Final bash set to end lavish Bezos wedding party in Venice

By Sara Rossi and Gavin Jones

VENICE (Reuters) -Newlyweds Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez left their luxury hotel on Venice's Grand Canal on Saturday for a final night of partying, crowning a three-day star-studded wedding extravaganza.

Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from Saint Mark's Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Jordan's Queen Rania, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were among the A-listers present.

Saturday's evening bash -- wrapping up celebrations for 200-250 guests estimated to have cost some $50 million -- was due to take place in the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard in an eastern district of the lagoon city.

Around 1,000 people marched against the event on Saturday, groups of activists and residents who object to the wedding and to seeing Venice being gift-wrapped for the uber-wealthy.

Some guests were seen leaving the Gritti Palace hotel in central Venice wearing their pyjamas, sometimes beneath colourful dressing gowns, before boarding small boats to reach the party.

Bezos and Sanchez had a more sober style. He was dressing a black skirt and suit, while she had a soft-colour off-the-shoulder dress. They kissed on the boat while greeting those around them.

At the ceremony the bride wore a high-necked silhouette dress and a tulle and lace veil by Dolce & Gabbana, which she told magazine Vogue was based on Sophia Loren's dress to marry Cary Grant in the 1958 film, Houseboat.

Sanchez was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings by Dolce & Gabbana, which, according to Vogue, was lent to her in keeping with the tradition that it brings good luck for a bride to wear something borrowed.

Bezos, who is No. 4 on Forbes' global billionaires list, donned a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt.

BUSINESSES, POLITICIANS WELCOME EVENT

Friday's ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have previously wed legally in the United States to avoid the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.

While some residents and activists raged against Bezos as a symbol of inequality and arrogance, Venetian businesses and political leaders welcomed the luxury nuptials, hailing them as major boost for the local economy.

"Those who protest are in contradiction with the history of Venice, which is a history of relations, contacts and business," Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Reuters.

"Bezos embodies the Venetian mentality. He is more Venetian than the protesters," said centre-right mayor, adding that he hoped Bezos, who donated 3 million euros ($3.51 million) to local institutions, would return to the city to do business.

Brugnaro said Bezos had attached no conditions to holding his wedding celebrations in Venice, and City Hall had only learned about his donations after they had already been made.

Bezos, Amazon's executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

($1 = 0.8552 euros)

(Writing by Gavin Jones and Angelo Amante; Editing by Alvise Armellini, Alexandra Hudson andcSandra Maler)