What we know so far
• All eyes are on New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will hold a wedding celebration this week, two sources told CNN.
• This evening, the couple is expected to have what the sources described as a rehearsal event. There will be a larger celebration tomorrow, with some 1,000 people expected to attend, according to sources familiar with the planning.
• The area around Madison Square Garden has been bustling with activities for days, and NYPD officers were seen today putting up barricades on surrounding streets. It’s unclear exactly what the expected celebration could look like on the inside, but a parade of decor and supplies, including knobby tree branches and boxes of alcohol and lobster meat, have been spotted being wheeled into the arena.
"She's going to be a bride! It's the best!" says excited Swiftie outside MSG
Swifties outside Madison Square Garden are excited and eager to feel close to their idol on her big day.
“I would like to be here to experience the Swifties and just see, you know, what the vibe is, and everybody rooting her on,” Cheri Wims told CNN outside the venue. “Come on, she’s going be a bride! It’s the best!”
“When I heard that it was going to be here I was trying to put in my mind - how is she going to decorate that? … Like, I didn’t know,” Wims said.
She plans to come back to the arena with her sister, another Taylor Swift fan, later on in hopes of catching some of the action. “We’re going to come down here and see what’s up.”
Wims is proud of New York’s part in the nuptials, especially after the Knick’s NBA championship win. “I just want to say – ‘Go New York!’ Because we’re winning!”
What massive makeover is happening inside MSG right now?
Madison Square Garden is bustling with preparations for reported wedding events Thursday and Friday evening, while intrigue as to how Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce maybe transforming the venue has only been fueled by the endless parade of decor, mystery items and catering supplies entering the building.
While some Swifties have balked at the suggestion the marriage celebration may take place inside the decidedly un-romantic arena, signs suggest the couple may be going to great lengths to make it their own.
Many of the items being delivered are packed away in crates or shrouded in massive sheets of plastic and packing blankets, leading the ultra-curious to look for clues in shapes or on handwritten box labels. Is that a roof gable? A baby grand piano?
But there have been some glimpses of what is going inside: Knobby tree branches and lush foliage have been seen, along with a box labeled “game tent” and “STAIRS.” Earlier this week, TMZ published video that appears to show massive white staircase banisters being craned into the building.
A large box emblazoned with a concert lighting company’s logo was also hauled in.
The venue will also be well stocked with spirits as some 1,000 guests are expected to drink to the couple’s union. A truck stacked with alcohol was unloaded into the building Thursday. Several box trucks packed with lobster and other catering ingredients also pulled up to MSG.
It’s likely we won’t know what fairytale transformation is unfolding until Swift and Kelce share it themselves. Guests will reportedly not be allowed phones. But it doesn’t stop some from trying to find out.
Could she really get married at MSG? Fans are in disbelief
Even as a mountain of clues have accumulated pointing to a Tayvis wedding at Madison Square Garden, fans have remained skeptical.
“I keep going back and forth as to whether or not I believe it,” said Alison Hagen, a 24-year-old actress who has a side hustle giving Taylor Swift-themed walking tours in the city.
Even just a week ago, police and security guards working around MSG were adamant the rumors were just that: rumors.
“It’s a rumor,” said one officer at adjoining Penn Station last Thursday. “Why would she get married here?”
The venue — home stadium for the New York Knicks and located in crowded midtown Manhattan — struck many as far from the most romantic wedding venue.
But it’s also fitting in some ways: It’s primed for security — a good fit for one of the world’s most famous women who has seen her share of stalkers — and, with a billionaire’s budget, could be aesthetically transformed. And it’s an over-the-top choice for a couple who have built their careers off public spectacles in music and sports, respectively.
The Garden is “ugly,” said Sarah Kinney, a lifelong Swift acolyte and current law student at Cornell University. “Like the interior of MSG — that’s the opposite of romance.”
Her “secret hope,” Kinney said, is that all the preparations underway at the Garden are just a ruse, and Swift will really get married somewhere more romantic, such as Italy.
Still, the venue “seems like her in the sense that it’s way over the top, and it does allow for her to have absolute maximum control,” she said.
The lead-up to this expected wedding celebration has been as chaotic as it seems
It started with some tabloid reports. Then all hell broke loose.
The mad dash to figure out the details of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding, or any events tied to it, started the second they announced their engagement last summer. But the last month or so could give anyone paying attention whiplash as everyone — from tabloids to Easter Egg-loving Swifties — scrambled to figure out the who, what, when and where about America’s royal wedding.
Initial rumors that the couple would marry at Ocean House, a swanky hotel near Swift’s Rhode Island home, on June 13 were debunked after a wedding planner in charge of a wedding that weekend at the hotel confirmed her clients were not Swift and Kelce.
Then, tabloid reports that the couple would marry at the escalator-laden sports and entertainment venue Madison Square Garden started to emerge but it all just seemed so unbelievable at first. Depending on who you ask, some still can’t believe it. Swift’s representative has remained mum.
Alas, an event sources described as a rehearsal is expected to take place inside the Garden later tonight, with a larger celebration taking place tomorrow.
Against the backdrop of geopolitical news, major sporting events and weather-related disasters, the chatter online has certainly endured.
NYPD sets up barricades outside of MSG
It’s another day of preparations outside Madison Square Garden ahead of the expected wedding bash for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
The NYPD was seen putting up barricades along 7th and 8th avenues between 31st and 33rd streets as part of security measures that are being put in place.
Workers were also seen setting up a tent on the side of the arena.
Here's a brief breakdown of the expected wedding festivities
Pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are expected to hold a wedding celebration at New York City’s Madison Square Garden starting with a rehearsal this evening. Are you ready for it?
Here’s what you need to know:
- A rehearsal for approximately 100 guests will be held in the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden this evening, according to people familiar with the planning. Arriving guests are expected to be driven into a tent, where a curtain will be drawn after the vehicles enter. The guests will then head into a private entrance and be directed to the rehearsal dinner space, according to sources.
- Tomorrow, the wedding is expected to take place on the MSG arena floor at 5:30 p.m. A reception, that is expected to last until 2 a.m., will follow, sources said. Approximately 1,000 guests are expected to attend and about 500 vehicles are expected to drop off them off.
- The event’s security plan calls for heavy weapons teams that include long guns, canine units, the emergency services units and others to be deployed, along with additional officers for crowd control, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the plan said.
CNN’s John Miller and Mark Morales contributed to this reporting.
Swift friends Suki Waterhouse and Camila Cabello spotted in Manhattan
The celebrity sightings have begun.
Do we know the Swift-Kelce wedding guest list? No. Can we make an educated guess of which of her longtime celebrity friends might be there? Probably. And at least one of her close friends, Suki Waterhouse, is definitely in town.
Waterhouse has been buzzing all over Lower Manhattan, being photographed in the Financial District, Battery Park City and Tribeca.
The British singer performed a sold-out “Loveland Live” show at Mercury Lounge on Monday ahead of the kickoff of her tour on July 22, but she has previously confirmed she will be in attendance at Swift’s wedding. Speaking to Variety in May, Waterhouse hinted she might even get some tips for her own anticipated wedding to actor Robert Pattinson.
Another friend of Swift’s, pop star Camila Cabello, was seen in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Last week, Cabello posted on Instagram that she had visited Swift’s longtime collaborator Aaron Dessner at his recording studio Long Pond, near Hudson, New York. The studio has served as the incubator for many of Swift’s projects and is the backdrop of one of Swift’s recorded “Folklore” studio sessions.
Of course, rumors and reported citings of several other members of Swift’s inner circle are flying, but guests are so far remaining tight-lipped.
However, Swift herself has teased a possible performance by singer and longtime collaborator Ed Sheeran.
“It would be hard to keep him from it, I think,” she said on the “Hits Radio Breakfast Show” last year. “That’s the thing, he’s like, ‘I’m always being asked to sing at weddings.’ It’s like, ‘Ed, if there is a stage, you know you’ll be on it.’
It's very hot in New York City today
In and around Madison Square Garden, hardworking crew members, mobilized media outlets and general onlookers will have to contend with some sweltering temperatures today.
New Yorkers are among more than 50 million people expected to see triple-digit temperatures this week, including those in Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and Charlotte.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has urged residents to stay inside amid the dangerous heat and to turn off electronics they’re not using to avoid overwhelming the city’s electric grid.
Extra police officers will be deployed around MSG, source says
Extra New York Police Department officers will be deployed to the area around Madison Square Garden for Taylor Swift’s wedding celebration, which is expected to take place this week, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the plans.
Organizers are planning to build a tent to obstruct the view of a portion of West 31st Street near Seventh Avenue, the official said, so guests can exit their vehicles without being seen.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed security questions Wednesday regarding the highly-anticipated wedding celebration of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce that is expected to take place at Madison Square Garden this week, two sources told CNN.
Swift, one of the most famous women in the world, has faced security incidents in the past, including numerous stalking incidents and an alleged terror plot to attack her concerts in Vienna in 2024.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned “an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night” at a news conference Wednesday. She said the NYPD will have “a detail in place” but declined to provide details.
Why Madison Square Garden is the perfect spot for Swift and Kelce to celebrate their union
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce could have easily purchased — or at least rented — their own island to get married on. So, why Madison Square Garden?
MSG works perfectly for so many reasons, from privacy to bragging rights, but at the end of the day, it’s also the place that encompasses both of their worlds.
Music and sports are the two worlds synonymous with the Garden, so it makes sense that it would become part of the lore of the pop culture’s most eagerly anticipated wedding.
Swift playfully made note of how similar her music career is Kelce’s job playing with the Kansas City Chiefs in her Disney+ docuseries “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era.”
“We basically have the same job,” she told Kelce over the phone.
“You’ve got teammates,” Kelce agreed. “I’ve got teammates.”
“You’ve got Coach Reid,” Swift joked, referencing the Chief head coach Andy Reid. “I’ve got my mom.”
They just get each other, and if things go as reportedly planned, MSG has got both of them.
NYC Mayor Mamdani is having fun teasing Taylor Swift’s expected MSG wedding
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani needs to work on his poker face.
The Millennial mayor is leaning hard into the fervor surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s suspected wedding celebration events that sources tell CNN are expected to take place at Madison Square Garden starting tonight.
In June, Mamdani seemingly confirmed that the couple would hold some kind of wedding event in the city while discussing security measures around the World Cup during a news conference.
“We are the biggest city in the country. We are used to big events, and we are incredibly excited for this one,” he said at the time. “We know it coincides with the Knicks’ Finals run. We know it coincides with July 4, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding — all happening at the same time — and we are so excited to welcome the world here.”
When asked if he’d be expected to attend the nuptials, he said he’d be staying home and playing Swift’s politically charged song “Only the Young.”
He continued to fuel speculation this week when he played coy during a briefing addressing the heat wave searing the East Coast.
While responding to a CNN question about whether he could confirm a wedding was taking place at MSG this week, Mamdani said that hypothetically, anyone “getting married” at the Midtown Manhattan venue during the heat wave would be “staying inside” and “staying cool.”
He doubled down in a follow up video posted to his X page sharing safety tips of how to stay cool in the heat, including those who may be “renting out MSG to get married.”
CNN’s Katherine Koretski contributed to this report.
See crews prep for the expected wedding celebration
Large crates and workers were spotted outside Madison Square Garden, days before expected wedding celebration of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
The wedding is expected to take place this week at MSG, two sources familiar with the situation tell CNN.
CNN does not know if the man is connected to the expected wedding crew.
