Despite Lauren Sánchez and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos hosting a three-day-long celebration in Venice, the former journalist didn’t plan on having a large wedding.
Follow live updates on Bezos and Sánchez’s wedding day here
In Vogue’s June cover story, which was published on Friday, the outlet spoke to Sánchez about both her dress and plans for the wedding in the northern Italian city, which is expected to cost between $46 and $55 million.
In recent months, Bezos and Sánchez’s wedding has resulted in protests throughout the city from locals frustrated by overtourism. Speaking to Vogue ahead of the ceremony, Sánchez said “the wedding is extremely intimate,” claiming around 70 of the 200 guests are family members.
The wedding festivities are set to continue through Saturday, featuring A-list attendees such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Orlando Bloom, and Tom Brady.
“She wants to do a very classic and elegant wedding,” Italian fashion designer Stefano Gabbana told Vogue. “She didn’t want to do something very flashing or bling bling.”
The former journalist also told the publication the wedding wouldn’t be super traditional.
“We don’t have a lot of traditions that we’re keeping,” she explained. “I mean, I love traditions, but for a 55-year-old woman, it’s a little different.”
For the ceremony, Sánchez wore a mermaid-style Dolce & Gabbana gown complete with lace long sleeves, a corset top, and buttons straight down the center, while Bezos wore a black tuxedo and bowtie.
Sánchez went on to share a first photo on her newly renamed Instagram, holding hands with Bezos as they both flashed big grins.
Ahead of the ceremony on Friday she was spotted leaving the Aman Hotel on Venice’s Grand Canal clad in a cream, two-piece suit, sunglasses, and a chic headscarf.
Close-up photos also revealed two enormous diamond rings on her right and left ring fingers. One appeared to be a pillow-cut, while the other was an oval-shaped rock.
According to Zack Stone of Steve Stone Jewellers, “The piece features what appears to be a magnificent 20-carat cushion-cut diamond set in a sleek platinum band.”
Stone estimated the oval-cut diamond ring to be worth an astonishing $4 million, surpassing the 20-carat pink diamond ring Bezos used to propose to Sánchez in 2023, which was valued at $2.5 million.
The former journalist was also seen wearing a bracelet with the initials “LB,” in a nod to her now-married name.