The week-long nuptials of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in Venice have inspired protests, plenty of column inches and even debates in the Italian parliament. But the ethics of taking over a city aside, just what does it take to put on an event of this scale?
The third richest man on the planet and his bride-to-be, enlisted the services of one of the world’s most exclusive “event creation” companies to plan their wedding (thought to have cost up to £40 million) for them. And although you’ve probably never heard of them, Lanza and Baucina have been the logistical brains behind some very big Big Days.
Run by three secretive Italian aristocratic cousins out of a small, unassuming office in Battersea, the company has no social media footprint. In fact, it barely even has a website – just a black homepage with contact details and a paragraph of text, in all capital letters, which states it has: “Experience ranging from royal and A-list celebrity weddings, to groundbreaking productions, in extraordinary and uncharted locations.”
Italian princes with impeccable pedigree
The masterminds behind the world’s most exclusive parties are a Prince (Antonio Licata di Baucina) and two Counts (Riccardo and Aleramo Lanza), who set the company up 23 years ago.
Riccardo is based between the Battersea property and Venice. He was previously married to Lady Kinvara Balfour, the second daughter of the 5th Earl of Balfour, and Lady Tessa Fitzalan-Howard. He’s also been linked to Susanna Warren, an ex of Prince Harry, and William’s friend Guy Pelly, and a granddaughter of the late Earl of Carnarvon.
Little is known about Aleramo, while Prince Antonio’s family own the Palazzo Alliata di Pietratagliata, a magnificent palace in the heart of Palermo, which he visits regularly.
One insider describes Riccardo, who speaks fluent English, as the “maestro behind the scenes”, orchestrating the details of the company’s events.
“There’s no one in the world who would flummox him as a guest or a client,” the insider says.
From Venice to Marrakech, a non-stop summer party
Initially, the trio specialised in high-end holiday experiences, property purchases and private rentals in Europe for the uber-rich. Back in 2008, their fees ranged from $3,000 (then equivalent to £1,515) for a private visit to Palermo’s 18th-century Palazzo Gangi, to $75,000 (£38,000) for a private lunch or nighttime visit to Pompeii.
“To really live as part of Venice, part of the fabric of the city, you need to stay in a place that is lived in by a Venetian,” Riccardo Lanza told Forbes in 2005. “Even if you’re in the top suite at a hotel, you’re still in mass tourism. You’re still sharing the same concierge.”
Through their personal connections, the three would persuade the owners of some of Venice’s most beautiful private residences to move out, so that their clients could move in. Prices for rentals started at $45,000 (£32,700) a week. “Basically, you’re living as the owners would,” Lanza told Forbes.
Since then they have “worked on every continent”, and moved into planning exclusive events (including a string of celebrity weddings).
“From May to September, there’s a party every weekend”, from Venice to Marrakech, says the insider, who has attended Lanza and Baucina events.
The parties are often attended by European aristocrats and royalty. “It’s not like they’re doing lots of British toff weddings, because the British toffs don’t spend that sort of money.” Within those circles, “You’re going from a wedding one weekend, to a 40th the next weekend, and they will all be Lanza events.”
Making George and Amal Clooney’s big day go with a bang
The trio themselves normally stay firmly behind the scenes, giving few interviews – they declined The Telegraph’s request for a comment.
But this week they came out of the shadows to address the controversy surrounding their latest extravaganza, which has reportedly led to Venice’s hotels being block-booked. On top of this, they have exclusively hired San Giorgio Maggiore Island, attracting the ire of many locals, who have accused the Amazon boss of treating the “whole city as a private ballroom”.
“As event organisers who have been working in Venice for over 24 years, we feel obliged to provide clarity, given the misinform ation, falsehoods and misunderstandings circulating,” Lanza and Baucina said in a statement. “From the very beginning, both our client’s instructions and our guiding principles have been very clear: minimising the impact of the event for the city, respect for its residents and institutions, and the pre-eminent use of local workers in the creation of the events.”
They certainly know Venice. The company planned the wedding of George and Amal Clooney in the lagoon city in 2014. Despite involving three days of celebrations, a custom-named boat and the former mayor of Rome as officiant, it now looks positively low-key compared to Bezos’s bash.
Lanza and Baucina were also behind the A-list studded Venice wedding of Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault in 2009. The couple tied the knot at La Fenice opera house, and had their reception at the 18th-century Palazzo Grassi.
“Because of our family connections, we always know someone who can open the secret doors in Italy,” di Baucina has said.
Granting access to grand historic sites is a hallmark of Lanza and Baucina weddings, which usually include a spectacular party afterwards. But if the perfect building doesn’t exist in a location, they will create it instead. The firm has been known to build temporary custom nightclubs and beach clubs for some of their clients.
Ballet dancers and pop stars on speed-dial
When Tracy Dubb, the co-founder of the skincare company Isla Beauty, and Derek Davies, the co-founder of the record label Neon Gold, tied the knot in Palermo, Sicily in 2022, they turned to the trio’s services.
There were two nights’ of parties leading up to the wedding day, which was held in a private villa in Palermo dating back to 1712. The pop star Maggie Rogers sang for the couple’s first dance. “Our planners Riccardo Lanza of Lanza and Baucina were amazing,” Dubb told Vogue in 2022. “Ultimately we got there!”
The company was also behind the St Tropez wedding of creative consultant Lizzie Edelman and investor Philipp Sachs in 2022. The couple said “I do” at La Citadelle, a historic fort. A large see-through tent overlooking the sea was erected, and guests were seated just as the sun was setting. The next night, they held a 1970s-disco-inspired party at the groom’s home, where Lanza and Baucina “lit up the palm trees, and the light changed to the beat of the music,” according to Edelman.
For Polina and Ibrahim Shaker’s winter wonderland wedding in St Moritz in 2024, Lanza and Baucina arranged for the couple to have their ceremony on the ice rink at the legendary hotel Badrutt’s Palace, including a 15-person figure-skating routine. During dinner, dancers from La Scala, the Paris Opera, and the English National Ballet performed The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. “All the details were carefully thought out by Lanza and Baucina,” Polina told Vogue.
The company is known for their extreme attention to detail, and are alleged to have a warehouse where they physically stage the decor for a couple’s wedding in advance, for review ahead of the Big Day.
“They’re the best in the business,” says another insider, who plans events for the super-rich. “Everyone respects and adores them.”
Luxury Venetian gifts for 200 A-list guests
So what will Lanza and Baucina’s festivities for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding entail? Local officials say the bill for the event is expected to run up to €48 million (£40 million), and – according to insiders – a small team, who have all signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreement), will have been planning it since late 2023.
Already, they’ve erected a striped tent outside the entrance of the luxury hotel the Aman Venice, where many of the 200 attendees – including Bezos and Sánchez themselves – are thought to be staying. All guests will reportedly receive gifts of Laguna B Murano glassware, which fits with the organisers’ commitment to using local artisans in their productions.
The insider who has attended Lanza and Baucina parties says: “You can guarantee that after the party, there will be handmade Venetian slippers for everyone to take home because they’ll be tired of their heels. It’s all very thoughtfully done.
“Everything is next level with them – next-level food, next-level tablescaping, with hand-painted this and that. They’ve been doing tablescaping for years, before it became an Instagram trend.
“They have a small group, but they employ locals of the country. There won’t be a posh British girl serving Jeff Bezos. They’ll have Italian chefs and waiters and musicians.”
When your client is worth over $200 billion, everything is possible
At the moment, much of the wedding is still the subject of speculation, including Sánchez’s 27 dresses and a rumoured Great Gatsby-themed cocktail party for guests, said to include Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Kim Kardashian and Robert Pattinson.
But the wedding planners have pushed back against claims that their events will disrupt the city, and rumours that 60 of Venice’s water taxis are reserved for the week, with 400 gondolas also said to be on standby.
“They are completely false and diametrically opposed to our goals and reality… an exaggerated amount of water cabs or gondolas have never been booked, the number of cabs booked is proportionate to the number of guests,” Lanza and Baucina said in their statement.
But of course, when your client is worth a reported $227 billion (£165 billion), seemingly everything is possible.
“If we have enough time,” di Baucina has said, “we can do almost anything”.