Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding in Venice today was meant to be the event of the century – but the lavish celebration, already beset by protests and logistical issues, has been further complicated by unexpected storms, celebrity slip-ups and growing opposition from residents.
Set against such a romantic backdrop, one of the world’s richest men and his bride-to-be had choreographed a three-day extravaganza costing $46million with 200 VIP guests.
The scale of the nuptial affair has drawn worldwide attention and now, as things go anything but according to plan, the couple’s woes are unfolding in full public view.
Many in the city are unhappy about Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, choosing it as the location for the festivities, and demonstrations by anti-capitalist and environmental advocates have marred the run-up to the exchange of vows.
There was a potential issue with one of the venues, the fabulous 15th-century Madonna dell’Orto church in the quaint Cannaregio district. The structure is undergoing restoration, meaning the first glimpse that those attending had of the historic bell tower was of all the scaffolding.
Worse still perhaps, the Amazon founder and his former TV journalist fiancee are not the only couple dominating the headlines. Orlando Bloom’s unforeseen solo appearance in the City of Love has stolen much of the limelight as media outlets around the globe speculate over his breakup with Katy Perry.
It just goes to show that money can’t buy everything…
Freak bad weather
Bride-to-be Lauren Sanchez sought refuge under an umbrella after a freak thunderstorm hit the couple’s first pre-wedding party on Thursday
A freak thunderstorm during a pre-wedding party on Thursday night left guests soaked and forced to cower under umbrellas. The event, held at the Madonna dell’Orto cloisters marked the start of the billionaire couple’s lavish wedding in the Italian city.
The festivities will come to a close on Saturday, however, all kicked off to a poor start after heavy downpour and intense lightning storms left attendees drenched. The couple’s A-list guests, including Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, were forced to take cover from the rain, forcing Thursday night’s star-studded soiree to an early end.
Meanwhile, bride-to-be Sanchez was surrounded by tuxedo-clad gentlemen holding blue umbrellas over her as she carefully stepped on to a waiting boat. The TV personality wore a striking off-the-shoulder dress with a dramatic gold corset cinching in her already-tiny waist. Bezos – who popped the question in 2023 with a $3million engagement ring – was seen following closely behind, also with an umbrella overhead.
Guests were diving for cover under the vaulted cloisters as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled at the end of a torridly humid day with temperatures nudging 96.8° Fahrenheit. They then dashed for water taxis which had been called for a good 45 minutes ahead of the midnight finish time. Strong gusts of winds whipped tablecloths away and sent waiters scurrying for umbrellas to protect the VIP attendees.
‘It just goes to show you can have all the money in the world but you can’t control the weather – although an Italian saying says a wet bride is a happy and lucky bride,’ one onlooker said.
In footage obtained by DailyMail.com, Sanchez appeared to be in high spirits despite the inclement weather. Once in the water taxi, she was seen sharing a laugh with her soon-to-be groom as the downpour intensified.
Celebrity slip-up?
Ivanka Trump sparked security fears on Thursday after sharing a social media post ahead of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding
Earlier this week, it was reported that Ivanka Trump has sparked security fears after she potentially revealed the new location of the star-studded wedding.
The three-day affair in Venice had a last-minute venue change due to protests from angry locals and global tensions arising from the US strike on Iran.
Ivanka ignited concerns after posting a photo of her hotel room number alongside several pictures of herself and husband Jared Kushner in their formal attire.
‘Ready to celebrate the love story of our friends, Lauren Sanchez and @JeffBezos,’ she posted on X on Thursday afternoon.
The image set contained a photograph of a white door with the couple’s room number and the word ‘Dolce Vita’ written on the front.
It immediately sparked concerned replies from eagle-eyed social media users.
‘Did you dox location by posting the photo of that door?’ one person replied to her post, which has now been seen by more than 235,000 people.
Protests
Tensions have been brewing over recent days as locals and protest groups object to the lavish Venice nuptials
Another major setback threatening the glamorous event has been protests against the couple holding their wedding in the historic Italian location. Tensions have been brewing over the past week as locals and protest groups object to the $46million nuptials due to fears it will ‘take over the city’.
The couple have already been forced to change one of the venues due to ‘rising global tensions’ but, as news of protests continued to threaten the wedding, they still found themselves mired in controversy.
Around 20 activists were holding placards in St Mark’s Square on Thursday, the iconic heart of Venice, with some trying to climb a post. An Extinction Rebellion flag was waved, and some protesters held signs reading: ‘We are the 99 per cent. We have the power.’ Another campaigner clutching a placard that said ‘The planet burns’ in Italian was carried away by police.
There is speculation that Bezos, Sanchez and the wedding’s planners will do everything to keep their V.VIP guests – from Bill Gates to Jordan’s Queen Rania – safe.
The extravagant event has continued to attract controversy, with protests planned by angry residents. A team of former US marines has been hired by Bezos to provide security.
Local newspaper Il Gazzettino forecast that the days leading up to the wedding would be ‘tension-filled’, and the venue switch was due to it being ‘easier to control’ in the likelihood of large scale protests.
It added that ‘the winds of war and rising global tensions between the US and Iran’ were also being taken into consideration. There is a large American airbase at Aviano just 50 miles away.
Bezos and Sanchez were forced to move their final day of lavish celebrations that was set to culminate at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia. It will instead take place at the Arsenale, which is farther out from the city, a change claimed as an ‘enormous victory’ for the Campaign group No Space for Bezos, the newspaper noted.
Protesters made several complaints against Bezos, with some pointedly saying: ‘If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax’
Tommaso Cacciari from the group told the BBC: ‘We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing! We’re just citizens who started organising and we managed to move one of the most powerful people in the world – all the billionaires – out of the city.’
On Monday, Greenpeace activists unfurled an enormous banner in St Mark’s Square, as a protest against the wedding. It bore an image of Bezos’s face and the slogan: ‘If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax.’
Activists from British group ‘Everyone Hates Elon’ were also involved and said they wanted to highlight the ‘environmental and social injustice of the wedding’.
‘Bezos encapsulates an economic and social model which is steering us towards collapse,’ said one protester.
‘All too often now, social injustice travels on an equal par with the climate – on one side, the arrogance of a few billionaires who have a lifestyle that devastates the planet; the other, people who suffer daily from the environment crisis.’
Lanza & Baucina Limited, the official planners of one of the biggest weddings to have ever been held, dismissed the protests and insisted that every precaution required had been taken.
In a statement, they said: ‘As event organisers who have been working in Venice for over 24 years, we feel obliged to set the record straight given the misinformation, untruths and misunderstandings circulating about the Bezos wedding.
‘From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events.’
Headline-grabbing breakup
It emerged at the beginning of the three-day wedding extravaganza between Bezos and Sanchez that Orlando Bloom (pictured) and Katy Perry had ended their nine-year relationship
One of the most unexpected stories that has gained headlines during the Bezos/Sanchez wedding celebrations was the split of Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry.
News of the pop princess and Hollywood actor’s shock break-up came at the start of the Amazon billionaire’s lavish three-day wedding. The publicity-grabbing break-up comes after nine years together, six of which the now ex-couple – who share a four-year-old daughter – were engaged.
Bloom, 48, attended the Venice nuptials without Perry, 40, and was seen appearing to wrap his arms around a mystery woman at a lavish pre-wedding party on Thursday.
‘Katy and Orlando have split but are amicable,’ a source told US Weekly, that the break-up was so far ‘not contentious’.
‘Katy is of course upset but is relieved to not have to go through another divorce, as that was the worst time in her life,’ the insider said.
However, a telling cryptic post shared today by Perry calls into question just how harmonious the break up has been.
The US pop star re-shared a video to her Instagram Stories from a content creator who teaches followers the ‘Laws of the Universe’ to help them ‘heal your life’.
She claimed that a person’s purpose in life is determined by the phase of the moon on the day of their birth, with Perry indicating that her own purpose is to start ‘new chapters’.
‘The phase of the moon that was during your date of birth determines your purpose,’ the video explained.
‘If you were born on a waning crescent, you are here to complete the mission that you feel.
‘You are ending things that no longer serve the collective. You are setting the new stone for new chapters. You are here to save people.’
Bloom, a newly minted bachelor, was spotted leaving the Madonna dell’Orto cloisters with a glamorous brunette after guests were forced to end the night early following a freak thunderstorm.
Katy Perry and English actor Orlando Bloom (pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills this year) were together for nine years
He and other guests had to brave the heavy rainfall as the party’s VIPs exited the historic venue to catch a boat back to the luxurious five-star Aman Hotel.
Once in the water taxi, Bloom was observed wrapping his arm around the unknown woman as they laughed together in their seats.
News of Bloom and Perry’s breakup was confirmed by sources on Thursday after weeks of rampant speculation.
The couple first got together in 2016 before splitting up and reconciling in 2018. Bloom proposed to Perry in 2019 and they welcomed daughter Daisy Dove, now four, in August 2020.
Rumors of ‘tensions’ between Perry and Bloom began to surface earlier this month. Several outlets alleged that the singer’s poor-performing album 143 and the mocking she faced following her Blue Origin space trip – as well as her ongoing Lifetimes Tour – put ‘stress’ on the relationship.
The Teenage hitmaker has also recently been seen without her engagement ring. Further fueling the speculation, it was confirmed that Bloom would be attending Sanchez and Bezos’s wedding without Perry.
For now, Katy is reportedly staying ‘distracted’ with her Australian tour and caring for herself and Daisy Dove.
Neither Perry or Bloom have spoken publicly on reports of the split.
Scaffolding
The bell tower of the 15th-century Madonna dell’Orto church in Venice’s quaint Cannaregio district is currently covered in scaffolding
Bezos and Sanchez were blindsided by another issue when it emerged that the historic venue they chose for one of their wedding events was covered in scaffolding.
On Thursday – the first day of the three-day event – a party was held within the fabulous 15th-century Madonna dell’Orto church in Venice’s quaint Cannaregio district.
Ahead of the party, security guards blocked off entrances to the cloister where the attendees were to gather.
However, it is believed that the first thing guests would have seen upon arrival at the venue was the iconic bell tower covered in scaffolding.
The cloister next door to the church is where the Renaissance artist Tintoretto is buried. The website for the venue – which is used for the Biennale art exhibition in Venice – describes the colonnade as ‘simple and yet elegant’.
Pictures from previous events show tables beneath the vaulted ceilings, atmospherically lit by candlelight – but this week the scaffolding on the church tower was clearly visible.
The cloister with its herringbone floor extends to three sides and is supported on ornate columns. When the Daily Mail approached a guard and asked if it was open, we were told: ‘No, it’s closed. There is a private function.’
‘Clip art’ invitation
According to ABC News, this documents is part of the wedding invitation sent out by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez
Another element of the nuptials that has come under scrutiny is the invitation to guests. A copy of part of the material sent out by the couple had been obtained by ABC News, with some saying it looks like it could have been made by a 10-year-old.
Decorated with whimsical cartoon images, it says: ‘We’re excited for you to join us! We have one early request: please, no gifts.’
It also features what appear to be computer-generated designs of butterflies, doves, the Venice canals, gondolas and feathers in purple, gray and pink hues.
The text added: ‘Instead, we’re making contributions in your honor and with gratitude to you for making the journey to celebrate with us in Venice.
‘Donations on your behalf are being made to the UNESCO Venice Office to safeguard the city’s irreplaceable cultural heritage, to CORILA to restore the lagoon habitats that protect Venice’s future, and to Venice International University to support research and education for sustainable solutions. This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories.
‘Our hope is that through these efforts and by you joining us, Venice will continue to inspire wonder for generations to come.’
Despite the positive message, many who saw it were critical, with some saying that it looked ‘cheap’.
One commentator said: ‘Was the invitation made in Microsoft paint?’
Another agreed, adding: ‘Wow what an ugly announcement/invitation. With all the money he has they could have at least done something pretty and classy.’
In a similar vein, a third wrote: ‘What in the Microsoft Paint is this? They couldn’t afford an illustrator?’
