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What happened at billionaire Jeff Bezos’ wedding

Jeff Bezos and spouse Lauren Sanchez Bezos leave the Aman Hotel on the third day of their wedding festivities in Venice, Italy on June 28, 2025. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos and spouse Lauren Sanchez Bezos leave the Aman Hotel on the third day of their wedding festivities in Venice, Italy on June 28, 2025. Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

Venice, Italy (CNN) — It’s been both the most public and secretive wedding of the year.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez concluded their three-day-long Venetian extravaganza on Saturday evening with a celebration at the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard. The pair was seen traveling via boat to the venue, which hosts the annual Venice Biennale, with reporters and paparazzi in tow. 

CNN’s Melissa Bell reported from a boat speeding alongside the couple’s, as they waved on. Sanchez was seen in a pink gown, later revealed by Vogue magazine to be designed by Atelier Versace, while Bezos was in a suit and matching black shirt.

Earlier in the day, the bride and groom were spotted heading into Harry’s Bar, a fabled institution that once counted Ernest Hemingway among its customers. Meanwhile protestors gathered at the city’s train station for a march.

 

A secretive ceremony

On Friday, the Amazon billionaire and former journalist wed in a private ceremony held on the secluded, historic San Giorgio Maggiore island in the San Marco sestiere. The celebrity guest list included the Kardashian-Jenner family, Bill Gates, Karlie Kloss, Oprah Winfrey and Usher. The approximately 200 guests have seemingly honored a 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.

 

In pictures: Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ Venetian wedding

 

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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
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 Bezos blows a kiss from her balcony, before heading out to the final event of her wedding celebration on Saturday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

Bezos and Sanchez Bezos arrive at Harry's Bar restaurant, a day after their wedding, on Saturday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
The sun sets on San Giorgio Maggiore, where Bezos and Sanchez were holding their wedding ceremony.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Orlando Bloom leaves his hotel for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Model Vittoria Ceretti waits on a taxi boat before leaving for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Kim Kardashian takes a photo as she rides a taxi boat to the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Kim and Khloe Kardashian leave their hotel for the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Corey Gamble and Kris Jenner head to the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Kendall and Kylie Jenner leave for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Usher and Tom Brady travel to the wedding ceremony.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump leave the St. Regis hotel on their way to the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Karlie Kloss leaves for the wedding ceremony on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com
 
 
 
Fashion designer Sarah Staudinger and talent agent Ari Emanuel pose for photos on their way to the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Oprah Winfrey leaves the Gritti Palace hotel as she travels to San Giorgio Maggiore for the wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Bill Gates gets on a taxi boat Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Bezos waves as he arrives at San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Bezos' boat travels on the Grand Canal as he departs for his wedding on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Sanchez, who wore Jimmy Choo sling back pumps, arrives on San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Sanchez's jewelry is seen as she holds her Hermès Kelly bag on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com
 

 

 

Gates and his partner, Paula Hurd, leave the Gallerie dell'Accademia museum on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com
 
 
 
Jennifer Goicoechea takes a photo of her husband, Usher, while they ride a boat taxi in Venice on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com
 

 

Sydney Sweeney walks through the streets of Venice on Friday in a black silk Chloé jumpsuit.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
Ceretti talks on the phone in Venice on Friday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

Sweeney in vintage Elie Saab leaves the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday, June 26.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Kloss, dressed in a blush-pink Stella McCartney gown, arrives at the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Bezos and Sanchez kiss as they leave the Aman hotel in Venice for their pre-wedding reception on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Leonardo DiCaprio leaves the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Usher rides on a boat taxi on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Kendall and Kylie Jenner, dressed in vintage Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana respectively, depart the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Ceretti leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Kris Jenner takes a photo of Khloe and Kim Kardashian on a taxi boat on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Gamble and Kris Jenner ride a taxi boat as they leave the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Kim Kardashian departs the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing an archival Versace snake print dress from the label's Fall-Winter 1994 collection.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Khloe Kardashian boards a taxi boat on Thursday in a vintage 2001 Roberto Cavalli number.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Sanchez waves to photographers wearing a shimmering brocade corset dress from Schiaparelli’s Spring-Summer 2025 couture collection.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Brady leaves the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Oprah Winfrey waves before departing the Gritti Palace hotel on Thursday wearing in a cut-out Solace London dress.
Credit: CNN.com
 
 
 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Members of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion protest in Venice's Piazza San Marco on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Winfrey takes a taxi boat in Venice on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Kim Kardashian boards a taxi boat wearing Balenciaga at the Venice Marco Polo Airport on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 
People walk past the Madonna dell’Orto church in Venice ahead of the wedding festivities on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Brady arrives in Venice on Thursday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Sanchez and Bezos arrive by boat at a hotel in Venice on Wednesday, June 25.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
A general view of the Aman hotel in Venice on Wednesday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
The domes of Venice's St. Mark's Basilica are silhouetted in the early morning on Wednesday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
People look at a super yacht in Venice on Tuesday, June 24. Multimillion-dollar super yachts have been arriving in the city.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Trump and Kushner, exit the airport before getting into a water taxi in Venice on Tuesday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.'
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
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.
Credit: CNN.com

 

 

 
Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at their wedding ceremony in Venice, Italy, on Friday, June 27.
Credit: CNN.com
 
 
 
Sanchez Bezos blows a kiss from her balcony, before heading out to the final event of her wedding celebration on Saturday.
Credit: CNN.com

 

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 demonstrators have rallied against what they perceive to be a takeover of the idyllic Italian archipelago city by some of the world’s wealthiest people.

During the ceremony, the pair 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.

 

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos arrive at Harry's Bar restaurant a day after their wedding in Venice on June 28, 2025. A wedding band is seen on Bezos' finger.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos arrive at Harry's Bar restaurant a day after their wedding in Venice on June 28, 2025. A wedding band is seen on Bezos' finger. Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images
 

Star-studded bash

Before Friday’s 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 the island, 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.

 

Oprah Winfrey departs for the final event on Saturday.
Oprah Winfrey departs for the final event on Saturday. Luigi Costantini/AP
 
 
 
Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner enroute to the Saturday's finale event.
Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner enroute to the Saturday's finale event. Luigi Costantini/AP
 
 
 
Some of the guests, like Usher, were pictured departing for the event in pajama- and lingerie-inspired outfits, seemingly in keeping with reports of a thematic dress code.
Some of the guests, like Usher, were pictured departing for the event in pajama- and lingerie-inspired outfits, seemingly in keeping with reports of a thematic dress code. Luigi Costantini/AP
 

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 Friday evening singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.

This story has been updated with new details.

Author: Leah Dolan, Jacqui Palumbo and Sharon Braithwaite, CNN

Source: CNN:::

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