According to reports in US Weekly, the 53-year-old actor will not be footing the bill for the lavish affair set to take place in Venice in the coming days - the bride's parents are.

"Crazy enough her family is paying for most of it," a source told the tabloid who also let slip that Clooney's future in-laws also got a say when it came to where and when the wedding would take place.

Ramzi and Baria Alamuddin, an editor at Lebanese newspaper Al-Hayat, are believed to be "old fashioned with it comes to these things".

After a dinner at the exclusive Cipriani Hotel about 60 guests are expected to attend the wedding which will reportedly be held at the seven-star Aman Canal Grande where rooms for the night start at $1800. Opera singer Andrea Bocelli has reportedly been booked to perform, like he did at Kim Kardashian's wedding to Kanye West earlier this year.

In the lead up the big day, the couple attended an event in Florence recently where the Oscar winner fawned over his fiancee during a speech on stage.

"I would just like to say to my bride-to-be, Amal, that I love you very much," he said.

While details of Alamuddin's wedding gown are being tightly guarded, the 37-year-old barrister is believed to be considering designs by Oscar de la Renta and Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

The groom has been a little more overt in his wardrobe choice for the big day. An team from Giorgio Armani recently flew from the designer's Milan base to the former ER star's home on Lake Como to fit him and his groomsmen with suits for the wedding.

One of Clooney's business associates and husband of supermodel Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, may have tipped off the press about the date of the wedding when he was spotted flying to Italy with about 50 cases of Casamigos tequila earlier this week. The pair are joint owners of the alcohol brand.