Lauren Sanchez was spotted flaunting a head-turning accessory ahead of her lavish wedding to billionaire Jeff Bezos—an item so extravagant that fans are calling it ‘ridiculous’.
The 55-year-old broadcaster, set to marry the 61-year-old Amazon founder, has reportedly locked in a June wedding date, with whispers swirling that the celebration will unfold in Venice.
Sanchez has already secured her wedding dress with the help of none other than Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, following Bezos’ proposal with a $2.5 million diamond ring so massive that Sanchez admitted she ‘kind of blacked out’ when she saw it.
But it’s her brother Paul Sanchez who raised eyebrows further, teasing that the wedding could rival the grandeur of Princess Diana’s 1981 royal wedding to King Charles.
On Friday, Sánchez was spotted sporting a high-end accessory that certainly reflects the scale of the upcoming event: a $5,750 Balenciaga 9AM Coffee Cup Clutch Bag.
However, this luxe item, designed as a tote shaped like a coffee cup, has fans raising their brows not just at its price but its functionality.
Lauren Sanchez was spotted flaunting a head-turning accessory ahead of her lavish wedding to billionaire Jeff Bezos —an item so extravagant that fans are calling it ‘ridiculous’
On Friday, Sánchez was spotted sporting a high-end accessory that certainly reflects the scale of the upcoming event: a $5,750 Balenciaga 9AM Coffee Cup Clutch Bag
The $5,750 accessory is stirring up more than just wedding excitement
When Balenciaga unveiled the coffee cup bag, the internet erupted.
One Reddit user quipped, ‘This brand just keeps digging itself deeper and deeper into ridicule.’
Another joked, ‘I would accidentally throw it away. There are many other ways to throw away $6,000.’
A third posted, ‘This is beyond stupid. Doesn’t even come with a strap—literally a cup/bag?!’
Clearly, this accessory is stirring up more than just wedding excitement.
Lauren’s outing with the bling comes a day after her brother Paul told TMZ of the nuptials, ‘It’s gonna be star-studded and fun. I think it’s gonna be like a Princess Di thing—just huge and fun and just a blast.’
Princess Diana married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, in a grand ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral, watched by an estimated global audience of 750 million people.
Diana’s wedding dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, featured a 25-foot train—the longest in royal wedding history—made of ivory taffeta and antique lace.
However, this luxe item, designed as a tote shaped like a coffee cup, has fans raising their brows not just at its price but its functionality
When Balenciaga unveiled the coffee cup bag, the internet erupted, with one Reddit user joking, ‘This brand just keeps digging itself deeper and deeper into ridicule’
Another joked, ‘I would accidentally throw it away. There are many other ways to throw away $6,000’
When asked who’s running the show—Bridezilla or Groomzilla—Paul laughed and admitted, ‘I have no idea. I talk to my sister three or four times a week, but she hasn’t mentioned much about the wedding. They’re so busy.’
As for what to gift the couple who has everything, he mused, ‘I have no clue. We’re trying to figure that out.’
But he suspects they’d prefer ‘a donation to their favorite charity kind of thing’ over traditional wedding presents.
Paul also gushed about his sister, saying, ‘She has a heart of gold. She’s just a great human being.’
Guest list rumors are swirling, with expected A-listers including former President Donald Trump, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey.
Fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg and media mogul Barry Diller are also reportedly on the list, alongside Sánchez’s close friends Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Barbra Streisand, and Queen Rani of Jordan.
The scale of the celebration is said to put even George Clooney’s lavish 2014 Venetian wedding to Amal Alamuddin—attended by Cindy Crawford, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt—to shame.
One lingering question: where exactly will the nuptials take place? Italian insiders suggest Bezos’s $500 million yacht Koru could serve as the venue.
Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos are set to have one of the most talked-about weddings in recent history —one that’s even drawing comparisons to a royal affair; (seen in March)
But it’s her brother Paul Sanchez who raised eyebrows further, teasing that the wedding could rival the grandeur of Princess Diana’s 1981 royal wedding to King Charles
At 127 meters, it’s the largest masted yacht ever built, though it only sleeps 18 guests across nine cabins.
It’s also the very spot where Bezos popped the question, and its name—Maori for ‘loop’ or ‘coil’—symbolizes new beginnings.
One local report claimed, ‘The event… will take place aboard their $500 million mega yacht Koru, anchored in the Venetian Lagoon.’
However, conflicting reports suggest the yacht is merely involved in the celebrations, possibly hosting excursions rather than the main event.
‘I promise you the wedding is not on the boat,’ one source teased.
Because of regulations designed to protect the city, a yacht of that size would have to anchor out around the Arsenale area, which is not the most beautiful part of the city.
‘All the money in the world cannot change those regulations,’ said one observer. ‘There’s no way that you want to wake up in Venice and not be looking out on to the Grand Canal.’
So where then? It is surely significant that two of the city’s best hotels, the Gritti Palace and the seven-star Aman are both booked out completely from June 26 to June 29.
The Aman, a luxurious boutique 16th century palazzo, is where Clooney and his lawyer wife Amal exchanged vows in a ‘private, symbolic’ ceremony, before heading out the following day to sign the necessary paperwork in a civil ceremony conducted by the mayor at the 14th century Ca’ Farsetti town hall.
Nobody from either hotel was willing to answer questions on the topic yesterday, but we do know rooms start at £2,500 a night at both and can cost up to almost ten times that, depending on the size of the suite and the season.
A local news site said yesterday: ‘In preparation for the event, Venice is bracing for the arrival of VIPs. The city’s top luxury hotels have already been booked, and reports say the entire fleet of water taxis will be made available to shuttle guests across the canals. The logistics point to a highly exclusive, tightly co-ordinated celebration.’
It went on: ‘Choosing Venice is more than a romantic gesture —it’s a nod to the couple’s shared history with the city, which they’ve frequently visited during their relationship… the wedding is poised to be a defining social event of 2025, not only for the couple but for Venice itself.’
A source told me last month: ‘You won’t miss this one when it happens.’
In May, Sanchez will take a space flight on her fiance’s rocket, surely the perfect prelude to marrying a billionaire. She will blast off on the New Shepard — leading an all-female crew of six, including TV anchor Gayle King and pop star Katy Perry — for an 11-minute sub-orbital flight
In fact we were all waiting for it to happen last year: Reports circulated that there was to be a ‘winter-wonderland wedding’ in Aspen, Colorado, on December 28 – but the date came and went with no nuptials.
In May, Sanchez will take a space flight on her fiance’s rocket, surely the perfect prelude to marrying a billionaire. She will blast off on the New Shepard — leading an all-female crew of six, including TV anchor Gayle King and pop star Katy Perry — for an 11-minute sub-orbital flight.
Upon her return to Earth, she will embrace convention and take Bezos’s surname upon marriage. ‘Uh, yes, 100 per cent. I am looking forward to being Mrs Bezos,’ she confirmed in 2023.
In another interview, she gushed about her fiance: ‘He’s so happy, he inspires me every day. He makes me a better person every day. He’s the most loving human I know.’
Meanwhile Bezos told CNN: ‘Lauren is the most generous, most big-hearted person that you would ever meet… She never misses a birthday. The network of people that she gives birthday presents to is gigantic. And that’s just a small example.
‘We’re really great teammates, and we also have a lot of fun together. And we love each other.’ Bezos, 61, split from novelist Scott in 2019. It then emerged he had been romancing Sanchez, 55, who was married at the time to influential Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell.
Whitesell himself has made hundreds of millions of dollars in the talent agency business – although his wealth does not compare to that of Princeton graduate Bezos, who is estimated to be worth $212billion (£164billion). Some suggest the wedding was delayed by the need for a mega-prenup, but friends of Sanchez say that isn’t true.
She’s certainly had plenty of experience of being engaged. When Sanchez started the career that would make her famous as a news anchor, entertainment presenter and eventually the host of the reality dance show So You Think You Can Dance, her romantic life was far from dull.
When Sanchez started the career that would make her famous as a news anchor, entertainment presenter and eventually the host of the reality dance show So You Think You Can Dance, her romantic life was far from dull
Meanwhile Bezos told CNN: ‘Lauren is the most generous, most big-hearted person that you would ever meet… She never misses a birthday. The network of people that she gives birthday presents to is gigantic. And that’s just a small example’
A rumoured engagement to a sports broadcaster was followed by a romance with NFL star Tony Gonzalez, with whom she had son Nikko in 2001. She and Gonzalez managed to stay good friends – he and his wife Tobie were guests of Bezos and Sanchez at Thanksgiving in 2023.
She also had a liaison with LA Lakers player Derek Fisher and a minor entrée into showbusiness via NYPD Blue actor Henry Simmons, to whom she was also reputedly engaged.
Then she met handsome power agent Patrick Whitesell – seemingly falling for him like a ton of bricks at first sight in 2004 – and apparently ditched Simmons.
‘I’d always ask my friends, ‘How do you know it’s the right one?’ she sighed. ‘Then when I met Patrick, I told them, ‘I so get it’.’ Their wedding – her first – was on a scale to attract attention, with guests including her husband’s starry clients Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba and Hugh Jackman.
Never backwards at coming forwards, Sanchez gave an interview to People magazine about the festivities, noting: ‘Matt (Damon) and Ben (Affleck) don’t get to see each other often, so we sat them together.’
Her job at So You Think You Can Dance ended when she was pregnant with son Evan. Producers then gave the presenting role to Cat Deeley, although Sanchez’s recollection was that she was ousted unjustly.
Daughter Ella was born in 2008, and from 2011 to 2017, Sanchez was a regular on Good Day LA, a local morning news show. Throughout those years, her family came first.
Son Nikko remembers that his extrovert mum would attend high school football games in self-made merchandise with his number on it. ‘There was not a single year she wasn’t the team mom,’ he said.
She suggested that the journalist could possibly opt for a ‘mermaid-style gown’ and added, ‘I see her in a gown that accentuates her curves’
In 2011 she received her certification as a pilot – her father Ray had been a flight instructor and a mechanic – then got her helicopter licence
In 2011 she received her certification as a pilot – her father Ray had been a flight instructor and a mechanic – then got her helicopter licence.
Cleverly, having seen a commercial opportunity in her hobby, in 2016 she founded Black Ops Aviation, specialising in aerial filming. Through her new gig, and thanks perhaps to connections via her agent husband, she consulted on Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk.
She told a magazine: ‘This space is dominated by men, but there’s nothing physical about flying a helicopter.’
By this time, she had met Bezos. Indeed, her husband was working closely with him. Whitesell represented the actress Michelle Williams, who happened to be the star of the Amazon-distributed film Manchester By The Sea.
At some point, a plan took shape for Sanchez and Bezos to work together on a documentary about his space project, Blue Origin. This was described in the tabloids as ‘the $50million alibi’, for during the filming of it the two enjoyed an eight-month affair.
National Enquirer magazine trailed them across five states and 40,000 miles as they enjoyed private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways and intimate dinner dates. There were reports of red-hot texts and pictures.
When the news came out, Bezos announced the end of his marriage to MacKenzie Scott, and Sanchez and Whitesell also formally split, although there were claims that both wronged spouses had been aware of the love affair for months and that by the time it was exposed, all concerned had moved on.
Scott’s Amazon stock, which made her one of the world’s wealthiest women, may of course have made that easier.
Somewhat unbelievably, Sanchez says their lives are ‘pretty normal’ and ‘mostly revolve around the kids’
In the mornings, her coffee comes in a mug which reads: ‘Woke up sexy as hell again.’ Certainly, she’ll be making sure she does on the day in June when the whole world will be watching her wedding
As for the children of the two failed marriages, Bezos’s four with Mackenzie are now at college, while Sanchez’s two with Whitesell are shared on a week-on week-off basis with him.
Today she lives in a number of super-luxurious homes, including a gargantuan Los Angeles mansion, bought by Bezos from David Geffen for $165million (£127million) in 2020, and houses in Washington, Miami, Florida and an immense ranch in West Texas.
Somewhat unbelievably, Sanchez says their lives are ‘pretty normal’ and ‘mostly revolve around the kids’. In the mornings, her coffee comes in a mug which reads: ‘Woke up sexy as hell again.’
Certainly, she’ll be making sure she does on the day in June when the whole world will be watching her wedding.
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