Last year more than 15 thousand foreign couples paid over a billion euros to crown their dream of love in our country. A growing trend between VIPs and influencers who do not pay attention to expenses (crazy).
The wedding of the year have already defined it. A long list of stars among the guests (including the billionaire Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg, then Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Eva Longoria and her husband José Bastón), Hyper -starred hotels for guests with rooms of 9 thousand euros per night, a whole fee of taxi available, 27 cards for the dress for the dress for the dress Selected by Anna Wintour to cover the celebrations, all with a cost that according to estimates from the weekly Daily Mail is around 30 million euros. Only on hotels it stops just below 3 million.
For the fateful yes, the couple Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, he founder of Amazon with an estimated heritage in 215 billion dollars, her American journalist of Mexican origins, chose Venice. The direction of the party, according to what is read on Page Six, will be curated by the organizers of the wedding of George and Amal Clooney, who took place in September 2014 with sumptuous celebrations inside the luxurious Papadopoli Palace in the Aman hotel overlooking the Grand Canal. Italy, in fact, has become the favorite destination for the wedding of VIPs around the world, thanks to the exclusive locations and the ability to host large events with scenography of strong media impact.
In the lagoon city, in particular, they said yes in 2021, Alexandre Arnault, son of the richest man in the world, The president of the LVMH group, Bernard Arnault, and the founder of the Estrëe brand, Géraldine Guyot, with a two -day party at the Cipriani alla Giudecca and a string of star guests including Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams and Roger Federer. First, in 2016, monopolized the worldly chronicles the romantic ceremony between the Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic and the German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger, while in 2009, the actress Salma Hayek and the French billionaire François-Henri Pinault celebrated with a luxurious party at the La Fenice Theater after the official wedding in Paris.
Not only Venice. There are numerous places that offer themselves as a highly coveted set for star marriages. The list is very long. In pole position there is Lake Como with iconic places such as Villa del Balbianello, Villa d’Este and Villa Pizzo. Tuscany offers exclusive villas, luxury agritourisms and unique scenarios such as Castiglion del Bosco, Forte di Belvedere (chosen in 2014 by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) and the Tenuta di Artimino, in Puglia the couples compete for Borgo Egnazia in Fasano, while the Amalfi Coast and Cilento are of great appeal for breathtaking views and exclusive residences, such as the Castle of Rocca Cilento, where in 2024 the British singer and Westwick and the actress Amy Jackson married. The capital and its surroundings offer several options, including the Orsini-Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano (where the actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and the Torcrescence Castle married in 2006. In Umbria, villages and castles for a particular set like the Castle of Procopio. In Sicily, the island of Vulcano was chosen by the journalist Diletta Leotta and the German footballer Loris Karius.
Millionaire weddings have become a real business, an important voice of our economy and a tourist flywheel for the territories. The figures that move are dizzying. The yes of Bezos and Sanchez could exceed all the records of the expenses incurred in Italy by other VIPs, such as the 6.5 million dollars of the couple of actors Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake in Borgo Egnazia in 2012 with a party lasting a week, or 4 million dollars only for the overnight stay of the guests and the safety of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin.
“The wedding tourism continues to grow, making Italy the reference destination at an international level” explains Carlotta Ferrari, president of Convention Bureau Italia, the national private tourist promotion body. «The weddings that have turned into major events increase. There is the will of foreigners to organize unique weddings in their kind thanks to the attraction exercised by Made in Italy and local products “.
The numbers confirm it. According to the Italy for wedding observatory, over 15,100 weddings were celebrated in 2024 among rich foreigners (growing 11.4 percent compared to 2023), with 960 thousand people involved, 4 million overnight stays and a number of guests greater than 100 units. Compared to 2023, the average expenditure grew by 4.2 percent, reaching about 61,500 euros, where the “catering” item is the highest (36 percent). The induced touches the billion euros (compared to 500 million in 2018), distributed on a large and qualified chain (the request of the figure of the wedding planner, for example, rises to 46.3 percent). The interest of foreign couples rewards Central Italy (31.1 percent), but increases the attractiveness of the south and islands (29.3 percent), where Sicily is one of the most requested regions. In general, a VIP wedding starts from a minimum of 250 thousand euros to reach figures that exceed one million euros, as we have seen, if couples are characters from the jet set and finance.
The Wedding Planner Costanza Giaconi, one of the best known in the sector, explains that “VIPs often tighten commercial agreements for the wedding, For example for the wedding dress, which is given in exchange for advertising. Suppliers are pleased to participate in exclusive events, with a strong media impact that acts as a commercial flywheel ».
Making two accounts, but considering that these are very elastic figures, historic villas, castles and luxury resorts, can cost from 10 thousand to 300 thousand euros only for the rent, which is usually for several days. In some cases, the cost of catering is included, but if you opt for an external service, the shopping for 100 guests can easily reach 100 thousand euros, especially if you want an exclusive menu, open bar, sommelier and starred chefs. The floral layout and the decorations can exceed 50 thousand euros, as well as the high quality photo shoots and videos, and over 50 thousand euros go to the wedding planners and those who deal with the management and organization of the event. Then there are clothes, accessories and hairstyles and here the figures take off. The budget includes the legal and insurance expenses that can exceed 20 thousand euros for foreign spouses. Finally, another important item is the hospitality for the guests in the five -star hotel to which are added transport, between luxury or vintage cars, helicopters and water taxis as in the case of Venice. Not to mention the appeal of internationally renowned DJs and artists.
The American couples followed by British and Germans prevail but heel by the Asians. For Japanese, Chinese and Korean, getting married in Italy is a status symbol. In addition, unlike traditional weddings in their countries, often linked to rigid protocols, the ceremony in the Bel Paese becomes a personalized event. But it is above all the possibility of taking photographs with breathtaking landscapes to be spread on social media and media to draw so much attention. So the wedding become a film set.
