Guests were spotted cowering under umbrellas as it rained at Jeff Bezos' controversial weekend-long wedding celebration in Venice - while security swarmed the area.

Billionaire Bezos and his bride Lauren Sanchez's multi-day wedding in Venice, Italy, has a star-studded 200-strong guest list.

They are currently on the Italian island city, which has been packed full of security with press being kept away.

But tourists with independently-booked stays in Venice have been able to catch a glimpse of the enormous event, which saw large parts of the city closed as a result.

Brit holidaymakers, who wished to remain anonymous, spotted crowds of celebrities pouring out of a chapel in the middle of a thunderstorm yesterday evening (26).

Celebrities believed to be in attendance include Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, Orlando Bloom and Oprah Winfrey.

The anonymous holidaymaker said: "It's been interesting - we booked the holiday ages ago."

"We were a bit gutted actually when we found out it coincided with the wedding."

"There are police everywhere."

"We saw all the celebrities heading out of the church where they had the celebration - it was all blocked off yesterday."

"We could see all the lightening behind the church, it was quite impressive to see."

"We think we saw Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian under the umbrellas somewhere."

Protests have broken out over the wedding in the region by locals objecting the 'exploitation' and over-tourism.

It has also garnered criticism from climate change activists and those who oppose Bezos' support for Donald Trump.

The holidaymakers said: "Protesters were moved by undercover police."

"They wouldn't stand so they wheelchaired them off to the jetty and handcuffed them together."

"Another tried to climb up the flagpole to unfurl a banner and he had the same treatment when he got back down."