A stream of black SUVs were seen pulling up to Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, dropping off guests under a white canopy tent, as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's rumored wedding celebrations appear to have kicked off. A law enforcement source told the Associated Press that the pop star and NFL player, both 36, hosted a rehearsal dinner on Thursday night. The Daily Mail reported that a private wedding ceremony would take place at the arena on Thursday evening, followed by a Friday night wedding in front of 1,000 friends and relatives.
Celebrity Guests and Bridal Party
Famous friends including Lena Dunham and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff were spotted in formal attire on Thursday evening. Singer Selena Gomez, the Haim sisters (Este, Danielle and Alana), and supermodel Gigi Hadid are expected to be bridesmaids. Singers Ed Sheeran and Suki Waterhouse, as well as several of Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs teammates, are also expected to attend. The Knicks' starting five—Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns—have reportedly been invited, following their historic NBA championship victory a few weeks ago.
Event Details and Security
The event is taking place over the Fourth of July weekend, which marks 250 years of US independence. Swift has regularly celebrated the July 4 holiday by hosting large parties. Ahead of the wedding, Swift's publicist confirmed the couple have donated $26 million (£19.4 million) to 20 charities across the United States, largely in areas where the pair have links. Although the couple have not publicly confirmed any details, crews have been seen unloading equipment from trucks outside Madison Square Garden, including a large carpet.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Wednesday that the department was tracking an event at the arena. “The NYPD will, of course, have a detail in place, but I’m not going to go into more specifics at this time,” she said. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also confirmed that a permit was filed for a large event. “We are fully prepared. There isn’t anything to share beyond that,” he said.
Relationship Timeline
Swift and Kelce announced their engagement in a joint Instagram post in August last year, which read: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” Their romance began in 2023 after Kelce publicly announced on his podcast that he was interested in Swift, which she later called a “wild, romantic gesture.” Later that year, she was spotted watching one of his games, sitting next to his mother. At an Eras Tour concert in November 2023, Swift first changed the lyrics to her song Karma from “karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me” to “karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me,” in reference to Kelce. A few months later, she celebrated with Kelce after his team won the Super Bowl, while he later attended one of her Eras Tour shows in London in June 2025.
Her album The Life Of A Showgirl, released two months after the engagement, featured several songs referencing Kelce, including Opalite, which mentions his birth stone, opal.
