Just married
Stars gather in Venice for George Clooney, Amal Alamuddin wedding.
Newlyweds George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin emerged from the Aman Hotel on the Grand Canal in Venice on Sunday and cruised through the heart of the floating city in a wooden motorboat in their first public appearance since they exchanged vows during a starstudded party on Saturday night.
Ms. Alamuddin, who has become a worldwide celebrity since her relationship began with Mr. Clooney, looked every inch the movie star, while her husband had the assured look of a leading man in one of his romantic comedies.
But the real star of the show was Venice — its pastel-coloured palazzi were splashed with sunshine, its cupolas, bell towers and spires were framed against a cloudless blue sky, while gondoliers in striped jerseys and wooden boaters touted for trade on the canal banks.
Wearing a lacy white dress embroidered with pink and red floral motifs by the Italian designer Giambattista Valli, Mrs. Clooney, a 36-year-old human rights lawyer, waved to the crowds. She wore a diamond-encrusted ring on her finger.
By her side stood the man nicknamed “Gorgeous George,” in a grey suit, a blue and silver tie, and sporting the look of a man who could not be happier, despite vowing 20 years ago that he would never remarry. Mr. Clooney wore a plain platinum band on his wedding finger.
The couple’s water taxi was surrounded by a small armada of craft, including police patrol boats and motor launches carrying paparazzi and television crews. At one point the flotilla had to swerve around a vaporetto water bus travel- ling in the opposite direction — it lurched to one side as star-struck tourists on board rushed to get a glimpse of the couple.
On the Accademia bridge, which crosses the Grand Canal, tourists cheered and yelled “George!” as the couple came into sight and then swept down the Grand Canal towards the Hotel Cipriani, where they were to host a lunch around the swimming pool for their friends and family, including Hollywood celebrities Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford and Bill Murray.
The procession along the Grand Canal came the day after the 53-year-old Hollywood actor exchanged vows with Ms. Alamuddin beneath an arch made of white roses, during a ceremony presided over by Walter Veltroni, a former mayor of Rome, whom Mr. Clooney befriended through his humanitarian work. Mr. Clooney and his fiancée said “I do” just after 8 p.m. on Saturday, kissing as friends and families applauded and toasted them with champagne. Ms. Alamuddin wore a white wedding dress designed by Sarah Burton, the Alexander McQueen designer who created the Duchess of Cambridge’s bridal gown.
On Monday the couple are expected to travel back up the Grand Canal for a formal civil wedding ceremony at Venice’s 13th-century town hall, Ca’ Farsetti, in order to make the union legal under Italian law.
They will arrive at the town hall, near Rialto Bridge, just as council workers stage a protest over salary cuts. Protesters are hoping that Mr. Clooney may help publicize their grievances.
They have even sent an open letter to the actor. They said that while they were happy that he had chosen to marry in Venice, he should know that families were struggling to make ends meet.