Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is all set to marry his fiancee, media personality Lauren Sánchez this summer in Italy. It has been confirmed by Venetian officials that they are getting married in Venice with their wedding festivities lasting between June 24-26. While the details of the wedding are being kept under wraps, speculations are rife that Bezos’ 500 million USD megayacht, Koru, will be involved in the wedding.
According to a report by The Daily Mail, two of the most luxurious hotels in Venice – the Gritti Palace and Aman Venice, have been booked up around those dates, suggesting that it could be for the guess. The tariff of rooms at these hotels start around 3,200 USD and can go up depending on the room and the season.
Venetian officials issued a statement saying that only 200 guests have been invited — which reportedly include Oprah Winfrey, the extended Trump family, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, members of the Kardashian family, Eva Longoria, Barbra Streisand, Queen Rania of Jordan, and Leonardo DiCaprio, among many others.
As the Bezos-Sanchez wedding is set to become one of the biggest events of the year, we find out where it stands in front of some of the most extravagant weddings of all time.
Jeff Bezos-Lauren Sánchez wedding vs most extravagant weddings
Princess Diana and Prince Charles
Called “the wedding of the century,” Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles was watched live by over 750 million people around the world. The July 29, 1981 wedding was attended by 3,500 guests. At the time, the wedding costed about 48 million USD, which is valued at 166 million USD today. Diana’s legendary hand-embroidered ivory silk taffeta wedding dress would cost around 500,000 USD currently. London’s Hyde Park was lit up by fireworks and 100 beacons were lit up across the country to honour the couple’s big day. With 27 cakes having been presented to the couple, there was no dearth of cake for any guest.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant
One of the grandest weddings the world witnessed in recent years, Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s came with a price tag of USD 600 million. Also, one of the longest weddings in the world, their wedding celebrations took place over seven months. The engagement party itself lasted over a week with a 1,200-person cruise on the Mediterranean. There was a sangeet and three-day wedding in Mumbai, where international pop stars like Katy Perry, Pitbull, Andrea Bocelli, The Backstreet Boys, and Justin Bieber performed. They even got Rihanna to perform at the wedding
Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal
The only daughter of the Ambani household, Isha Ambani’s wedding to Anand Piramal was another star-studded wedding that is a close competition to that of Jeff Bezos. The 2018 wedding costed around 100 million USD. Just the wedding invitation itself was a grand affair, featuring pink-lace-adorned and gold-encrusted invitations that came in a Dolce & Gabbana box that had detachable chains that could be worn as jewellery. For her wedding day, Isha wore a 16-panel lehenga-choli whose reported cost was 12 million USD. The Ambanis got Beyonce to put on a 45 minute show for guests, like (including former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, who even danced to bhangra,
Chinese multihyphenate Angelababy and Huang Xiaoming
Born Angela Yeung, the Chinese model, actress, and singer, popularly known as Angelababy’s wedding in 2015 reportedly costed a whopping 31 million USD. Known as the ‘Kim Kardashian of China,’, she married actor-singer Huang Xiaoming. Even Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kanye West cost around 12 million USD. The Chinese wedding was attended by over 2,000 guests at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, while fans watched the livestream of the wedding. Inside the event, it featured a carousel-shaped wedding cake that reportedly took a month to make. Angelababy wore a custom Christian Dior (LVMUY) wedding dress that took almost five months to make. The dress was designed from 115 feet of ivory satin organza and 165 feet of tulle, and adorned with 100 roses made from Chantilly lace. It featured seven layers of skirts, and had a 10-foot-long train.
Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain
King Felipe of Spain (now King Felipe VI) and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano’s May 2004 wedding cost a whopping 22 million USD at the time, which can be currently valued at 41 million USD. Held at the Cathedral Santa María la Real de la Almudena, Queen Letizia’s wedding gown, made of Valencia silk with a high collar, long sleeves and a wide skirt with a 15-foot train, featuring gold embroidery, was designed by Spanish fashion designer Manuel Pertegaz. She donned a Prussian Diamond Tiara, which was loaned by her mother-in-law Queen Sofia. The wedding lunch was attended by 1,500 guests at the Prince’s Patio of the Royal Palace.