The countdown is on for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s expected wedding celebration

A rehearsal is set for 6 p.m. ET tonight, according to people familiar with the planning, ahead of tomorrow’s larger celebration.

Updated 5:07 PM EDT, Thu July 2, 2026

Inside Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding

2:07

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.

• A rehearsal dinner with about 100 people is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET tonight, according to people familiar with the planning. The big day is expected tomorrow, with a cocktail hour followed by the wedding celebration and then a reception, sources said.

• 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.

24 Posts

18 min ago

Here's what we know about the security situation so far

By Zoe Sottile, Alli Rosenbloom and Elizabeth Wolfe

Police officers patrol outside Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Marco Postigo Storel/CNN

Extra New York Police Department officers will be deployed to the area around Madison Square Garden for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding celebration, 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 vehicles without being seen.

About 500 vehicles are expected to drop off wedding guests, according to people briefed on the plans.

The intent is for police to keep 7th and 8th Avenues on each side of MSG open to traffic, which means if fans show up in large numbers, they may be confined to sidewalks with little view of anything happening outside the Garden, the sources added.

The security plan calls for heavy weapons teams that include long guns, canine units, the emergency services units and others, along with additional officers for crowd control, the official said. Despite the extra security, the area won’t be considered a frozen zone like during the NBA Finals, the official said.

NYPD officers enter Madison Square Garden.

Marco Postigo Storel/CNN

Swift, one of the most famous women in the world, has faced past security threats, including numerous stalking incidents and an alleged terror plot to attack her concerts in Vienna in 2024.

At a news conference Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned “an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night” and said the NYPD will have “a detail in place” but declined to provide details.

1 hr 18 min ago

“This is like the American royal wedding,” Taylor Swift fan says

By Maureen Chowdhury and Brynn Gingras

New York resident Smitty Kovach told CNN “it’s an honor and very exciting” that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are hosting wedding celebrations in the Big Apple.

Kovach said he initially wasn’t planning on stopping by to see the setup at Madison Square Garden, but when he realized he was going to be in the area for an appointment, he put on a Taylor Swift T-shirt and decided to “check it out.”

“I’m very excited that Taylor decided to get married in my home city of New York. We’re very happy to host her here,” Kovach said. “I mean this is like an all-timer wedding. I mean this is like the American royal wedding.”

Reflecting on Swift’s past relationships, he said: “We’ve all seen her love stories over the years and really rooted for some over others, and we’re really happy that she found her forever.”

Asked about the possible chaos the celebrations might cause in the city and heightened security, Kovach said he’s not concerned.

“I mean it was way crazier for the Knicks finals. Are we going to get mad at them for playing a basketball game? No. She’s having a beautiful wedding, she’s probably paying an arm and leg for it, so it’s not like we gave it to her for free. So, no I don’t think it’s a problem at all,” he said.

1 hr 29 min ago

Here's some of what Taylor Swift has said about wedding planning

By Lisa Respers France

Taylor Swift reacts after a New York Knicks NBA Finals game against the Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 10.

Brad Penner/Imagn Images/Reuters

While she’s been keeping her actual wedding and reception details close to her chest (that’s where her heart is after all), Taylor Swift has let some things slip early on.

During an appearance in October 2025 on “The Graham Norton Show” the host asked if 2026 would be her wedding year to which Swift quipped “Oh, you’ll know” — meaning he’d get an invite.

Swift said she definitely planned on avoiding something she viewed as one of the hardest parts.

“I know it’s going to be fun to plan because I think the only stressful weddings are the ones where you have a small amount and people are on the bubble,” Swift said. “And you have to evaluate or assess your relationship with them to see if they should be there.”

Seems like she stuck to that given that sources told CNN about 1,000 guests are expected to attend a planned wedding celebration Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

That same month, while promoting her then-new album “The Life of a Showgirl” on BBC 1 Radio with her longtime friend and host Greg James, she casually dropped how Travis Kelce was going to treat James when he saw him at their wedding, clueing him in to the fact that he was invited.

And while no performers have been officially confirmed, Kelce did say on his “New Heights” podcast episode in September 2025 that he and Swift are “live music kind of people” rather than going for a DJ at the reception, and Swift hinted a few weeks later that one of her famous musical friends might take to the stage.

“It’s like, ‘Ed, if there’s a stage, you know that you’ll be on it,’” Swift said about her buddy Ed Sheeran while on Hits Radio.

2 hr 3 min ago

Donna Kelce touches down in NYC

By Alli Rosenbloom

The mother of the groom has arrived.

Travis Kelce’s mom Donna Kelce landed in New York City on Thursday afternoon, according to video captured by TMZ.

Donna Kelce appeared to be in good spirits as she traversed the airport, the clip showed, but she stayed mum when pressed for details on what’s expected to be her son and Taylor Swift’s wedding celebration.

Sources confirm the highly-anticipated nuptials are set to kick off tonight at Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater with an event described as a rehearsal for 100 guests. A larger wedding celebration is expected to take place tomorrow, where 1,000 people are said to attend.

2 hr 18 min ago

The last wedding at MSG involved 4,000 spouses

By Zoe Sottile

Members of the Korean Unification Church are married at Madison Square Garden on July 1, 1982.

Bettmann/Getty Images

Madison Square Garden can hold thousands of people — which it regularly does for massive concerts and sporting events.

That’s why it’s maybe fitting that the last wedding reported at the venue involved thousands of couples.

In 1982, 4,000 members of the Korean Unification Church — sometimes called the “Moonies” — wed in a mass ceremony at the Garden.

Eight years before that, funk icon Sly Stone wed actress Kathy Silva. The wedding ceremony served as the intro for a massive concert, with thousands of fans filling the arena.

3 hr 3 min ago

Fans in Austria, Thailand and Malaysia stage Swift-themed bachelorette parties

By Sana Noor Haq

Even outside the US, Swifties from Europe to Southeast Asia — who forged friendships through their shared love of Taylor Swift’s music — have staged bachelorette parties and dance gigs to celebrate the star’s upcoming nuptials.

In the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur, around 150 fans attended a bachelorette party on June 27 held in honor of Swift herself. One of the co-organizers, Hafizi Fahmi Bin Mokhtar, said the atmosphere “was amazing.”

“Everyone danced and knew every lyric,” added Mokhtar, who organized similar festivities in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Elsewhere, 28-year-old Lex Dimitrijevic told CNN the coming days feel “especially meaningful.” The Vienna-based teacher is also getting married this summer and will host her own Swiftie-themed bachelorette party on July 4 — a significant date in the singer-songwriter’s compendium that is alluded to in numerous tracks and on which Swift has hosted famed bashes over the years.

“Taylor’s music has been the soundtrack to most of my life.”

Lex Dimitrijevic

“So many of us have grown up alongside Taylor. We discovered her music as teenagers, and now we’re navigating careers, long-term relationships, and adulthood at the same time she is,” Dimitrijevic said.

“Our lives are completely different, but reaching a similar milestone makes it feel wonderfully full circle,” added Dimitrijevic, who has listened to Swift’s records for 17 years. “Whether it was the Eras Tour, her reclaiming her music, or now this new chapter, fans genuinely want to see someone who has brought so much happiness to others find happiness herself.”

2 hr 53 min ago

There is an explanation for those photos of boxes of Bon Jovi merch

By Alli Rosenbloom

Boxes with Bon Jovi labels are seen outside Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Camara Porter/AdMedia/MediaPunch /IPX/AP

For those livin’ on a prayer that Jon Bon Jovi may be on the ever-growing list of rumored performers at what’s expected to be Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding celebration this week, you may just have to keep on praying.

Amid a plethora of photos that continue to surface as movement picks up outside of Madison Square Garden, where multiple sources say Swift and Kelce’s wedding celebration is expected to take place, a picture of boxes that appear to be labeled as holding merch for Bon Jovi emerged.

It makes more sense than it seems: Bon Jovi is set to kick off his Forever Tour at the Garden on Tuesday and, well, it doesn’t seem likely that he’d be handing out merch at Swift and Kelce’s wedding.

It also wouldn’t be a total surprise if he was invited — Swift and Bon Jovi have history. The singers unforgettably paired up to sing “Livin’ on a Prayer” with Prince William in 2013 at the Winter Whites Gala charity ball at Kensington Palace.

3 hr 41 min ago

Swift and Kelce donate $26 million to charities across America

By Elizabeth Wagmeister

aylor Swift and Travis Kelce are seen in New York, on May 15.

Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have donated $26 million to charities across the United States this week, including many in New York City, where they are expected to be getting married.

Swift’s representative told CNN the donations went to food banks, music educational programs, an animal cruelty organization and three children’s hospitals, among others.

The donations could signal goodwill from the couple to the city, where NYPD and other city resources have been deployed ahead of the expected wedding.

City Harvest in New York City said the couple donated $1 million to the organization and that they were “incredibly grateful.”

“This donation is a love letter to New York, and a bold commitment to our efforts to ensure that no New Yorker goes hungry,” Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest, said in a statement. “Their support comes at a critical time, with visits to New York City soup kitchens and food pantries near record highs and expected to increase further in response to federal funding cuts.”

Swift and Kelce also made donations to charitable organizations in Kansas City, where Kelce plays for the Chiefs; Nashville, where Swift got her start as a young musician; Los Angeles, where Swift spends much of her time; Pennsylvania, where Swift was born; and Rhode Island, where Swift owns an oceanfront home in a picturesque town once rumored as a possible location for the couple’s wedding.

The couple also donated to national organizations including Feeding America, ASPCA, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Grammy In the Schools and After-School All-Stars.

4 hr 15 min ago

Associated Press: NYC approved a permit for Swift-Kelce wedding last night

By Elizabeth Wolfe

The application — for a “Special Event at MSG” — was approved Wednesday night by New York City’s permit 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.

4 hr 17 min ago

Another group of Swift fans doubt whether Madison Square Garden is the venue

By Maureen Chowdhury and Emma Balleste

A crew works outside of Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

New York City is abuzz with reports that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to get married Friday at Madison Square Garden — but there’s no shortage of people wondering whether MSG will really be the venue.

CNN today spoke to Swifties in the city who were walking around the Manhattan neighborhood where the pop star has an apartment. Like others in the city said previously, some weren’t convinced the arena would host the ceremony.

Lori Grace said she has been a Swiftie “as long as (Swift has) been singing.” Grace said she believes the rumors that the nuptials will happen at MSG are a “ploy.”

“I just don’t feel like that’s her vibe, but who knows? I mean, she may surprise us all,” she said.

“I hope that she and Travis are so happy, and I hope they have a wonderful wedding wherever it’s at,” she told CNN.

Other Swift fans strolling in the neighborhood expressed similar sentiments.

Lauren O’Meara, who was there with colleagues as part of a Taylor Swift-themed tour of the city, said she believes reports about the venue are a ruse.

“It just seems like a strange choice. I’m thinking maybe it’s a ruse and she’s actually going to a private island somewhere,” O’Meara said.

Hannah Sylvester agreed. “I think she would have a ‘Folklore’ wedding,” she said, referring to Swift’s pandemic-era album. “MSG does not feel Taylor.”

Alonzo Page was more optimistic about the possible MSG wedding. “I always thought it was a good option,” he said.

Despite having differing opinions on the location of the wedding, the group said they were excited.

“Enjoy. I hope it’s everything you want it to be,” Page, a longtime fan of Swift, said.

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