Flowers, food and a fairytale castle: Taylor Swift wedding comes to New York | Taylor Swift
“Like any great love, it keeps you guessing,” Taylor Swift sings in her hit song Welcome to New York.
The megastar certainly did that this week as preparations continued for what appeared to be a mammoth wedding at New York’s Madison Square Gardens. Pickups have been seen outside the arena in recent days carrying flowers, food and the structures of a huge, white fairytale castle.
Many people questioned whether Swift had her wedding with American football player Travis Kelce in a huge venue. It was previously rumored that the singer would get married at her mansion in Rhode Island or on the grounds of a castle on the shores of Lake Como. Even British private members club Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds was on the list of potential venues. Maybe the New York City location was an elaborate trap?
But the location was confirmed on Thursday evening when the groom’s mother, Donna Kelce, was spotted walking through JFK airport with a huge grin on her face.
While some thought Swift would have a simpler relationship, Swift had been saying for a while that she wanted a giant wedding with thousands of her closest friends. She told the BBC’s The Graham Norton Show last year: “I know it’ll be fun to plan because I think the only stressful weddings are weddings where there’s a small amount of wedding and people are in a bubble. I’m not going to do that – it’ll be fun.”
The couple’s friends and family were also seen leaving the Ritz-Carlton in New York to attend a rehearsal dinner at the stadium on Thursday. Rooms here cost around £1,000 per night. These included Swift’s childhood best friend, Abigail Anderson Berard, a glamorous woman in yellow silk, Kelce’s aunt and uncle, and Swift’s publisher, Tree Paine.
Actor and writer Lena Dunham, Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, supermodel Gigi Hadid and Hollywood star Bradley Cooper were also seen approaching Madison Square Garden for rehearsals. Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sabrina Carpenter were also seen arriving in New York, possibly ahead of the event.
Keen fans noticed that one of Swift’s former best friends, Blake Lively, was not among those in attendance at the rehearsal dinner, instead attending a horse show in upstate New York. The two were said to have fallen out during the legal battle between Lively and her former co-star Justin Baldoni, after private text messages between the actor and Swift were revealed in court documents.
Those hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrations on the Instagram pages of hundreds of guests will be disappointed; The happy couple is said to follow a strict no-phone rule. It’s unclear whether details of the wedding will be released; Swift is said to have turned down Vogue magazine, which wanted to cover the event exclusively.
An enterprising paparazzi managed to get past all security and tents snatch a thin, blurry photograph of the rehearsal dinner’s decor. The venue was lit with soft pink lights in a romantic garden theme, similar to the couple’s engagement photo, which was taken in a garden full of roses. Echoing this, Swift chose apricot-colored roses to fill the stadium. MSG was lit in deep pink on Thursday evening to signal that something special and romantic was happening inside.
It is said that Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw will perform throughout the day. Swift, who likes to foretell events by giving clues, wore a T-shirt with “Stevie Knicks” written on it at the NBA finals last month. Her dress is said to be a custom design by Dior’s chief designer, Jonathan Anderson.
The NYPD’s work policing the event was disrupted by closing 11 roads and setting up tents at the edge of the restricted area to prevent fans from gathering and taking photos of those entering and exiting. According to the New York Times, the cost of allowing an event of this scale, which requires street closures, to be held could run up to $66,000 per day. The New York City permitting office also permitted an event of up to 1,000 people at the stadium. documents obtained By Associated Press.
The couple donated $26 million (£19 million) to charity in the previous days, perhaps as atonement for the disruption caused to their marriage over the July 4 weekend. “Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift donated $26 million to charities across the United States this week, including: City Harvest, New York City; Food Bank for NYC; New York Cares; Los Angeles Regional Food Bank; Harvesters – The Community Food Network, Kansas City, MO,” his rep said.
Her romance with Kelce became one of the most talked about love stories of the last decade. Swift, who always sang about the possibility of dating the guy on the football team, was seen deliriously happy next to her real-life athlete after a long string of failed romances, many of which inspired her best songs.
This week is a big “will they?” While it’s a guessing game, it looks like Swift will finally get the “it’s a love story, baby just say yes” answer she’s been waiting for.
