Venice is awash with contrast as Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez host a lavish, multi-day wedding in the historic lagoon city. While the celebration dazzles the international elite, including stars like Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Brady, it has also ignited vocal protests among residents and activists. The wedding, reportedly costing over €40 million ($56 million), is staged largely on San Giorgio Maggiore and ends with a gala at the Arsenale.

Yet the pomp has drawn backlash, with banners declaring “No Space for Bezos,” “Kisses Yes, Bezos No,” and even a dummy of Bezos floated down the Grand Canal atop an Amazon box. Protesters accuse the event of symbolizing wealth inequality, commodification of Venetian space, rising housing costs, overtourism, and environmental strain. One activist group, “No Space for Bezos,” joined forces with Greenpeace and the UK’s “Everyone Hates Elon” to amplify the message using St. Mark’s Square projections and canal floats.

As one protester put it, “We are here to continue ruining the plans of these rich people… while the conditions of this city remain precarious”. Another noted that Bezos’s €3 million in local donations “are just a misery… clearing his conscience”. City officials argue otherwise. Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, highlights the wedding’s economic boost—tourism, hotels, water taxis, vendors—and defends the event, stating it aligns with Venice’s open-city tradition.

Merchant families, like Rosa Salva, Venice's long-standing pastry shop, benefit directly through celebratory commissions. The couple, too, has sourced roughly 80% of their provisions locally and pledged €1 million each to environmental groups safeguarding Venice’s lagoon. Still, many locals feel overwhelmed. Venice, with just ~50,000 residents, sees daily throngs of tourists leading to housing shortages and social displacement. Critics argue that turning the city into a “private ballroom” for billionaires exacerbates its fragile ecosystem and erodes its cultural soul.

Yet not all share the protestors’ ravings. Interviews at local cafés reveal Venetians are largely indifferent; some view the event as routine amid a flood of tourism and claim it hasn’t disrupted daily life. Bezos's Venice wedding is a study in contrasts—lavish spectacle and economic injection on one hand, protests, inequality, and environmental anxiety on the other. As the city grapples with its identity, this event underscores deeper tensions: heritage versus hype, residents versus revenue, and preservation versus promotion.