The pyjama party later segued into a Carnevale-themed party featuring decorated masks and elaborate ball gowns, Italian media reported.
The event took place in the Arsenal, the historic shipyards where Venetians constructed timber merchant vessels and warships as the city established trading outposts throughout the Adriatic and the eastern Mediterranean.
Usher wore a smoking jacket for the end-of-festivities pyjama party.Credit: AP
The location was reportedly decorated with art installations, atmospheric lighting and tens of thousands of flowers, with the newly married couple stepping off their water taxi onto a floating platform.
For the final party, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, as she now calls herself, wore a Versace gown designed by Donatella Versace herself.
Leonardo di Caprio’s girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti gets her pyjama party look happening.Credit: AP
Just as the party was starting, about 500 protesters staged a noisy march through the streets of Venice, denouncing the extravagance of the wedding festivities and criticising Mr Bezos’ political support for Donald Trump.
Under the slogan No Space for Bezos, they set off coloured smoke flares and played loud music as they walked from Venice’s railway station to the famed Rialto Bridge, which spans the Grand Canal not far from the Aman Hotel, where the wedding couple and many of their guests were staying.
Ivanka Trump (right) and Jared Kushner (left). Credit: AP
They carried placards that read “Eat the Rich” and “With the Money Spent on this Wedding You Could Rebuild Gaza”. One banner claimed that the popularity of Amazon had led to the closure of 118,000 shops in Italy.
They said the wedding, estimated to have cost up to $50 million, was emblematic of Venice’s subjugation to tourism and its slow descent into becoming a sort of heritage Disneyland with an ever-shrinking population.
Kendall Jenner.Credit: AP
While the activists said Mr Bezos was not welcome, many Venetians disagreed.
Hoteliers, restaurant owners and gondoliers were among those insisting that the event had brought huge economic benefits to the World Heritage city.
“It was a big success for Venice, which should continue to host events of this calibre,” said Antonio Onorato, a member of the Association of Venetian Hoteliers.
Leonardo Di Caprio did his best to keep his pyjamas hidden.Credit: AP
The three-day celebrations, attended by Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Queen Rania of Jordan, “brought huge visibility to Venice”, he said.
“The hope is that the presence of Bezos will encourage others of the same calibre to come to the city.”
The Telegraph, London
