At the Bezos-Sanchez wedding: Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio and Oprah join the $50-million festivities in Venice

Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ highly anticipated wedding festivities are well underway.

Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ highly anticipated wedding festivities are well underway. On Thursday night, celebrities gathered for a kick-off event at the medieval Madonna dell’Orto cloister. A traffic ordinance issued from Venice City Hall, barred pedestrian foot traffic around the 14th-century cathedral, which houses artworks from the Venetian painter Tinoretto, from late afternoon until midnight. In line with the event’s tightly guarded details, guests appeared to adhere to a social media blackout, with little activity on their feeds except for a few glimpses of the city itself and the stormy weather overnight. The three-day affair is expected to take place from Thursday to Saturday, with some 200 guests joining the billionaire Amazon founder and the former journalist in celebrating their marriage after a two-year engagement. The events are expected to cost some 40-48 million euros ($46.5-55.6 million), according to Reuters. Venice tourism councillor Simone Venturini told CNN that the city was expected to profit some “€20-30 million ($23.4-35.1 million) for the parties and organizations and the events” during the week. The extravaganza’s tentpole event is expected tonight on the island of San Giorgio, according to Reuters. It remains unclear when the couple will legally wed (or if they already have, prior to this week, in the US). A spokesperson for the mayor’s office in Venice told CNN on Thursday that the city has not received an official request from the couple, meaning the events this week will be ceremonial and not legally binding.