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Venice is used to being a backdrop. For film sets, artbiennals or fashion campaigns. But when the most third -party person in the world marries, the standards like this shift in a city like this.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiance Lauren Sánchez chose the lagoon city for their wedding-including yachts, restricted zones, security forces and international prominence.
Between June 24th and 28th Venice is the scene of a wedding that causes numerous discussions and raises the question of what happens when power and money meets in public space. According to media reports, the wedding should cost around $ 21 million.
Location with symbol caft: San Giorgio Maggiore
Several locations are blocked for the wedding for days, including the luxury hotel Aman and the Palazzo Ducale. The wedding itself is to take place on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. There is the church of the same name, which dates from the 16th century and is one of the most important Renaissance architectures in Italy.
The island is usually open to the public, but it was sealed off for the ceremony. Water taxis have already canceled reservations for the duration of the wedding and security services shield the surroundings.
The guest list comprises 250 people and is hard to beat with exclusivity: media icons such as Oprah Winfrey, tech billionaires such as Bill Gates, stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Eva Longoria, Kim Kardashian or Orlando Bloom are expected. However, singer Katy Perry, who is engaged to Bloom and has only recently flown into space with the bride, is missing – she is on tour in Australia. Political celebrities such as Jared and Ivanka Trump should also be loud TMZ be among the invited guests.
Protests and local criticism
The planned wedding has great criticism. Greenpeace and the “Everyone Hates Elon” collective, based in Great Britain, have joined protests in Venice to disturb or even prevent the upcoming wedding of the Amazon founder. A huge banner was rolled out on Markusplatz, the most famous place in Venice. The inscription: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can also pay more taxes!”
“While Venice drowns under the climate crisis, billionaires celebrate on Megaynache as if there is no tomorrow. It is not about an individual – but about changing the rules so that no billionaire can escape his responsibility anymore. Fair tax rules must finally pay their fair part,” says Clara Thompson, expert for climate justice and tax at Greenpeace International.
It is also criticized that the city has to serve as a backdrop for private interests again and again – while residents have to deal with increasing life maintenance costs, lack of housing and the ecological pressure of mass tourism.
Bezos collects donations for Venice
The event agency “Lanza & Baucina Limited” was commissioned to plan and implement the wedding, which after public criticism is now communicative on the offensive. In a statement, the organizers said that great emphasis is important: local service providers were committed and only minimal interventions on the city daily are planned. According to “Page Six”, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are also said to have donated around one million dollars to local organizations. The guests were also asked to do without gifts and instead donate to Venice’s preservation.
The criticism remains: Venice becomes an exclusive field of the super rich. Because in 2014 the city became a world stage for George Clooney’s wedding for a whole weekend.