Additional Coverage:
- Off-limits hotels, hidden entrances, and fenced-off areas: Disappointing photos show how locked down Jeff Bezos’ wedding was (businessinsider.com)
Venice Transformed into Fortress for Bezos-Sánchez Nuptials
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s Venetian wedding was a star-studded affair, attracting A-listers from across the globe. However, the event was shrouded in secrecy, proving an exercise in futility for those not on the exclusive guest list. A heavy security presence transformed the city into an impenetrable fortress, keeping journalists and paparazzi at bay.
Luxury hotels, rumored to be housing the celebrity guests, were under strict lockdown. Increased security measures made access nearly impossible.
Even a glimpse inside proved challenging, with hotel staff politely but firmly turning away all uninvited visitors. My own attempts to gain entry, press pass in hand, were met with closed doors and a polite but unwavering “not a chance.”
The Gritti Palace, Hotel Danieli, and St. Regis – all rumored to be hosting wedding guests – were effectively off-limits.
The Belmond Cipriani hotel, birthplace of the Bellini cocktail, offered a glimmer of hope. I managed to bypass a security guard, only to be thwarted by a locked gate.
The Aman Hotel, Bezos and Sánchez’s chosen residence and the site of George and Amal Clooney’s 2014 wedding, was similarly inaccessible. Its water-based entrance, patrolled by police, proved an insurmountable obstacle.
A strategically placed gazebo further shielded guests from prying eyes.
The wedding festivities themselves were equally inaccessible. Police blockaded the Chiesa della Madonna dell’Orto, the venue for the first night’s celebrations.
Journalists and paparazzi scrambled for vantage points, while tourists craned their necks, hoping for a glimpse of the arriving guests. Distant, zoomed-in photos offered the only visual confirmation of Bezos and Sánchez’s arrival.
The second day’s events, held at San Giorgio Maggiore, were even more tightly controlled. A workers’ entrance, guarded by security personnel meticulously checking lanyards, was the closest anyone unauthorized could get.
The actual ceremony and party remained hidden from view. Wedding guests arrived via a concealed entrance on the far side of the island, effectively invisible to the waiting press and public.
In the end, the Bezos-Sánchez wedding was a spectacle witnessed primarily by security guards, fences, and locked doors. My quest for an inside look yielded little more than distant celebrity sightings and a firsthand experience of Venetian security at its most formidable.