Campaigners in Venice have claimed victory after reportedly forcing a change of venue of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez celebrity wedding extravaganza even as celebrity guests have been arriving for the three-day jamboree.

The wedding, initially scheduled to hold in the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a majestic 16th-century building in the city centre was forced to move after relentless protest by activists who threatened to fill the canals with inflatable crocodiles to block their celebrity guests from entering.

The event will instead take place in Arsenale, a historic complex of shipyards surrounded by fortified walls that will be much harder for the protesters to penetrate.

According to an insider, the island is ‘off-limits to visitors’ from June 24 to June 29, with the mayor believing that the wedding will take place on the yacht – although The Misericordia, an iconic event space in Venice, has been booked out from June 26 to June 28. 

It’s unclear if the space is related to their wedding, but the insider added that a private tender service is said to be taking guests from the island to the yacht.

In addition to the private tenders, the source revealed that around 60 of Venice’s water taxis are reserved for the week, with some of the 400 gondolas on the island out of commission as well.

The insider also confirmed that Venice is expecting ‘200 guests who will stay at local hotels,’ although it’s unclear which ones.

The source confirmed that local bakery Rosa Salva Venetia will be providing pastries for the extravagant weekend where the menu list include tiramisu, flaky, cream-filled pastries, and fritelli, a traditional Italian fried treat.