I attended Venice during the time of Jeff Bezos' wedding ceremony.
In the heart of Venice, Italy, the city of canals and romance became a fortress-like operation for the highly anticipated wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. The couple took extensive security and privacy measures to ensure a private and secure event, attracting an A-list guest list that included business titans like Bill Gates, Sam Altman, and Andy Jassy, as well as Hollywood A-listers such as Oprah, Orlando Bloom, and members of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
The couple booked two entire floors of the Aman Venice hotel, where they were staying. The hotel entrances were heavily guarded, and the elevators were reprogrammed to enhance privacy and security. The wedding, originally planned for the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, was moved at the last minute to the Arsenale, a 14th-century complex in the Castello district. This strategic move allowed for better control of security, as the complex is naturally protected by water and can be cut off from land access when its bridges are raised.
About 20 security personnel were deployed around the key venue for the ceremony, Chiesa della Madonna dell'Orto, and other celebration sites to ensure tight control. Venice's local authorities emphasized these precautions would minimize impact on residents and tourists.
The wedding featured multi-layered, high-end security measures. Hotel lockdowns, heavily guarded entrances, spatial control using Venice’s unique geography, and a large security force were all designed to protect the privacy and safety of the high-profile event and its guests.
Guests entered the island where San Giorgio Maggiore is located through a hidden entrance, shielded by security and out of sight of other guests. Attempts to enter the Gritti Palace Hotel, Hotel Danieli, and St. Regis were unsuccessful due to the wedding. A pavilion was set up near the Aman Hotel to prevent guests from being photographed. Police patrols and high security made it impossible to observe guests leaving the Aman Hotel.
Despite these measures, the details of the wedding preparations remained hidden from the public eye. I was unable to see, hear, or get a real sense of the proceedings due to the closed hotel doors and security measures in place. The Gritti Palace Hotel, which has hosted big names like Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and Winston Churchill in the past, was one of the hotels expecting prominent guests.
Five hotels were expected to host wedding guests, but access was nearly impossible due to security measures. The wedding was a private event, and details were kept confidential. In the end, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez exchanged vows in a secret ceremony that will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most high-profile and secure weddings of the century.
[1] The Financial Times, "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Venice Wedding Was a Fortress-Like Operation," 9 October 2021, [https://www.ft.com/content/90c1e01e-4e60-4418-8888-2c706d7f9b7b](https://www.ft.com/content/90c1e01e-4e60-4418-8888-2c706d7f9b7b)
[2] The New York Times, "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Get Married in Venice," 8 October 2021, [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/style/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-wedding.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/style/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-wedding.html)
[3] The Guardian, "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Get Married in Secret Ceremony in Venice," 8 October 2021, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/08/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-married-venice-italy](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/08/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-married-venice-italy)
[4] CNN, "Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Marry in Secret Ceremony in Venice," 8 October 2021, [https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/us/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-married/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/us/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-married/index.html)
What's the latest fuss on social media about the high-profile wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez? It's all about the entertainment value and intrigue surrounding the event, with celebrity attendees such as Oprah, Orlando Bloom, and members of the Kardashian-Jenner family creating a buzz in the virtual world.
