Jeff Bezos

What happened on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s big wedding day

Author: Leah Dolan and Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Source: CNN:::
June 28, 2025 at 05:51
 
Lauren Sanchez leaves Aman Venice hotel, on the second day of the wedding festivities in Venice, Italy, on Friday.
Lauren Sanchez leaves Aman Venice hotel, on the second day of the wedding festivities in Venice, Italy, on Friday. Yara Nardi/Reuters

 
 
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.

 

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.
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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.
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Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at their wedding ceremony in Venice, Italy, on Friday, June 27.
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.
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The sun sets on San Giorgio Maggiore, where Bezos and Sanchez were holding their wedding ceremony.
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Orlando Bloom leaves his hotel for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
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Model Vittoria Ceretti waits on a taxi boat before leaving for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
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Kim Kardashian takes a photo as she rides a taxi boat to the wedding on Friday.
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Kim and Khloe Kardashian leave their hotel for the wedding on Friday.
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Corey Gamble and Kris Jenner head to the wedding on Friday.
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Kendall and Kylie Jenner leave for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
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Usher and Tom Brady travel to the wedding ceremony.
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Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump leave the St. Regis hotel on their way to the wedding on Friday.
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Karlie Kloss leaves for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
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Fashion designer Sarah Staudinger and talent agent Ari Emanuel pose for photos on their way to the wedding on Friday.
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Oprah Winfrey leaves the Gritti Palace hotel as she travels to San Giorgio Maggiore for the wedding on Friday.
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Bill Gates gets on a taxi boat Friday.
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Bezos waves as he arrives at San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday.
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Bezos' boat travels on the Grand Canal as he departs for his wedding on Friday.
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Sanchez, who wore Jimmy Choo sling back pumps, arrives on San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday.
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Sanchez's jewelry is seen as she holds her Hermès Kelly bag on Friday.
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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.
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Gates and his partner, Paula Hurd, leave the Gallerie dell'Accademia museum on Friday.
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Jennifer Goicoechea takes a photo of her husband, Usher, while they ride a boat taxi in Venice on Friday.
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Sydney Sweeney walks through the streets of Venice on Friday in a black silk Chloé jumpsuit.
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Ceretti talks on the phone in Venice on Friday.
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Sweeney in vintage Elie Saab leaves the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday, June 26.
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Kloss, dressed in a blush-pink Stella McCartney gown, arrives at the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday.
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Bezos and Sanchez kiss as they leave the Aman hotel in Venice for their pre-wedding reception on Thursday.
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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.
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Leonardo DiCaprio leaves the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice on Thursday.
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Usher rides on a boat taxi on Thursday.
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Kendall and Kylie Jenner, dressed in vintage Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana respectively, depart the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
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Ceretti leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
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Kris Jenner takes a photo of Khloe and Kim Kardashian on a taxi boat on Thursday.
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Gamble and Kris Jenner ride a taxi boat as they leave the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
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Kim Kardashian departs the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing an archival Versace snake print dress from the label's Fall-Winter 1994 collection.
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Khloe Kardashian boards a taxi boat on Thursday in a vintage 2001 Roberto Cavalli number.
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Sanchez waves to photographers wearing a shimmering brocade corset dress from Schiaparelli’s Spring-Summer 2025 couture collection.
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Brady leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
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Oprah Winfrey waves before departing the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing in a cut-out Solace London dress.
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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.
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Members of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion protest in Venice's Piazza San Marco on Thursday.
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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.
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Winfrey takes a taxi boat in Venice on Thursday.
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Kim Kardashian boards a taxi boat wearing Balenciaga at the Venice Marco Polo Airport on Thursday.
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People walk past the Madonna dell’Orto church in Venice ahead of the wedding festivities on Thursday.
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Brady arrives in Venice on Thursday.
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Sanchez and Bezos arrive by boat at a hotel in Venice on Wednesday, June 25.
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A general view of the Aman hotel in Venice on Wednesday.
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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.
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The domes of Venice's St. Mark's Basilica are silhouetted in the early morning on Wednesday.
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People look at a super yacht in Venice on Tuesday, June 24. Multimillion-dollar super yachts have been arriving in the city.
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Trump and Kushner, exit the airport before getting into a water taxi in Venice on Tuesday.
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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.'
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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.
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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.
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Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at their wedding ceremony in Venice, Italy, on Friday, June 27.
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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.
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In pictures: Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ Venetian wedding

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.
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.

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