Bezos-Sanchez Venice wedding latest: Celebrations kick off as locals continue to protest

If the happy couple can make out the clamor of outrage from inside their cocoon of wealth and luxury, they’ll almost certainly be used to it by now. Their relationship has never been far from scandal.

Here, Kevin E G Perry looks back at a timeline of Bezos and Sánchez’s relationship, and the journey that has taken them from tabloid scandal to their lavish Venice nuptials.

According to the ‘No Space for Bezos’ group, the couple decided to switch their wedding venue after the protesters threatened to fill the canals of Venice with inflatable crocodiles.

“We feel as if we scored a victory,” one anonymous activist told The Guardian. “The crocodile initiative would have given a bad impression of the city – this is why the venue was changed even if the authorities might try to claim it was because of the war.”

The NFL legend has been spotted in a boat departing from Marco Polo Airport ahead of the wedding.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding planners have hit back at claims they’re “taking over Venice” with their upcoming nuptials.

Bezos and Sánchez’s wedding planners from Lanza & Baucina Limited have now addressed the backlash and defended the couple. The business claimed the event wouldn’t disrupt the lives of Venice locals.

“As event organizers who have been working in Venice for over 24 years, we feel obliged to set the record straight given the misinformation, untruths and misunderstandings circulating about the Bezos wedding,” Lanza & Baucina Limited said in a statement.

“From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimizing of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events.”

A life-sized mannequin, resembling Jeff Bezos, has been seen floating on the waters of the Grand Canal in Venice as protests continue. The dummy was holding on to an Amazon box as it floated past boats and gondolas.

As the tech billionaire takes centre stage with his $10m wedding that will take over the ancient Italian city during peak tourist season, the protests are already in full swing and derailing some of their plans, reports Zoë Beaty

Images have been published of Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as their mother, Kris Jenner, arriving in Venice for the wedding. US TV icon Oprah Winfrey has also been spotted in the Italian city.

The Amazon founder’s multi-million-dollar three-day wedding hasn’t turned my favourite city into a playground – at this time of the summer, it’s a circus for moneyed, demanding guests fresh off their cruise ships, says Angelina Villa-Clarke

Ms Trump, along with her husband Jared Kushner and three children, were spotted boarding a water taxi in the Italian city on Tuesday (24 June).