Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding in Venice today was meant to be the event of the century — but the lavish celebration, already beset by protests and logistical issues, has been further complicated by unexpected storms, celebrity slip-ups and growing opposition from residents.
Set against such a romantic backdrop, one of the world’s richest men and his bride-to-be had choreographed a three-day extravaganza costing $46million with 200 VIP guests.
The scale of the nuptial affair has drawn worldwide attention and now, as things go anything but according to plan, the couple’s woes are unfolding in full public view.
Many in the city are unhappy about Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, choosing it as the location for the festivities, and demonstrations by anti-capitalist and environmental advocates have marred the run-up to the exchange of vows.
There is a potential issue with one of the venues, the fabulous 15th-century Madonna dell Orto church in the quaint Cannaregio district. The structure is undergoing maintenance, meaning the first glimpse that those attending will have of the historic bell tower is of all the scaffolding.
Worse still perhaps, the Amazon founder and his former TV journalist fiancee are not the only couple dominating the headlines. Orlando Bloom’s unforeseen solo appearance in the City of Love has stolen much of the limelight as media outlets around the globe speculate over his breakup with Katy Perry.
It just goes to show that money can’t buy everything…
Freak bad weather
Bride-to-be Lauren Sanchez sought refuge under an umbrella after a freak thunderstorm hit the couple’s first pre-wedding party on Thursday
A freak thunderstorm during a pre-wedding party on Thursday night left guests soaked and forced to cower under umbrellas. The event, held at the Madonna dell Orto cloisters marked the start of the billionaire couple’s lavish wedding in Venice, Italy, which will come to a close on Saturday.
However, all kicked off to a poor start, after heavy downpour and intense lightning storms lefts attendees drenched. The couple’s A-list guests like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were forced to take cover from the rain, forcing Thursday night’s star-studded soiree into an early close.
Meanwhile bride-to-be Lauren was surrounded by tuxedo-clad gentleman carrying blue umbrellas over her as she carefully stepped on to her awaiting boat. The TV personality wore a striking off-the-shoulder dress with a dramatic gold corset cinching in her already tiny waist. Bezos — who popped the question in 2023 with a $3 million engagement ring — was seen following closely behind Lauren with an umbrella over his head.
Guests were seen diving for cover under the vaulted cloisters as lightning ‘bolts flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled overhead at the end of what was a torridly humid day with temperatures nudging 96.8° Fahrenheit. They then dashed for water taxis which had been called for a good 45 minutes ahead of the midnight finish time. The strong gusts of winds whipped table cloths away and sent waiters scurrying for umbrellas to protect the VIP attendees.
‘It just goes to show you can have all the money in the world but you can’t control the weather — although an Italian saying says a wet bride is a happy and lucky bride’ commented one onlooker.
In footage obtained by DailyMail.com, Lauren appeared to be in high spirits despite the rain ending their soiree early. Once inside the water taxi, she was seen sharing a laugh with her soon-to-be groom as the downpour intensified.
Celebrity slip-up?
Ivanka Trump sparked security fears on Thursday after sharing a social media post ahead of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding
Earlier this week it was reported that Ivanka Trump has sparked security fears after she potentially revealed the new location of the star-studded wedding between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.
The three-day affair in Venice had a last minute venue change due to protests from angry locals and global tensions arising from the US strike on Iran over this past weekend.
Ivanka ignited concerns after she posted a photo of her hotel room number alongside several pictures of herself and husband Jared Kushner in their formal attire.
‘Ready to celebrate the love story of our friends, Lauren Sanchez and @JeffBezos,’ she posted on X on Thursday afternoon.
The image set contained a photograph of a white door with the couple’s room number and the word ‘Dolce Vita’ written on the front.
It immediately sparked concerned replies from eagle-eyed social media users.
‘Did you dox location by posting the photo of that door?’ one person replied to her post, which has now been seen by more than 235,000 people.
Protests
Tensions have been brewing over recent days as locals and protest groups object to the $20 million Venice nuptials
Another major setback threatening the glamorous event has been protests against the couple holding their wedding in the historic Italian city. Tensions have been brewing over the past week as locals and protest groups object to the $46 million Venice nuptials due to fears it will ‘take over the city’.
The couple have already been forced to change one of the venues due to ‘rising global tensions’, but as news of protests continued to threaten the wedding, the couple still found themselves mired in controversy.
Around 20 activists were seen on Thursday holding placards in St Mark’s Square, the iconic heart of Venice, with some trying to climb a post. An extinction rebellion flag was waved, and some protestors held signs reading ‘we are the 99 per cent we have the power’. Another campaigner clutched onto a placard saying ‘the planet burns’ in Italian while they were forcibly carried away by police.
It is speculated that Bezos, Sanchez and the wedding’s planners will do everything to keep their V.VIP guests — including Bill Gates, Jordan’s Queen Rania, Kim Kardashian and Ivanka Trump — safe.
The luxurious event has continued to attract huge controversy, with protests planned by angry locals. A team of former US marines have already been hired to provide security for the event by Bezos, which is due to take place over three days.
Local newspaper Il Gazzettino already stated that the days leading up to the wedding would be ‘tension filled’ and the move to the venue was due to it being ‘easier to control’ as large scale protests are expected.
But they also added ‘the winds of war and rising global tensions between the US and Iran’ were also being taken into consideration — there is a large American airbase at Aviano just 50 miles away.
Bezos and Sanchez were forced to move their final day of lavish celebrations that was set to culminate at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia. They are instead taking place at the Arsenale, which is further out from the city — a move which is an ‘enormous victory’ for Campaign group No Space for Bezos, they said.
Protestors made several complaints against Bezos, with some pointing saying: ‘If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax’
Tommaso Cacciari from the group told the BBC: ‘We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing! We’re just citizens who started organising and we managed to move one of the most powerful people in the world — all the billionaires — out of the city’.
Meanwhile on Monday Greenpeace activists unfurled a huge banner in St Mark’s Square, the iconic heart of Venice protesting against the wedding. It showed an image of Bezos face and the slogan: ‘If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax’.
Activists from British group ‘Everyone Hates Elon’ were also involved and said they had carried it out to highlight the ‘environmental and social injustice of the wedding’.
‘Bezos encapsulates an economic and social model which is steering us towards collapse’ said one protester.
‘All too often now social injustice travels on an equal par with the climate, on one side the arrogance of a few billionaires who have a lifestyle that devastates the planet, the other people who suffer daily from the environment crisis’.
The official planners of one of the biggest weddings to ever exist, Lanza & Baucina Limited, have dismissed the protests and insisted they have taken every precaution required.
They said in a statement: ‘As event organisers who have been working in Venice for over 24 years, we feel obliged to set the record straight given the misinformation, untruths and misunderstandings circulating about the Bezos wedding.
‘From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events’.
Headline-grabbing breakup
It emerged at the beginning of the three-day wedding extravaganza between Bezos and Sanchez that Orlando Bloom (pictured) and Katy Perry had ended their nine-year relationship
One of the most unexpected stories that has gained headlines during the Bezos/Sanchez wedding celebrations was the split of Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry — who had reportedly been together for nine years.
News of the pop princess and hunky actor’s shock break-up came at the start of the Amazon billionaire’s lavish three-day wedding celebrations. The headline-grabbing break-up comes after nine years together, six of which the now ex-couple — who share a four-year-old daughter together — spent engaged.
This explains why 48-year-old Bloom attended the Bezos and Sanchez wedding without Perry, 40, and why he was seen appearing to wrap his arms around a mystery woman at a lavish pre-wedding party on Thursday. A source has told US weekly that the split was ‘amicable’.
‘Katy and Orlando have split but are amicable’, said the source, adding that the break-up was so far ‘not contentious’.
‘Katy is of course upset but is relieved to not have to go through another divorce, as that was the worst time in her life’ they said.
However a very telling cryptic post shared today by Katy calls into question just how ‘amicable’ the break up is.
The US pop star re-shared a video to her Instagram Stories from a content creator who teaches followers the ‘Laws of the Universe’ to help them ‘heal your life’.
She claimed a person’s purpose in life is determined by the phase of the moon on the day of their birth, with Katy indicating her purpose is to start ‘new chapters’.
‘The phase of the moon that was during your date of birth determines your purpose,’ the video explained.
‘If you were born on a waning crescent, you are here to complete the mission that you feel’ the clip claimed.
‘You are ending things that no longer serve the collective. You are setting the new stone for new chapters. You are here to save people’.
Orlando Bloom was spotted with a mystery woman at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s lavish pre-wedding party in Italy on Thursday.
The newly-minted bachelor was spotted leaving the Madonna dell Orto cloisters with a glamorous brunette after guests were forced to end the night early following a freak thunderstorm in Venice.
Katy Perry and English actor Orlando Bloom (both pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills this year) were together for some nine years
Bloom and other guests had to brave the heavy rainfall as the party’s VIPs exited the historic venue to catch a boat ride back to the luxurious five-star Aman Hotel.
Once inside the boat, Bloom was caught wrapping his arm around the unknown woman as they laughed together in their seats.
News of Bloom and Perry’s breakup was confirmed by sources on Thursday after weeks of rampant speculation.
The couple first got together in 2016 before splitting up and getting back together in 2018. Bloom proposed to Perry in 2019 and they welcomed daughter Daisy Dove, now four-years-old, in August 2020.
Rumors of ‘tensions’ between Perry and Orlando began to surface earlier this month. Several outlets alleged that the singer’s poor-performing album 143 and the mocking she faced following her Blue Origin space trip — as well as her ongoing Lifetimes Tour — put ‘stress’ on the relationship.
The Teenage hitmaker has also recently been seen without her engagement ring in recent weeks. Furthering the speculation, it was confirmed that Bloom would be attending Sanchez and Bezos’ wedding without Perry.
For now, Katy is reportedly staying ‘distracted’ with her Australian tour and caring for her and Daisy Dove, who was seen joining her while the 48-year-old English actor was elsewhere.
Neither Perry or Bloom have spoken publicly on the split reports.
Scaffolding
The bell tower of the 15th Century Madonna dell Orto church in Venice’s quaint Cannargio district is currently covered in scaffolding
The couple were hit with yet another issue when it emerged that the historic venue they chose for one of their wedding events is currently covered in scaffolding.
On Thursday — the first day of the three-day event — a party was held within the fabulous 15th Century Madonna dell Orto church in Venice’s quaint Cannargio district.
Ahead of the do, in preparation, security guards blocked off entrances to the closure where the party was set to be held.
However, it is believed that the first thing guests would have seen upon arrival at the venue was the iconic bell tower covered in scaffolding.
The venue for the party was the cloister next door to the church – which is where the famous Renaissance artist Tintoretto is buried.
The website for the cloister describes the venue – which is used for the famous Biennale art exhibition in Venice – describes the colonnade as ‘simple and yet elegant’.
Pictures from previous events show tables beneath the vaulted ceilings, atmospherically lit by candlelight– but this week the scaffolding on the church tower was clearly visible.
The cloister extends to three sides and is supported on ornate columns with a beautiful herringbone floor. When MailOnline approached a guard and asked if the cloister was open, we were told: ‘No, it’s closed, there is a private function.’
‘Clip art’ invitation
According to ABC News, this documents is part of the wedding invitation sent out by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez
Another element of the nuptials that has come under scrutiny is the invitation sent out to guests. A copy of part of the material sent out by the couple had been obtained by ABC News, with some saying it looks like it could have been made by a 10-year-old.
The document, which is decorated with whimsical cartoon images says: ‘We’re excited for you to join us! We have one early request: please, no gifts
It also features what appear to be computer-generated designs of butterflies, doves, the Venice canals, gondolas, and feathers in purple, gray and pink-hues.
The text added: ‘Instead, we’re making contributions in your honor and with gratitude to you for making the journey to celebrate with us in Venice.
‘Donations on your behalf are being made to the UNESCO Venice Office to safeguard the city’s irreplaceable cultural heritage, to CORILA to restore the lagoon habitats that protect Venice’s future, and to Venice International University to support research and education for sustainable solutions. This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories.
‘Our hope is that through these efforts and by you joining us, Venice will continue to inspire wonder for generations to come.’
Despite the invitation’s positive message, many were critical — with some stating it looked ‘cheap’.
One commentator said: ‘Was the invitation made in Microsoft paint?’
Another agreed, adding: ‘Wow what an ugly announcement/invitation. With all the money he has they could have at least done something pretty and classy.’
In a similar vein, a third penned: ‘What in the Microsoft Paint is this? They couldn’t afford an illustrator?’
