Attention-seeking celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Kim Kardashian caught water taxis in Venice Friday to watch Jeff Bezos, the world’s third-richest person, go through the motions of exchanging wedding vows with his equally attention-seeking bride,

The billionaire founder of the Blue Origin space company has worked to charm Donald Trump in recent months, and even invited the president to his lavish, star-studded wedding in Venice, White House officials told The Wall Street Journal. The president apparently isn’t planning to attend, due to scheduling conflicts.

Donald Trump rejected an invitation to Jeff Bezos’s star-studded Venetian wedding. Mr Bezos, the tech billionaire, was reportedly trying to cosy up to the US president, in what could be seen as an attempt to fill the position of “first buddy” vacated by Elon Musk.