Venice welcomes George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin for wedding weekend

From the frenetic Grand Canal to the tranquil island of Giudecca, Venice was looking even more like a film set than usual on Friday as it put the finishing touches on preparations for the most glamorous celebrity wedding of the year. And, right on cue, as the sun was glinting off the canals and tourists gathered on bridges above, the star couple glided into the limelight on board a boat named - what else? - Amore. George Clooney, talented filmmaker that he is, couldn't have directed it any better if he'd tried. For weeks rumours of the nuptials between the Hollywood heartthrob, 53, and his British-Lebanese fiancee, the human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, 36, had been circling. But finally the four-day celebrity carnival had arrived. In the early afternoon the couple were filmed steaming along the Giudecca Canal, presumably on their way to the booked-out Belmond Cipriani. It was quite some entrance. With hours to go before the lavish wedding reception, however, many details of the celebrations were being kept secret, thanks to a strict confidentiality agreement. A local newspaper even reported guests had been forbidden from bringing their smartphones with them in order to prevent photographs leaking out. "We are so busy I don't even have the time to talk on the telephone," said a spokeswoman for the hotel, where Clooney was reported to be throwing a bachelor party attended by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon among others, later that day. At the Aman Grand Canal resort, the "seven-star" hotel in the city centre where the main reception is to be held on Saturday, the wrought iron gates were being opened but, for journalists at least, closed soon after. An employee declined to expand on the "big event" she said was being planned, saying: "Our guests are our guests and we respect their privacy." Soon after, the Guardian was escorted from what the official brochure describes as the "lofty-ceilinged Reception Hall" by an impeccably mannered security guard, the Guardian reports.