The best that Bezos’ money can buy: The billionaire's Venice wedding to Lauren Sánchez causes a stir

VENICE, Italy -- The Italian city of Venice was making waves Friday with the most anticipated wedding of 2025 — that of billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez. The sky itself is no limit for this couple who have traveled into space, and expectations are about as high.

One of the world’s most enchanting cities as backdrop? Check.

Star-studded guestlist and tabloid buzz? Of course.

Local flavor? You bet.

Beyond that, the team of the world’s fourth-richest man has kept details under wraps. Still, whispers point to events spread across the lagoon city, adding complexity to what would have been a massive logistical undertaking even on dry land.

On Thursday, dozens of private jets touched down at Venice’s airport as yachts pulled into the city’s famed waterways. Aboard were athletes, celebrities, influencers and business leaders, converging to revel in extravagance that is as much a testament to the couple’s love as to their extraordinary wealth.

The heady hoopla recalled the 2014 wedding in Venice of actor George Clooney to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, when adoring crowds lined the canals and hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside City Hall.

Not so for these nuptials, which have become a lightning rod for protests.

Still, any desire to dampen the prevailing fever pitch has yet to materialize. Instead, the glitterati were set to party, and the paparazzi jostling for glimpses of the gilded gala.

Whatever happens, it will be a wedding for the ages.

Venice is famed for its network of canals, where gondoliers croon for lovestruck couples and even ambulances are aquatic. But water transport of everything from bouquets to guests makes Venice among the world's most challenging cities for a party, according to Jack Ezon, CEO of luxury travel advisory and event planner Embark Beyond.

“It’s a very tight-knit community; everyone there knows everyone, and you need to work with the right people,” said Ezon, whose company has put on a dozen high-end events in Venice. "There’s very tight control, especially on movement there with boats.”

It at least triples the cost versus staging the same soiree in Rome or Florence, he said.

Veneto Gov. Luca Zaia was first to give an estimated tally for the Bezos/Sánchez bash: He told reporters this week the most recent total he saw was between 40 million and 48 million euros (up to $56 million).

It’s an eye-popping, jaw-dropping figure that's over 1,000 times the $36,000 average cost of American couples' weddings in 2025, according to wedding planning website Zola’s annual report.

Bezos’ team has been tight-lipped about where these millions are going. When the youngest son of Asia’s richest man married last July, performances by pop stars Rihanna and Justin Bieber pushed up the price tag.

“How do you spend $40 million on a three- or four-day event?” Ezon said. ”You could bring headliners, A-list performers, great DJs from anywhere in the world. You could spend $2 million on an incredible glass tent that’s only there for 10 hours, but it takes a month to build," or expand the celebration to local landmarks.

There's no sign Sánchez and Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, intend to take over any of Venice’s tourist-thronged hotspots. Still, intense hand-wringing about the prospect prompted their wedding coordinator, Lanza & Baucina, to issue a rare statement calling those rumors false.

On Thursday, a string of water taxis cut through the lagoon to bring Bezos, Sánchez and guests to the Madonna dell’Orto cloister as some onlookers cheered. Paparazzi followed in their own boats, trying to capture guests on camera — Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom — as police on jet skis patrolled.

Local media have reported the couple will hold a ceremony Friday on San Giorgio island, across the lagoon basin from St. Mark’s Square. Associated Press journalists circling the island Thursday saw workers assembling tents and private security personnel stationed at every pier, including a newly built one.

Media have also reported a reception Saturday in the Arsenale, a former navy base best known as a primary venue for the Venice Biennale.

There are some who say these two should not be wed in this city.

They characterize the wedding as a decadent display of wealth in a world with growing inequality, and argue it's a shining example of tourism taking precedence over residents’ needs, particularly affordable housing and essential services. Venice is also one of the cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels from climate change.

About a dozen Venetian organizations — including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups — are protesting under the banner “No Space for Bezos,” a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride’s recent space flight.

Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St. Mark’s Square denouncing Bezos for paying insufficient taxes. Activists floated a bald-headed Bezos-inspired mannequin down a Venice canal atop an Amazon delivery box, its hands clenching fake cash.

Authorities — from Venice's mayor to the nation’s tourism minister — have dismissed the outcry, saying it ignores the visibility and economic boost the wedding brings.

“There will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride’s dress, over the ceremony,” Italy’s tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, told the AP.

“All of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice — our shopkeepers, artisans, restauranteurs, hotels. So it’s a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.”

As Amazon’s CEO, Bezos usually avoided the limelight, frequently delegating announcements and business updates to his executives. Today he has a net worth of $231 billion, according to Forbes.

In 2019, he announced he was divorcing his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, just before the National Enquirer published a story about an affair with Sánchez, a former TV news anchor. Sánchez filed for divorce the day after Bezos’ divorce was finalized.

He stepped down as CEO in 2021, saying he wished to spend more time on side projects, including Blue Origin, The Washington Post, which he owns, and his philanthropic initiatives.

Sitting beside Sánchez during an interview with CNN in 2022, he announced plans to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

Last week, a Venetian environmental research association issued a statement saying Bezos’ Earth Fund was supporting its work with an “important donation.” CORILA, which seeks protection of the Venetian lagoon system, said contact began in April, well before any protests.

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Biller reported from Rome. AP reporter Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.