What to
Know About the Wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez
The second
marriage for both is taking place in Venice, Italy, under a shroud of secrecy
and amid a swarm of speculation.
Jesse
McKinley Emma Bubola
By Jesse
McKinley and Emma Bubola
June 20,
2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/style/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-wedding.html
It may be
the best semi-secret wedding money can buy.
Next week,
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world’s richest men, is set to
marry Lauren Sánchez, a former TV reporter. Their ceremony promises to be among
the most closely watched, and closely held, in recent memory.
Beyond its
general locale — Venice, where some locals are already upset about the event —
little is known about the couple’s impending nuptials, following what has been
about six years of public courtship.
It’s a
period that includes Mr. Bezos’ evolution from being known as the owner of the
Washington Post, one of the nation’s most prominent newspapers, to being known
as a friend of a president notorious for his attacks on the press.
At the same
time, Ms. Sánchez has transitioned from being a news anchor in Los Angeles and
a notable figure in the social scene to becoming a celebrity in her own right —
taking short spaceflights with Katy Perry aboard a rocket bankrolled by her
fiancé and having a bachelorette party attended by the Kardashians.
Mr. Bezos,
61, proposed to Ms. Sánchez, 55, on his yacht, Koru, docked near the Cannes
Film Festival in May 2023, according to an interview in Vogue, hiding the pink
diamond ring under her pillow. “When Jeff opened the box,” Ms. Sánchez
recalled. “I think I blacked out a bit.”
Yet, for all
of that publicity, the actual wedding plans have remained exceedingly secret,
with security concerns and possible protests, though rumors abound about the
guest list, the locale, and — naturally — the prenuptial agreement. Here’s what
we know.
Where and
when is the wedding?
Needless to
say, it’s a destination wedding, and it seems likely to occur between June 26
and 28. According to unconfirmed reports in Italian newspapers, the locations
for festivities may include a pagoda on Venice’s Lido beach, where the Venice
Film Festival is held; the island of San Giorgio which faces the Doge palace;
and the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a lovingly restored Renaissance
building, which exudes status-symbol wedding vibes: soaring ceilings, an indoor
colonnade, plenty of plinths.
But Mr.
Bezos and his camp have been mum about venues — and pretty much everything
else.
Wherever Ms.
Sánchez and Mr. Bezos say their “I dos,” it won’t be at City Hall, unlike
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin, who got married there in 2014, according to
city officials. Italy has a variety of rules surrounding marriage rites, which
can involve religious ceremonies, often performed in Roman Catholic churches.
The Sánchez-Bezos wedding, however, will be nondenominational, likely of a
ceremonial nature.
Who is
invited?
Secrecy
surrounding the event extends to the guest list, though approximately 200
guests are expected. Many of those will be close friends and family — the
couple have seven children, combined, from previous marriages and relationships
— with a dappling of celebrities, tech moguls and political figures. President
Trump is not attending, though his daughter Ivanka is likely to be there, with
her husband, Jared Kushner.
The list is
believed to be packed with A-listers, including Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger,
Jay-Z & Beyoncé, Eva Longoria, Gayle King and Jewel. Barry Diller and his
wife, Diane von Furstenberg, who have a home in Venice, may also attend.
If the
bachelorette party — held in Paris in May — was any indication, both Ms. Perry
and Kim Kardashian, likely will be on the guest list, as could Kris Jenner.
Ms.
Sánchez’s bachelorette also included friends like Veronica Smiley Grazer, a
marketing executive whose husband is film producer Brian Grazer; Lydia Kives, a
civil rights lawyer who is married to Michael Kives, a Canadian investor and
former agent who has been called a “Hollywood super-connector”; and October
Gonzalez, a television host who is married to Hall of Fame football player Tony
Gonzalez, a former boyfriend of Ms. Sánchez with whom she shares a child. All
might make the scene, as could some of Mr. Bezos’ tech brethren, such as Bill
Gates, who attended one of the couple’s engagement parties.
Some guests
may be arriving nautically: A representative of local yachting operators said
that nine yachts associated with the wedding were expected to be docked in
Venice during the week leading up to the event.
How much is
this all going to cost?
Well,
certainly more than your average Amazon purchase, but perhaps not on the level
of last year’s Ambani-Merchant wedding in Mumbai. Still, numerous tabloid
reports have estimated the cost to reach multiple millions.
Perhaps
aware of local concerns regarding the potential ostentation of the wedding,
Lanza & Baucina, which is organizing the wedding, expressed their intention
to minimize “any disruption to the city” and its residents, while also
employing locals to craft the events. They added that Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sánchez
have supported “the city and its all-important lagoon through non-profit
organizations and associated projects.”
Lanza &
Baucina, a prestigious London-based agency established by three Italian
cousins, has done work in Venice before, and says — on its all-caps website —
that it has planned “THE WORLD’S MOST EXCLUSIVE, PRIVATE AND SPECTACULAR
PARTIES,” including royal and celebrity weddings, on every continent. But they
are also cautious in their approach.
The “No
Space for Bezos” protesters have vowed to block the canals, expressing their
disapproval of the wedding being hosted in the historic city. Credit...Manuel
Silvestri/Reuters
Why are
people protesting?
Venice and
its canals attract large crowds, especially in the summer, prompting city
officials to impose a small fee for visitors during peak periods and limit tour
group sizes.
But the
protests over the Bezos wedding also seem to be dovetailing with a larger
movement in some popular European locations against “overtourism,” with
protests in places like Barcelona, Mallorca and Lisbon.
In Venice,
the “No Space for Bezos” movement is promising more protests, with talk of
blocking canals and other anti-nuptial mischief.
Tommaso
Cacciari, one of the organizers of the protests, said they were planning to
obstruct the canals that lead to the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, one of
the venues rumored to be used for the wedding, with boats but also inflatable
animals. “Maybe we will manage to block it,” he said. “But they will definitely
have to see us.”
Darco
Pellos, the police prefect of Venice, said there will be heightened security to
ensure that the events take place smoothly.
Banners and
posters are already being seen, some with the slogan — “Veniceland: A
playground fit for an oligarch.”
As a
counterpoint, local officials have said that only about 30 water taxis have
been booked for the event, and some residents have welcomed the ultrawealthy
wedding, noting that the city has regularly hosted big, flashy parties.
What’s the
scene expected to be like?
There is
likely to be a crush of paparazzi and other amateur stargazers.
One point of
reference is the 2014 Clooney-Alamuddin event, where celebrity news and morning
shows decamped to Venice and photographers pursued the couple. (That couple
seemed remarkably at ease, answering shouted questions from reporters and
acknowledging screaming fans.)
How Ms.
Sánchez and Mr. Bezos greet and are greeted by the public remains to be seen,
though they could have a handy escape if they want to avoid any unwanted
attention: according to the boat tracking site, Marine Traffic, Koru is already
bobbing in the Adriatic Sea, along with Mr. Bezos’ “support ship,” the Abeona,
a 250-feet-long dinghy complete with a helicopter pad. (Ms. Sánchez is a
pilot.)
But unlike
other big boats, and big names, Koru appears not to be headed to the wedding.
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