In a marriage for the ages â and certainly for the tabloids â Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tied the knot at Madison Square Garden Friday evening.
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“JUST&T MARRIED!” multiple jumbo electronic billboards ringing MSG blared in black letters on bright pink backgrounds around 7:30 p.m.
It had finally happened. And it wasn’t a typo, either â the “T&T” apparently stood for Taylor and Travis. After months of swirling rumors, speculation and drama about when and where they would take their vows, the uber popular power couple finally got hitched.
Actor Adam Sandler officiated at the wedding. Kelce was among the many athletes who appeared in the “Happy Gilmore 2” sequel with Sandler. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen. Swift’s brother Austin Swift served as her man of honor and Travis’ brother Jason Kelce was his best man.
Only about an hour before the pink billboards blared the news, the famed “Cruel Summer” singer’s trademark silver Chevrolet Suburban had been spotted arriving at the Midtown arena.
Weddings have been a constant subject in Swiftâs songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 added to the drama. It was also the first marriage for 36-year-old, three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swiftâs early hits.
Three young friends who traveled all the way from Little Rock, Ark., for the hotly awaited event burst out in ecstatic screams of joy when they saw one of the billboards on Eighth Ave. flash the message. The trio of women â all sporting Swift-style miniskirts from her “1989” era â had been circling MSG all day long in the sweltering heat in hope of catching sight of their beloved pop star.
“I’m a diehard fan,” said Celeste Satchell, 20, recently a consultant. “I’ve been here all day long, and I’m going to be here till 2 a.m. It’s starting to rain and I don’t care. Taylor is married. This is history. We came to New York just for this.”
“This is our royal wedding,” chimed in her friend Carsyn Harris, also 20, a swimming instructor. “I had to come. We’ve been doing laps around Madison Square Garden all day long. We saw her SUV arrive. Oh my, God! It was really her. It was all worth it.”
“Her old music was sad and about heartbreak,” their pal Annie Julisa, 21, a veterinary nurse, offered. “That music helped me heal. I’m so happy for her â Taylor Swift is just married.”
The relationship of the pop star and the football player has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world â particularly the Swifties, the pop starâs enormous and ardent fan base â ever since the pair first started dating in 2023.
Shortly after 7 p.m., the Empire State Building announced it would be lighting its spire a “light blue sparkle color” to fete Swift’s wedding.
Meanwhile, the fashion was sparkling at the ceremony, which was created by Christian Dior Haute Couture, led by Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Dior Womenâs, Menâs and Haute Couture Collections, âin close collaboration with the bride and groom,â per a press release. The couplesâ shoes were custom-made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry.
Earlier in the afternoon, a bevy of stars from myriad media and generations were seen en route to or outside of The World’s Most Famous Arena, where the lovers, 36, would be tying the knot in front of up to 1,200 guests. However, it was also thought they might just be rejoicing in honor of a rumored recent small, private wedding.
Among the most notable seen dolled up and going to the Garden earlier in the day were Swift’s longtime friends, like the HAIM sisters, Lena Dunham, Mariska Hargitay and husband Peter Hermann, as well as Gigi Hadid and beau Bradley Cooper, People reports. Zoë Kravitz, newly engaged to Swift’s ex Harry Styles, was also photographed, as were Karlie Kloss and husband Josh Kushner.
Jason Sudeikis, Ethan Hawke and the latter’s wife Ryan, as well as Hugh Grant and wife Anna Aberstein, were also among the famous faces going to the event. Abigail Anderson, known to Swifties as the pop star’s longtime best friend, was seen Thursday ahead of a reported rehearsal “celebration,” as well as Friday.
In addition to Stevie Nicks and Paul McCartney both reportedly performing with the Grammy-winning bride, there were a slew of musicians seen Friday â or posting about their prep for the festivities â including Jack Antonoff, with whom Swift has often collaborated since her hit 2014 album, “1989,” The Chicks, Ellie Goulding, Sombr, The Chainsmokers’ Alex Pall and Drew Taggart.
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Other hitmakers included Benson Boone, Camilla Cabello, Swift’s longtime friend and occasional collaborator Ed Sheeran and his wife Cherry Seaborn, along with Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney and his wife Jenny Hecht.
Around 5 p.m., Emma Bunton aka Baby Spice, who Swift has called a childhood idol of hers, was seen arriving in a black car while sporting big dark sunglasses. Some in the crowd mistakenly shouted, “It’s Kate Moss!” as the former Spice Girl ignored them.
Authors Jenny Han â whose “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was adapted for a hit Amazon show that uses Swift’s music â and Glennon Doyle were also photographed, the latter holding hands with wife Abby Wambach, formerly of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
Those from Kelce’s world who were spotted include Chiefs coach Andy Reid, running back Kareem Hunt, Seahawks wide receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and sportscasters Erin Andrews, Joe Buck and Charissa Thompson, as well as â perhaps more intriguingly â New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and his wife Jennifer.
Vrabel has made headlines in recent months over the nature of his relationship with The Athletic’s former NFL reporter Dianna Russini, after eyebrow-raising photographs surfaced of the pair together over many years.
Among those outside the Garden Friday was Lori Powers, who lives an hour north of Manhattan and rode the train in to be near the nuptials. Swiftâs music, she said, “is the soundtrack behind so many amazing moments in my life.â
âJust being here and witnessing all the energy and the excitement, itâs so much fun,â Hall said. âThe combination of sports and music makes perfect sense as to why theyâre at Madison Square Garden today.â
There was a notable lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, after reports that phones would not be allowed.
Selena Gomez, Dunham, Antonoff, Adam Sandler, Cooper and Anderson were all among those seen Thursday ahead of what was said to be a rehearsal dinner.
Regardless of the cause for celebration, an estimated 200 New York Police officers were assigned to the arena, the perimeter of which will be closed down through Saturday afternoon.
Among the first guests to start leaving the gala affair on the early side was Tom Brady. The GOAT quarterback was seen being driven off in a Cadillac Escalade around 9:45 p.m. Paparazzi lined 33rd St., firing their powerful camera flashes, trying to penetrate the tinted windows of the celebs’ cars.
Speaking of GOATs, around 11:45 p.m., model Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, and her husband, championship golfer Dustin Johnson, exited MSG and, while walking toward Eighth Ave. and their waiting black Escalade, stopped first to buy hot dogs â with ketchup, mustard and onions â from vendor Mohamed Morad, 36, from Queens by way of Egypt.
“She ordered two hot dogs for $5 and she gave me $100 bill and told me to keep the change,” a grateful Morad told The News. “They closed the street, so I had no business for two days. (Now) I feel great.”
Asked how the NYC “dirty water dog” tasted, Gretzky, her mouth full, smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, among those exiting from the other side of the Garden on 31st St. before midnight were her dad, Wayne aka “The Great One,” sports personality Stephen A. Smith, Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg, actor Jessica Alba, singer Hayley Williams and iconic fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
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