The three-day gala has drawn protests by local activists, who feel their city has become a playground for the ultra-rich
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez left their luxury hotel on Venice’s Grand Canal on Friday to head to their wedding ceremony, the centrepiece of a three-day gala featuring dozens of stars but also protests by local activists.
Sanchez, 55, waved and blew kisses to onlookers as she boarded a sleek motor boat outside the Aman hotel wearing short-sleeved, cream fitted skirt suit, with shades and a headscarf to protect her from the blistering summer sun.
Around two hours later Bezos, 61, wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt, made the same short trip across the lagoon to the small island of San Giorgio where the couple will exchange rings, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The evening ceremony will have no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.
