✕ Close Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez leave Venice hotel by boat

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Jeff Bezos is en route to marry Lauren Sánchez in Venice.

Bezos was seen clad in a black tux and bowtie on his way to the altar. Sánchez was spotted earlier leaving the Aman Hotel ahead of the week’s main event, clad in a cream colored two-piece suit, sunglasses, and a chic head scarf. She waved and blew kisses to onlookers eager to catch a glimpse of the star-studded celebrations.

The Amazon founder and former journalist arrived at the opulent Aman Hotel on Wednesday via helicopter after spending time in Croatia on board Bezos’s $500 million mega yacht, Koru.

The nuptials are expected to cost between $46 and $55 million, which is unlikely to make a dent in Bezos’s $231 billion net worth.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Tom Brady, and Orlando Bloom have all been seen at what is already being dubbed “the wedding of the century.”

Still, Venice locals continue to protest the presence of the American couple and their wealthy friends.

Follow along below for live updates

CNN —

It’s been both the most public and secretive wedding of the year.

On Friday, the main event of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s three-day-long Venetian extravaganza culminated in a private ceremony held on the secluded, historic San Giorgio Maggiore island in the San Marco sestiere. In the afternoon, the some 200 members of the celebrity guest list, including the Kardashian-Jenner family, Bill Gates, Karlie Kloss, Oprah Winfrey and Usher were all photographed stepping onto water taxis to ferry them to the festivities, but their visibility ended there, with guests seemingly adhering to an apparent social media blackout once inside each of the weekend’s events.

The ceremony ended discreetly, except for a signal from the fashion world — a Vogue digital cover offering a first look at Sanchez’s gown. After much speculation (and not-so-subtle sightings of designer Domenico Dolce in Venice), it revealed her dress was a custom design by Dolce & Gabbana and was a year and a half in the making. The high-necked lace corseted gown had 180 silk chiffon-covered priest buttons dotting the front. Over the course of the night, per Vogue, she had two more outfit changes: a sweetheart-neck dress — another reference, this time to the 1946 film “Gilda” — for the wedding dinner, and an intricate cocktail dress featuring 175,000 crystals by Oscar de la Renta.

Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at their wedding ceremony in Venice, Italy, on Friday, June 27. @laurensanchezbezos/Instagram/Reuters Sanchez leaves the Aman hotel, ahead of her wedding to Bezos on Friday. She was wearing a white tailored Dior skirt suit and Tom Ford sunglasses as she headed to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images The sun sets on San Giorgio Maggiore, where Bezos and Sanchez were holding their wedding ceremony. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Orlando Bloom leaves his hotel for the wedding ceremony on Friday. Luigi Costantini/AP Model Vittoria Ceretti waits on a taxi boat before leaving for the wedding ceremony on Friday. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Kim Kardashian takes a photo as she rides a taxi boat to the wedding on Friday. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters Kim and Khloe Kardashian leave their hotel for the wedding on Friday. Luigi Costantini/AP Corey Gamble and Kris Jenner head to the wedding on Friday. Yara Nardi/Reuters Kendall and Kylie Jenner leave for the wedding ceremony on Friday. Cobra Team/Backgrid Usher and Tom Brady travel to the wedding ceremony. Stefano Rerllandini/AFP/Getty Images Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump leave the St. Regis hotel on their way to the wedding on Friday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Karlie Kloss leaves for the wedding ceremony on Friday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Fashion designer Sarah Staudinger and talent agent Ari Emanuel pose for photos on their way to the wedding on Friday. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images Oprah Winfrey leaves the Gritti Palace hotel as she travels to San Giorgio Maggiore for the wedding on Friday. Manuel Silvestri/Reuters Bill Gates gets on a taxi boat Friday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Bezos waves as he arrives at San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday. Luigi Costantini/AP Bezos’ boat travels on the Grand Canal as he departs for his wedding on Friday. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Sanchez, who wore Jimmy Choo sling back pumps, arrives on San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday. Yara Nardi/Reuters Sanchez’s jewelry is seen as she holds her Hermès Kelly bag on Friday. Yara Nardi/Reuters Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner go for a walk in Venice before the wedding on Friday. Jenner was seen in a Dolce & Gabbana leopard print maxi dress, while Kardashian kept it simple in black. Andrea Cremascoli/GC Images/Getty Images Gates and his partner, Paula Hurd, leave the Gallerie dell’Accademia museum on Friday. Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images Jennifer Goicoechea takes a photo of her husband, Usher, while they ride a boat taxi in Venice on Friday. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images Sydney Sweeney walks through the streets of Venice on Friday in a black silk Chloé jumpsuit. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Ceretti talks on the phone in Venice on Friday. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Sweeney in vintage Elie Saab leaves the Madonna dell’Orto church on Thursday, June 26. SGP/Shutterstock Kloss, dressed in a blush-pink Stella McCartney gown, arrives at the Madonna dell’Orto church on Thursday. BACKGRID Bezos and Sanchez kiss as they leave the Aman hotel in Venice for their pre-wedding reception on Thursday. Luca Bruno/AP Trump wore a sequined cherry blossom cocktail dress by Oscar de la Renta as she and Kushner ferried to the week’s first events on Thursday. Luigi Costantini/AP Leonardo DiCaprio leaves the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice on Thursday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Usher rides on a boat taxi on Thursday. Luigi Costantini/AP Kendall and Kylie Jenner, dressed in vintage Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana respectively, depart the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Ceretti leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Kris Jenner takes a photo of Khloe and Kim Kardashian on a taxi boat on Thursday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Gamble and Kris Jenner ride a taxi boat as they leave the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday. Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Kim Kardashian departs the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing an archival Versace snake print dress from the label’s Fall-Winter 1994 collection. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Khloe Kardashian boards a taxi boat on Thursday in a vintage 2001 Roberto Cavalli number. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Sanchez waves to photographers wearing a shimmering brocade corset dress from Schiaparelli’s Spring-Summer 2025 couture collection. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images Brady leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Oprah Winfrey waves before departing the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing in a cut-out Solace London dress. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters Staudinger boards a taxi boat to leave the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday. She opted for an archival turquoise Stella McCartney silk halter-neck gown from 2001. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images Members of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion protest in Venice’s Piazza San Marco on Thursday. Poitout Florian/ABACA/Shutterstock From left, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Orlando Bloom are seen in Venice on Thursday. Khloe was dressed in a Skims x Dolce & Gabbana catsuit. Luigi Iorio/GC Images/Getty Images Winfrey takes a taxi boat in Venice on Thursday. Luca Bruno/AP Kim Kardashian boards a taxi boat wearing Balenciaga at the Venice Marco Polo Airport on Thursday. Andrea Pattaro/AFP/Getty Images People walk past the Madonna dell’Orto church in Venice ahead of the wedding festivities on Thursday. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters Brady arrives in Venice on Thursday. Luca Bruno/AP Sanchez and Bezos arrive by boat at a hotel in Venice on Wednesday, June 25. Luca Bruno/AP A general view of the Aman hotel in Venice on Wednesday. Ernesto S. Ruscio/GC Images/Getty Images Sanchez and Bezos depart the Aman hotel on Wednesday. Bezos’ bride-to-be was photographed in a vintage Spring-Summer 2003 off-the-shoulder McQueen dress. Yara Nardi/Reuters The domes of Venice’s St. Mark’s Basilica are silhouetted in the early morning on Wednesday. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images People look at a super yacht in Venice on Tuesday, June 24. Multimillion-dollar super yachts have been arriving in the city. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters Trump and Kushner, exit the airport before getting into a water taxi in Venice on Tuesday. Yara Nardi/Reuters Activists of the international environmental group Greenpeace deploy a giant banner at St. Mark Square in Venice on Monday, June 23. It reads, “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.” Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images Much of the wedding plans are shrouded in secrecy, but one of the most talked-about possible venues is the Cini Foundation on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Matteo Chinellato/IPA/Sipa USA Sanchez’s bachelorette party included a cruise on the Seine in Paris, with Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Eva Longoria joining the festivities on May 16. DKPAR/KCS Presse/MEGA In pictures: Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ Venetian wedding Prev Next

San Giorgio Maggiore is known for its gleaming marble Renaissance-era basilicas, designed by the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. But there may have been another, more pragmatic reason the couple opted for the island: privacy.

After ongoing protests in the city — including the threat of canal blockades, guerilla-style banners and uncanny Bezos mannequins — allegedly forced Sanchez and Bezos to change one of the weekend’s locations at the last minute, the security and inaccessibility of the island was reportedly a key factor in their decision. Venice’s Ministry of Tourism has estimated the celebrations will generate almost 68% of the city’s annual tourism turnover in just one weekend — but protestors have rallied against what they perceive to be a takeover of the idyllic Italian archipelago city by some of the world’s wealthiest people.

A boat transports wedding attendees to San Giorgio Maggiore on June 27, 2025. Yara Nardi/Reuters

During the ceremony, the Amazon-founder billionaire and the former journalist likely exchanged rings symbolically. It remains unclear when the couple legally wed (or if they already have, prior to this week, in the US). A spokesperson for the mayor’s office in Venice had told CNN on Thursday that the city did not receive an official request from the couple, meaning the events this week are ceremonial and will not be legally binding.

Shortly after the Vogue photos were released, Sanchez changed her Instagram account handle to Lauren Sanchez Bezos.

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Star-studded bash

Before the celebration, Sanchez herself made her way to San Giorgio Maggiore dressed in a ‘60s-inspired tailored white skirt suit from Dior with a printed silk scarf wrapped Hepburn-style around her head, Jimmy Choo heels and an Hermès Kelly handbag. She blew kisses to photographers as she stepped into a water taxi.

Guests have mingled all weekend wearing an array of luxury designers, including vintage Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta and Versace. On the way to San Giorgio Maggiore, Kylie Jenner wore a powder blue long lace-up corset gown, Kim Kardashian chose a slick dark toffee-colored dress and Oprah opted for a draped pink mermaid silhouette.

Khloé Kardashian, left, and Kim Kardashian leave a hotel ahead of the anticipated wedding celebrations of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez on Friday. Antonio Calanni/AP

Sydney Sweeney pictured in Venice, Italy on Thursday. SGP/Shutterstock

Oprah Winfrey leaves Gritti Palace, on the second day of Bezos and Sanchez festivities on Friday. Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

Though details of the wedding performers, like much else, were largely kept under wraps, Italian media reported that Matteo Bocelli — son of Andrea Bocelli, the revered Italian tenor who performed at both Kim and Kourtney Kardashian’s weddings in 2014 and 2022, respectively — began the evening by singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.

And if Bocelli made guests misty-eyed, then Lady Gaga — reportedly set to close out the final day of festivities on Saturday — will no doubt bring the party. The pop mega-star is expected to perform at Venice’s former medieval shipyard, the Arsenale — which has been modernized with cultural spaces and hosts the annual Venice Biennale.

This story will be updated.

The sky itself is no limit for billionaire Jeff Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez, who have travelled into space — and expectations were about as high ahead of their wedding in Venice on Friday (June 27, 2025).

One of the world’s most enchanting cities as backdrop? Check. Star-studded guest list and tabloid buzz? Of course. Local flavor? You bet.

And then, time to tie the knot. The couple held their wedding ceremony Friday night, and Ms. Sanchez posted to Instagram a photo of herself beaming in a white gown as she stood alongside a tuxedo-clad Mr. Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest man.

It was the second day of events spread across the Italian lagoon city, which added complexity to what would have been a massive logistical undertaking even on dry land.

Dozens of private jets had flocked to Venice’s airport, and yachts pulled into the city’s famed waterways. Athletes, celebrities, influencers and business leaders converged to revel in extravagance that was as much a testament to the couple’s love as to their extraordinary wealth.

Hark back to Clooney-Amal wedding

The heady hoopla recalled the 2014 wedding in Venice of actor George Clooney to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, when adoring crowds lined the canals and hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside City Hall.

Not so for these nuptials, which became a lightning rod for small, colorful protests. But any desire to dampen the prevailing fever pitch hadn’t materialized as of Friday. Instead, the glitterati were partying, and the paparazzi jostling for glimpses of the gilded gala.

And the bride wore a classic mermaid-line gown, featuring Dolce & Gabbana’s signature Italian lace. A traditional tulle-and-lace veil completed her look.

“Not just a gown, a piece of poetry,” she wrote on Instagram, where her name now appears as Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Challenges of a Venice party

Venice is famed for its network of canals, where gondoliers croon for lovestruck couples and even ambulances are aquatic. But water transport of everything from bouquets to guests makes Venice among the world’s most challenging cities for a party, according to Jack Ezon, CEO of Embark Beyond, a luxury travel advisory and destination event service.

“It’s a very tight-knit community; everyone there knows everyone, and you need to work with the right people,” said Mr. Ezon, whose company has put on a dozen high-end events in Venice. “There’s very tight control, especially on movement there with boats.”

It at least triples the cost versus staging the same soiree in Rome or Florence, he said.

Multi-million bash

Veneto Governor Luca Zaia was the first to give an estimated tally for the Bezos/Sánchez bash: He told reporters this week the most recent total he saw was between 40 million and 48 million euros (up to $56 million).

It’s a jaw-dropping figure that’s over 1,000 times the $36,000 average cost of American couples’ weddings in 2025, according to wedding planning website Zola’s annual report.

Mr. Bezos’ team has been tight-lipped about where these millions are going. When Mukesh Ambani’s son married last July, performances by pop stars Rihanna and Justin Bieber pushed up the price tag.

“How do you spend $40 million on a three- or four-day event?” Mr. Ezon said. ”You could bring headliners, A-list performers, great DJs from anywhere in the world. You could spend $2 million on an incredible glass tent that’s only there for 10 hours, but it takes a month to build,” or expand the celebration to local landmarks.

There’s no sign Ms. Sánchez and Mr. Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, intend to take over any of Venice’s tourist-thronged hotspots. Still, intense hand-wringing about the prospect prompted their wedding coordinator, Lanza & Baucina, to issue a rare statement calling those rumors false.

On Friday afternoon, Ms. Sánchez emerged from her hotel wearing a silk scarf on her head and blew a kiss to journalists before stepping into her water taxi. It carried her through the canals to San Giorgio island, across the lagoon basin from St. Mark’s Square, where the couple held their ceremony Friday night. Bezos followed two hours later.

Then, in a string of water taxis, came their illustrious guests — Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Bill Gates, Queen Rania of Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more. Paparazzi trailed on their own boats, trying to capture them all on camera.

Vogue magazine, to which the couple granted exclusive access, reported that the Dolce & Gabbana-designed gown took 900 hours to complete. Inspired by Sophia Loren’s wedding dress in the 1958 film Houseboat, it featured high-necked, hand-appliqued lace and 180 silk chiffon-covered priest buttons.

There are some who say these two shouldn’t have been wed in this city.

They characterize the wedding as a decadent display of wealth in a world with growing inequality, and argue it’s a shining example of tourism taking precedence over residents’ needs, particularly affordable housing and essential services. Venice is also one of the cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels from climate change.

“Venice is not just a pretty picture, a pretty postcard to please the needs and wants of the elite or of mass tourists, but it is an alive city, made of people who want to actually live there,” Stella Faye, a researcher at a university from Venice, said on Friday.

About a dozen Venetian organizations — including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups — are protesting under the banner “No Space for Bezos,” a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride’s recent space flight.

Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St. Mark’s Square denouncing Bezos for paying insufficient taxes. Activists floated a bald-headed Bezos-inspired mannequin down Venice’s Grand Canal atop an Amazon delivery box, its hands clenching fake cash.

Authorities — from Venice’s mayor to the nation’s tourism minister — have dismissed the outcry, saying it ignores the visibility and economic boost the wedding has brought.

“There will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride’s dress, over the ceremony,” Italy’s tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, told the AP.

“All of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice — our shopkeepers, artisans, restaurateurs, hotels. So it’s a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.”

As Amazon’s CEO, Bezos usually avoided the limelight, frequently delegating announcements and business updates to his executives. Today he has a net worth of $234 billion, according to Forbes.

In 2019, he announced he was divorcing his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, just before the National Enquirer published a story about an affair with Sánchez, a former TV news anchor. Sánchez filed for divorce the day after Bezos’ divorce was finalized.

He stepped down as CEO in 2021, saying he wished to spend more time on side projects, including Blue Origin, The Washington Post, which he owns, and his philanthropic initiatives.

Sitting beside Sánchez during an interview with CNN in 2022, he announced plans to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

Last week, a Venetian environmental research association issued a statement saying Bezos’ Earth Fund was supporting its work with an “important donation.” CORILA, which seeks protection of the Venetian lagoon system, said contact began in April, well before any protests.

Local media have reported a reception Saturday in the Arsenale, a former navy base best known as a primary venue for the Venice Biennale.

Details of the wedding between Amazon multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are sketchy, but it’s certainly causing a storm, not least in Venice, where they’re set to tie the knot this weekend.

Here’s a guide by the numbers:

His net worth: US$231

Billion, that is. That’s the net worth of Jeff Bezos, according to real-time data from Forbes, making him the fourth-richest person in the world behind tech bros Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg.

Not bad, considering that he founded Amazon out of his garage in Seattle in 1994, with not much more than a desk, a fax machine and a long orange extension cord that was needed to supply the room with additional power.

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Kim Kardashian, center, and sister Khloé Kardashian, arrive in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

From its origins as an online bookstore, Amazon’s tentacles are now felt all around the world. If you want anything, it’ll likely be for sale there. Amazon also now produces movies, runs the Whole Foods grocery chain and has become the leader in voice-activated speakers.

Bezos stepped down as chief executive of Amazon in early 2021, citing the desire to devote more time to philanthropy and other projects, including The Washington Post, the newspaper he bought in 2013 and his rocket company, Blue Origin.

But Bezos still has broad influence over Amazon as executive chair and the company’s biggest shareholder, though his stake has diminished over the years to under 10%.

Times down the aisle: 2

This is the second time that Bezos — and Sanchez — will be walking down the aisle.

Usher arrives in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

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Bezos, 61, was married to MacKenzie Bezos for 25 years until their divorce in April 2019. TV anchor Sanchez, 55, also divorced her first husband of 14 years, talent agent Patrick Whitesell, in 2019.

The divorce came at a high price for Jeff Bezos. Only the divorce of Bill Gates and Melinda Gates has been more expensive.

As part of the settlement, MacKenzie, who has taken her middle name Scott as her new surname, received 25% of Bezos’ stake in Amazon. According to Forbes, she is worth a cool US$30 billion (NZ$49 billion), easily placing her in the world’s top 100.

US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, center, waves as she and her husband Jared Kushner, right, arrive in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

The hotel room price: €2456

According to travel website Kayak, that’s the euro price (NZ$4735) for the next available room at the Aman Venice, the hotel where the couple are believed to be staying during their three-day wedding extravaganza.

A gondola sails past the Aman Hotel in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

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The hotel is a grand spectacle in a city of spectacles. Like Venice itself, the hotel blends mystery and grandeur, opulence and solitude. The rooms are decorated with works by a number of Italy’s greatest artists, including 16th-century architect Sansovino and 18th-century painter Tiepolo.

Given his wealth, Bezos would be expected to reside in one of the suites.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, inside boat, pass by the San Giorgio Maggiore Church on their way to their pre wedding reception, in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

The 97sq metre Grand Canal Suite would surely meet the moment. According to the hotel, it “beguiles with views of the Grand Canal and an abundance of light”.

Or how about the Alcova Tiepolo Suite? It is slightly bigger at 103sq metres, which allows guests the opportunity to stay among 18th-century frescoes by Tiepolo.

Venice’s population: 48,000

Or thereabouts. That’s the approximate population of Venice’s historic centre, which is composed of over 100 islands connected by footbridges and traversed by its famed canals.

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And it’s clear not everyone is thrilled by the arrival of Bezos, his wife-to-be and their 200 or so guests, which are expected to include Mick Jagger, Ivanka Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio, to name just a few.

Oprah Winfrey, centre right, arrives in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

And it doesn’t seem as though the protesters will stay silent. About a dozen Venetian organisations, including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups, have united to protest the multi-day event under the banner “No Space for Bezos,” a play on words that refers to Sanchez’s recent space flight.

Protesters display a sign “No Kings No Bezos” in St. Mark’s Square, in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

To many Venetians, overtourism has made the city increasingly unliveable, expensive and crowded. The resident population has dwindled over the decades, leading to the corresponding reduction in services. Residents complain nothing is being done to encourage other types of economic activity, creating a culture of monotourism.

This photo released by Greenpeace shows a large banner against Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ planned wedding, in St. Mark Square, in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

Number of private jets: 90

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That’s the number of wedding-related private jets that are expected to land at Treviso and Venice airports.

Veneto Governor Luca Zaia reckons the Bezos wedding is all worth it and has a price tag of around US$50 million, generating revenue for the city and a celebrity quotient that would “bring visibility and promotion” to Venice worth more than five American Super Bowls.

A gondolier tours tourists along the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. (Source: Associated Press)

Celebrities already spotted in Venice ahead of the nuptials are Kim Kardashian sister Khloé, Domenico Dolce, Usher, Oprah Winfrey, and Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump with her husband Jared Kushner.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez have married in Venice in front of an A-list crowd, in what has been dubbed the “wedding of the century”.

The Amazon founder, 61, and the former journalist, 55, said their vows on Friday afternoon at the stunning San Giorgio Maggiore monastery, with the ceremony held at the island’s Teatro Verde, according to Today.

Bezos was seen earlier stepping off a classic boat in a slick black tuxedo and sunglasses, waving to crowds gathered near the luxurious Aman Venice hotel. The billionaire appeared relaxed as police and firefighters patrolled nearby St Mark’s Square ahead of the event.

US reality TV personality Kim Kardashian (L) and Khloe Kardashian were among the attendees (AFP via Getty Images)

Bride Lauren Sánchez wore a stunning white Dolce & Gabbana gown, having attended a fitting at the designer’s Milan store in March. Earlier in the day, Sánchez was photographed leaving the Aman Hotel, dressed elegantly in a cream two-piece suit, sunglasses, and a headscarf. She blew a kiss to onlookers, showcasing her engagement ring, a 30-carat piece reportedly valued at around £3.6 million. A bracelet bearing the initials ‘LB’, presumably Lauren Bezos, hinted she will adopt her new husband’s surname.

Guests included tech tycoon Bill Gates, who arrived with partner Paula Hurd, wearing a sharp black tuxedo, while Hurd opted for a black halter dress with a pearl neckline.

Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner were also spotted leaving the St Regis Hotel. Kushner wore a navy tuxedo, while Trump dazzled in a strapless pink and silver sequined gown.

Kim Kardashian made a glamorous exit from Gritti Palace in a fitted brown dress alongside sister Khloe, who chose a pale pink gown.

US model Brooks Nader leaves the Gritti Palace Hotel on the wedding day of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (AFP via Getty Images)

Other VIP attendees included Oprah Winfrey and Bezos’ stepfather Mike Bezos. Security was notably tight across Venice, with at least 95 private jets reportedly landing for the celebrations.

The newlyweds welcomed their 200 guests—including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Brady and Orlando Bloom—on Thursday for a lavish three-day event.

Workers reportedly built a large white cover over Teatro Verde and unloaded pallets, tables, and chairs near the island’s yacht club, close to the Labyrinth of Borges, a tree maze inspired by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, according to The New York Times.

Leonardo Di Caprio (AP)

Sánchez and Bezos arrived in Venice on Wednesday, staying at the luxurious five-star Aman Venice hotel, where suites cost up to £10,000 per night. Prior to their Venetian celebrations, the couple enjoyed time aboard Bezos’s £400 million mega-yacht, Koru, in Croatia.

The pre-wedding festivities alone are estimated to have cost between $15 and $20 million.