Venice to host Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez’s $500-million superyacht wedding; city denies ‘fake news’ of disruptions

The city of Venice on Saturday confirmed that it will host the lavish wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, while assuring residents that the arrival of hundreds of celebrities will not cause disruptions for citizens and tourists alike.

City officials have confirmed that the wedding celebrations will take place from June 24 to 26 and will take place on the multi-billionaire’s $500-million superyacht Koru, which will be anchored in the Venice lagoon, a CNN report said.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said, “We are mutually working and supporting the organisers to ensure that the event will be absolutely respectful of the fragility and uniqueness of the city.”

The city, however did not give a specific date for the Bezos and Sanchez’ nuptials and said, “The many speculations and fake news circulating about Jeff Bezos‘ wedding are completely unfounded.”

It noted that only 200 guests would be invited to the wedding, making it easier for authorities to accommodate them without causing any disruption to the city, its residents or tourists. The city said it has a vast experience in handling “much larger” international events.

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Citing the G20 and G7 summits, the Architecture and Cinema Biennales, as well as other private events and VIP weddings, the city said, “Venice is used to being the stage for events and shows every week, without significant impacts.”

Earlier, several media reports had suggested that Bezos’ wedding organisers had already reserved rooms at Venice’s main luxury hotels and booked a large number of gondolas and water taxis, a daily mode of transportation for citizens and tourists, for a few days in late June.

Rubbishing all such reports, the city said that it “is their utmost priority to make sure the city functions as normal, for all, with no disruption to anyone”.

However, a CNN report had mentioned that Venice’s major luxe hotels along the Grand Canal, including Belmond Hotel Cipriani, the St Regis Venis, the Gritti Palace, the Hotel Danieli and the luxurious Grand Aman Hotel, the venue for George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin’s 2014 wedding, were all almost entirely booked for the last weekend of June.

Bezos and Sanchez, a former journalist, first went public as a couple back in 2019 and later got engaged in May 2023. As per Page Six, the couple sent out their wedding invitations earlier this month.

As per a report from the People, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will be in attendance at the couple’s wedding, while the guest list included the names of Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Eva Longoria.

Previously, the 61-year-old Bezos was married to MacKenzie Scott for 25 years and has four children with her.