George Clooney set to wed

The two-time Oscar winner and Kentucky-born Clooney, 53, is set to renounce his oath of bachelorhood and marry British-Lebanese barrister Alamuddin, 36, in a multi-day extravaganza in Italy's floating city.

A beaming Clooney and his bride-to-be took a water taxi on the Grand Canal on Friday, and more boats bearing blue flags printed with the initials “A” and “G” waited in the morning at Venice's airport to ferry early arrivals including Ellen Barkin, Clooney’s co-star in "Ocean’s Thirteen". 

Tourists and Venetians alike clustered after dark on Friday on a pier next to the seven-star Aman Canal Grande Hotel, a fresco-filled palazzo which the pair reportedly reserved for an exchange-of-vows ceremony and reception on Saturday.

Among those hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the glamorous guests on a list rumoured to hold 150 names was Osmany Mena, 37, who was visiting Venice from Miami, Florida.

"They talked about Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie. It would be cool to see any of them, all of them,” Mena said, mentioning Clooney's co-star Bullock in the 2013 blockbuster "Gravity" and another recently married Hollywood power couple.

Local press said Matt Damon, star of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "The Bourne Identity", landed later in the day at the airport on Venice's long Lido island.

Alamuddin and Clooney, who vowed never to remarry after his 1993 divorce from actress Talia Balsam, posted legal notice of their plans to wed at a West London town hall in August, drawing a crowd of fans but no appearance from the couple