NEW YORK — More details are coming out surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding, which is really taking place this weekend at Madison Square Garden.
The wedding is slated to begin at 5 p.m. Friday at MSG and could last until 4 a.m. the next morning, according to a copy of a city permit obtained by The Associated Press.
A law enforcement official briefed on security plans had previously told AP that the wedding will be held Friday, with a smaller rehearsal dinner Thursday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the events publicly.
Buzz around the possible wedding has resulted in frenzied speculation over who will snag a coveted invite, how the venue will be transformed and theorizing who will design Swift’s dress.
Still, few details have been publicly confirmed -- nearly a year after Kelce and Swift announced their engagement with an Instagram post.
Here is some of what is known and what is still unconfirmed about the holiday weekend celebration.
Permits and activity at Madison Square Garden
Public records show that the city issued a permit for loading and unloading theatrical materials at MSG from June 29 to July 4. Winick Productions, a company that has produced red carpet events for Grammy and Tony awards shows and movie premieres, also applied for a permit to set up a canopy or tent outside the Garden for an event involving up to 999 people.
Meanwhile, an application -- for a “Special Event at MSG” -- was approved Wednesday night by New York City’s permitting office, according to a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Multiple people familiar with the plans have confirmed to the AP that the application is tied to the wedding between the superstar singer and the football player.
As materials were loaded into MSG this week, some reports showed video of a man with a “Taylor Swift Carpenters” shirt operating a machine; others caught what appeared to be a staircase being hauled into the venue.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday sidestepped questions about a possible Swift-Kelce wedding.
Instead, he stressed that the city was prepared for a busy holiday weekend and emphasized the importance of staying cool during the expected heat wave.
Nothing has been confirmed by the couple, despite multiple requests -- including one Thursday -- from The Associated Press to Swift’s representative for comment.
No concerts, games or other public events have been on MSG’s schedule from June 29 until a Bon Jovi concert on July 7.
Madison Square Garden is a fortress, but has hosted weddings before
Madison Square Garden may not scream “bridal,” but the venue is available for private rentals, advertising a banquet capacity for 1,250 -- or 2,000 if you are serving only cocktails. And it has hosted weddings before.
Sly Stone got married to Kathy Silva there in 1974 before thousands of fans. And more than 2,000 couples were wed in a mass ceremony at the Garden officiated by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1982.
Located above Penn Station, the busiest rail hub in the U.S., the Garden -- an arena that seats up to 19,500 people -- doesn’t scream “privacy” either.
But it does have guarded entrances, a secure garage and a lack of windows, which would allow Kelce, Swift and celebrity guests to stay out of sight of photographers or camera-equipped drones.
Privacy and safety are key concerns
The need for privacy popped up last month, when a large tent appeared next door to Swift’s Watch Hill estate in Rhode Island. Despite organizers denying the event was for Swift, a wave of speculation bubbled up online as photographers and some Swifties headed to the town to see if they could catch a glimpse of a possible wedding.
Some have theorized that the MSG buzz could be an elaborate smoke screen to divert attention from the couple’s real wedding plans. Swift did once write, “No, you can’t come to the wedding,” in her song “But Daddy I Love Him,” which some fans have been reupping lately as a reminder that the wedding isn’t supposed to be a public spectacle.
Safety also is a top concern. In 2024, Swift canceled three concerts in Vienna during her Eras Tour due to a thwarted attack plan.
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday declined to confirm that Swift and Kelce’s wedding would take place Friday at MSG but said her department will have appropriate resources at each major event over the weekend.
“I would be remiss not to mention an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night,” Tisch said. “The NYPD will, of course, have a detail in place, but I am not going to go into more specifics on that at this time.”
Friends, family and plenty of celebrities are expected to attend
Swift joked in October that “anyone I’ve ever talked to” would be invited to the wedding, telling Graham Norton that she believed “the only stressful weddings” are those that are small and force people to make aggressive cuts to the guest list.
Yet just who exactly will show up is to be determined.
Aside from family, Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, will likely be in attendance.
For Swift, close friends such as Selena Gomez, Abigail Anderson Berard, the Haim sisters, Emma Stone and Gigi Hadid will all likely attend.
Swift has a history of Fourth of July parties
Swift has long been known for throwing elaborate parties over the American holiday.
It wasn’t too long ago that fans dubbed her Fourth of July events “Taymerica,” where celebrities showed up at her Rhode Island estate wearing red, white and blue swimsuits and waving American flags -- and eventually sharing some social media photos with the public.
The timing also works with Kelce’s football schedule, given that the tight end once joked on his “New Heights” podcast, “Don’t make my friends have to choose whether or not they have to sell their tickets that week.”
Associated Press video journalist Joseph B. Frederick in New York contributed to this report.
Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press
