Lights, camera, action.
After months of speculation, Lauren Sanchez’s and Jeff Bezos’ wedding is in full throttle in Venice. In recent days, celebrity guests like Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Barry Diller, Diane Von Furstenberg, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Kylie, Kendall and Kris Jenner, Tom Brady, Wendi Deng, Stacey Bennet, Karlie Kloss, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Orlando Bloom and Usher have been spotted strolling on the streets and boarding classic mahogany Rivas.
While the festivities are being chronicled by international media outlets, attendees seem to have some restrictions. Upon their arrivals, wedding guests had their phones stowed away, according to one source.
Many of the designer label-loving attendees packed accordingly. That’s a good thing, since their style is being scrutinized at every turn. Even Kylie Jenner’s three-year-old son Aire landed an article in The Daily Mail for carrying a stuffed monkey that may have been the Baby Milo bag that Timothée Chalamet had on the red carpet previously.
You May Also Like
Asked about how the Sanchez-Bezos wedding has become a type of fashion show in itself, Calvin Klein — who is not attending — said, “I guess, when you get to a certain place and you have everything, there aren’t that many weddings in one’s life. And Venice is a glorious place to have a wedding and celebrate with people that you care about. This is life at its wealthiest level. And we get to see it and view how they are celebrating their wedding. It’s kind of wonderful.”
While “it’s unfortunate that it gets some nasty publicity along with it,” Klein said, “that’s to be expected.” Suggesting that protesters were “protesting their own cause,” the designer added, “I’m sure that Jeff Bezos is very generous to Venice and the world.”
Even Thursday night’s thunderstorm and downpours didn’t appear to dampen guests’ moods en route to a dinner in the 15th-century Madonna dell Orto church. The Schiaparelli-clad Sanchez and others smiled, ducking under blue umbrellas. The hue matched Amazon’s brand color of choice. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment about whether the umbrellas are available on the website, or if anything Sanchez and Bezos wear this weekend will be sold by the e-tailer.
All of the wedding could bode well with consumers, as Amazon Prime Day 2025 will be held July 8 to 11.
The revelry is “a great opportunity” for Amazon to gain positive publicity, according to retail analyst Bruce Winder. “When you think about the venue, the celebrities in attendance and the outfits guests are wearing, it makes for an incredible once-in-a-decade event. People love celebrity weddings, and their nuptials create inspiration for soon-to-be couples and other event planners,” he said.
As for the bride’s wedding gown, there were reports that Dolce & Gabbana was her choice. Sanchez needs no introduction to the designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. She and Bezos were front-row guests when her son Nikko Gonzalez modeled in the designers’ runway show in Sardinia.
In addition, the coverage helps promote Amazon’s increased presence within the accessible luxury products area — “albeit indirectly,” Winder said. The no-gifts event and the couple’s donations to Venice nonprofits “shows their sensitivity to the situation,” he added. Their invitation informed guests that donations were being made to UNESCO’s Venice office, CORILA and to the Venice International University.
After wearing an Oscar de la Renta ensemble for her first day in Venice, Trump turned up in a pale pink strapless gown from Tony Ward Couture.
Whether all of these camera-ready celebrity-studded moments will be captured in a photo shoot remains a question mark. Asked if Annie Leibovitz, a Vogue favorite who is traveling out of the country, is shooting the nuptials, a staffer in her studio declined to comment. A Condé Nast spokesperson could not be reached immediately Friday afternoon.
Along with the Venetian Gothic architecture and celadon-colored canals, the 200 invitees are getting a taste of traditional pastries from Venice’s oldest bakery Rosa Salva. Antonio Rosa said he has been busy making pastries that were delivered in boxes for the wedding guests. The sixth-generation business owner, who uses Amazon to buy things he can’t find in Venice, like trays to serve coffee on at the Rosa Salva Hotel, was enthusiastic about how the Sanchez-Bezos wedding is drawing attention to Venice.
As for the current scene, Salva said, “It’s a normal day in Venice like any others. There’s no confusion — no protesters.”
Earlier this week, Greenpeace and activists from the U.K. action group Everyone Hates Elon rolled out a huge banner imprinted with “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”
Greenpeace’s Christine Gebeneter described the wedding as “a symbol of an extreme overconsumption lifestyle, which is made possible by lax tax rules for billionaires.” She said, “We ask governments to implement a tax on ultra-rich individuals, so that those contributing over-proportionately to the climate and nature crisis pay what they owe to our societies.”
CORILA, the Consortium for the Coordination of Research on the Venice Lagoon, received “a generous donation” from Bezos and Sanchez that will be used to “help preserve Venice for future generations,” according to the nonprofit’s Pierpaolo Campostrini. The couple did not ask CORILA “to specify the project for which the money will be spent,” he said. That will be decided by CORILA’s board in the following weeks, Campostrini said.
A spokesperson at the Venice International University declined to specify the amount of the Sanchez-Bezos donation. A media request to UNESCO was unreturned.
Despite the worldwide media spotlight shining bright on Venice, that hasn’t translated to major hikes in shopping at Noventa di Piave Designer Outlet, which has outposts for Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta and more. A staffer at the shopping center said Friday, “We must admit that no direct impact has been observed on our business so far due to Jeff Bezos’ wedding. Nonetheless, we are pleased for the newlyweds and for the opportunity this event has provided to enhance the city of Venice.”
