VENICE, June 27 (Reuters): Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez were set to exchange marriage vows at a ceremony in Venice on Friday, part of a three-day wedding extravaganza that has attracted dozens of celebrity guests but also protests by local activists.
Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, will exchange rings on the small island of San Giorgio, opposite St Mark's Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of the famous Italian pop-opera tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The ceremony will have no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting that the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.
The festivities, estimated to cost around $50 million, culminate on Saturday with a party in a former medieval shipyard where Lady Gaga and Elton John are reportedly set to perform.
Bill Gates, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana are among the 200-250 guests.
Amid tight security, there have been glimpses of the celebrities moving around town, the women in summer dresses and high heels stepping somewhat gingerly off boats ferrying them around the city's canals.
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