Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s Venetian wedding celebrations are finally kicking off — and with them comes a swirling mess of protests, rumors and security issues.
The world’s third richest man and his fiancée will host a mix of A-listers and powerbrokers over a three-day celebration, with guests beginning to arrive Tuesday, Page Six is told.
Bezos’ mega yacht, Koru, has already arrived in Italy, but his security advisors are ready to make changes to key locations amid concerns about protests about the lavish wedding, we have learned.
Indeed, local sources told us that everything is in flux and the couple has booked multiple venues across several days in case there are issues.
“The couple has deliberately kept multiple options open, booking several venues across a range of dates,” said a Venetian insider. “The strategy serves both to mislead paparazzi and protesters, and to ensure contingency plans in the event of last-minute logistical setbacks.”
The couple and their guests — who, we have reported, will include Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, billionaire investor and former CAA agent Michael Kives and his wife Lydia, and Barry Diller and his wife, Diane von Furstenberg — could well face trouble as a barrage of protestors have promised to upend the wedding.
The protest group “No Space for Bezos” has already plastered banners around the city.
“We reject the exploitative logic that sees the city as a commodity,” Federica Toninello, spokesperson for the group told Page Six.
“What worries us even more is a mayor who prefers selling Venice rather than addressing the real problems its residents face — rising living costs, housing prices, the depopulation of the historic center,” Toninello added.
“The setup of this mega-event is emblematic of the mayor’s vision for Venice. These kinds of events create precarious, seasonal jobs that are overly dependent on foreign demand. But Venetians need stable employment with fair wages.”
The Times of London reported Monday that Bezos has already been forced to cancel one of his planned events. A Saturday after-party was due to have been held at Scuola Grande di Santa Maria della Misericordia, a 14th-century events space. It’s now been moved to one of the halls at Venice’s former shipyard — the Arsenale — which were once used for sail-making and are known as Le Tese.
“Bezos is on the run — this is a crazy victory for a small group of people with no money who went up against one of the richest men on the planet,” protestor Tommasso Cacciari told The Times.
However, local sources told Page Six that Venice officials actively campaigned to host the Bezos wedding once Morris Ceron, chief of staff to the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnarom, learned from fashion designer Domenico Dolce (of Dolce & Gabbana) that Bezos and Sánchez were scouting wedding locations.
The city swiftly stepped in to propose Venice as the ideal venue.
A welcoming ceremony for guests is expected to be held at the beachside restaurant La Pagoda, with views of the Adriatic Sea.
As Page Six exclusively revealed, the couple will say “I do” on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
Sources told us they will tie the knot at the Teatro Verde, an open-air amphitheater nestled in a grove on the island, although TMZ says the ceremony will be held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, a cultural center on Maggiore.
The island was the home of a Benedictine abbey for eight centuries until Napoleon shut it down and looted its masterpiece, “The Wedding at Cana,” which now hangs across from the “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre in Paris.
Other celebrations will possibly be held at the Palazzo Pisani Moretta on the Grand Canal — home to the annual Doge’s Ball, an exclusive masquerade gala.
The Church of the Madonna dell’Orto, a 14th-century chapel that is home to the Renaissance painter Tintoretto’s tomb, is also on the table, as is the five-star Hotel Excelsior. Parties are also expected on yachts, including the Koru.
Celebrity wedding planners Lanza & Baucina have said that Bezos had been “honored from the start” to support Venice through donations to nonprofits and related projects.
However, neither the City of Venice nor the International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice have reported receiving any donations or outreach from Bezos or his guests.
Simone Venturini, the city’s Culture Commissioner, said fees collected for the use of municipal spaces are used to maintain the city and support social initiatives and cultural programming.
TMZ reported Monday that Bezos’ 417-foot yacht may now be kept outside of the city due amid the protests — and guests will be ferried in and out of Venice by tender boats instead. We are told that docking reservations had been made at both the Stazione Marittima, where most cruise ships dock, and Riva degli Schiavoni.
The Amazon founder and his bride-to-be are hoping theirs will be a wedding to end all weddings, Page Six is told.
Guests will be staying at some of Venice’s most famous hotels, from the Hotel Danieli to the ultra-exclusive Aman — where the happy couple are believed to have booked a luxe suite — as well as the Gritti and the Cipriani. Each property overlooks the Grand Canal or lies within close walking distance of the iconic St. Mark’s Square.
The famed Venetian pastry shop Rosa Salva has been tapped to provide desserts and aperitifs, while the rest of the catering is expected to be handled by either La Dogaressa or Cipriani. Artisan glassmakers at Laguna B, masters of the famed Murano technique, have crafted custom glassware and decorative pieces to adorn the wedding venues, sources said.
“For Venice, an event like this is business as usual. The city is used to hosting major ceremonies. In fact, locals wouldn’t have even noticed Bezos’s wedding — if not for the protests organized by a few activists,” Venturini said.