff Bezos wedding". The Guardian. Venice. Archived from the original on July 12, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Vivarelli, Nick (June 23, 2025). "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Wedding Protests Joined by Greenpeace: 'If You Can Rent Venice for Your Wedding, You Can Pay More Tax'". Variety. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  19. ^ Giuffrida, Angela (June 24, 2025). "Jeff Bezos alters Venice wedding plans after threat of inflatable crocodiles". The Guardian. Venice. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  20. ^ "Greenpeace joins anti-Bezos protest with Venice banner complaining about tax breaks". ABC News. The Associated Press. June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "Greenpeace joins anti-Bezos wedding protests in Venice". ITV News. June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  22. ^ "Greenpeace joins anti-Bezos protest with Venice banner complaining about billionaire tax breaks". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 23, 2025. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
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