The great thing about Venice is that you can’t hide anything from anyone. Even if you buy a refrigerator, it will be delivered as a military action between boats, bridges, canals, and the whole neighborhood will know. Let alone getting married here in June offers little opportunity for with any intimacy if you are Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, she just came back from a bachelorette party in Paris, true to the two-K rule of having at least two Kardashians with her at all times (or what are you leaving for?). And with 200 other close friends, including at least a handful of Oscar winners (Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, and Elton John). And the progenitor of billionaires, Bill Gates, a living symbol of the Silicon Valley era with a human face, is in love: he had also embarked with fiancée Paula Hurd on the Bezos-Sanchez European engagement tour in May between Portofino, Cannes, and Capri.
Then there’s a grandmother version of Queen Rania of Jordan accompanied by her son Hussein, his wife Rajwa, and their granddaughter Iman, who is not yet one year old.
In the most indiscreet city in the world, a place renowned since the days of Casanova, every arrival stands out. With waterways that are relatively easy to guard, navigating the city on foot is nearly impossible due to security motorcades and onlookers wielding cameras. The only person who has successfully managed to escape unnoticed is Johnny Depp. He slipped away one night from the Belmond Cipriani hotel along the Giudecca shore, wearing a large hat and jacket. However, he seemed to have disguised himself a bit too well, as he caught the attention of security guards, who eventually took him back to the hotel and apologized after confirming his identity.
No one can escape the scrutiny here; every movement of objects, flowers, or people is monitored. From the very first announcement, the agenda for this wedding became a complex mix of names, churches, and cloisters, which we will spare you from listing. However, we were certain about two things from the beginning: first, the Aman hotel would ultimately prevail among the hotels competing to accommodate the newlyweds. Second, Jeff Bezos’ yacht, Koru, which measures 127 meters, would remain in the dock; the newlyweds would arrive in a much simpler manner, likely by launch. Why could we make this guess? Because that’s exactly what George and Amal Clooney did.
The similarities between the two couples are few, but at the wedding, the Bezos appeared to follow the Clooneys closely—not so much because they overshadowed the wedding planners and the hotel, or because of their elegant match of outfits in white, black, and floral patterns, which Amal had pulled off so successfully that we still remember it. Rather, the idea of a romantic Venetian dream stood out in the photos from the big day. Despite the thousands of controversies swirling around them for weeks, the couple appeared undeterred. They smiled at everyone, exuding joy as if they were expected, beloved, and celebrated by the entire city, as if they hadn’t read any newspapers, even though he owns The Washington Post.
The Tiepolo suite at the Aman hotel featured a hidden passageway behind three-hundred-year-old frescoes, evoking a theatrical atmosphere. The wooden speedboat gave a sense of accessibility (70 euros for a water cab, though prices can skyrocket to 250 euros these days). However, the bride’s exit in all white, paired with a scarf reminiscent of Grace Kelly and dark glasses, left many puzzled. It was a reminder that, while they are not the Clooneys, they might always have another chance tomorrow.
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