The upcoming Venetian wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former news anchor and licensed pilot Lauren Sanchez — which is expected to be a lavish, multimillion-dollar affair — may be one of the most anticipated and closely guarded events to be held in the floating city of love.
Spokespeople for the couple remain tight-lipped and one guest told CNN they signed an NDA, but a lid cannot be kept on widespread speculation about every detail of the event that is expected to take place this week.
At Harry’s Bar, a fabled institution that once counted Ernest Hemingway among its customers, the waiters are hoping some of the 200 guests — a mix of A-list celebrities, political dignitaries and powerful business executives — might stop in for one of their famous Bellini cocktails.
Whether or not Bezos will bring his yet-unnamed groomsmen there, as George Clooney did when he married Amal Alamuddin in 2014, is anyone’s guess. “We hope so,” one of the waiters told CNN. “We can’t divulge anyone who has made a reservation. We protect the privacy of all of our guests, not just the billionaires.”
From the date to the guest list, possible venues and the bridal gown and budget of $50,000 per guests, the rumor mill is spinning at a rapid pace.
Proceedings are being overseen by boutique event planners Lanza and Baucina, the Italian duo who transformed Venice’s Grand Canal into a red carpet for the Clooneys’ glitzy wedding.
Protesters believe there’s no space for a Bezos wedding in Venice, but the company has insisted that its plans are respectful of the city and the unique set of challenges it faces as one of the most overpopulated tourist sites in Europe.
“Rumours of ‘taking over’ the city are entirely false and diametrically opposed to our goals and to reality,” they said in a statement shared with CNN.
“From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimizing of any disruption to the city.”
The night before, Luca Zaia, president of the surrounding Veneto region, announced that Bezos and Sanchez were donating €1 million ($1.16 million) to the Corila Consortium, an international scientific research group doing work on the Venice lagoon — a gesture of “love and responsibility” toward the city, he said.
Hollywood guests and local sweet treats
The couple is sourcing some 80% of wedding provisions from local vendors, including pastries from the Rosa Salva pastry shop, the oldest in Venice, whose owners told CNN they have been commissioned to create “about 200 goodie bags.”
Murano glassware designer Laguna B also confirmed to CNN that it is creating special party favors. The company declined to share any further details.
Zaia is not concerned about the city’s plans to manage the wedding, telling one local paper, “I repeat, this is a city that handles 150,000 people a day. George Clooney, François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek, Alexandre Arnault, Elton John and many others got married here.”
He also surmised that the President of the United States, who is in Europe this week for the NATO summit, could conceivably be on the guest list, telling Corriere della Sera, “Of course, Donald Trump could also come to this wedding.” One imagines that Trump’s priorities may have shifted considerably over the weekend.
