Jeff Bezos’ wedding to Lauren Sánchez in Venice was among 2025’s biggest news stories. The dish wasn’t just over the private island, the celebrity guest list, and the parking for superyachts; it was about the cost. Among the nuptials’ eye-watering accoutrements were the bride’s $300,000 gown, the $4 million 20-carat diamond ring, and $1.6 million worth of flowers. All in, the bill came to $46 million.
They should have just gone to JCPenney.
That was the thinking at the retailer’s marketing department, at least. And it wasn’t just whiteboard stuff. With the happy cooperation of Estefany Gomez and Leonardo Rendon, a young couple who’d dreamed of a wedding in Venice, California, JCPenney staged, styled, and paid for “The Other Venice Wedding,” a pocketbook-friendly proxy to the Bezos affair.
