Taylor Swift Wedding Week Has Begun

I have, for the most part, tried to avoid the iterative coverage of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s upcoming nuptials, mostly because it’s been fairly speculative and also because there’s only so much to be said about a wedding, even that of a billionaire who’s been singing about getting married on and off for the better part of 20 years. But since it’s the official start of Taylor Swift’s Wedding Week—and because the story has broken containment and become something gracing the digital pages of the paper of record, here’s what there is to know about the biggest celebrity wedding of the year (if not the decade).

Late last week, a New York Times story with five different journalist bylines (lol) reported that Taylor and Travis will be taking over Madison Square Garden for at least two nights: what appears to be a 100-person strong rehearsal dinner on Thursday, and a bigger bash for roughly 1,000 people on Friday. (Among the clues: Kansas City Chiefs players booking nearby hotels over the long weekend.)

Over the weekend, Page Six published some follow-up details, including that Tim McGraw and Stevie Nicks are slated to play at the celebration, pointing out that Swift’s cheeky “Stevie Knicks” tee, which she wore courtside during an NBA championship game, might have been one of the singer’s signature Easter eggs. It also quoted one anonymous source saying that the wedding is going to be “bigger than the Met Gala”—but also repeated a detail that seems a bit at odds to that claim: Invitations are going out via text and email. What if you’ve got your texts set on autodelete?? 

An events company has also filed a permit with New York City to close surrounding streets, which industry experts say will make securing MSG even easier for Taylor’s security. (That team was responsible for shutting down her initial plan to get married in Rhode Island, where she has an estate.) It will not, however, make things easier for fellow NYC residents (plus tourists and commuters) who may need to be on 33rd Street in Manhattan—or pass through Penn Station, which is directly under Madison Square Garden. 

Page Six reported that Kenny Chesney and Kesha have both canceled tour dates around this weekend, so we can likely expect their attendance. It’s also predicting a guest list that includes Mariska Hargitay, Ed Sheeran, Cara Delevingne, and the Haim sisters—but not Blake Lively, which I think is a stretch. I do believe that Lively leveraging her friendship with Swift to get the upper hand with Justin Baldoni probably ultimately did not sit right with Swift, but I don’t think it was don’t-invite-her-to-your-1,000-person-wedding bad, especially given how close Swift has been with Lively’s family (she’s their kids’ godmother, and used all three of her daughters’ names in the song “betty”).

Even though I’m largely neutral on the whole event (beyond being irritated on behalf of New Yorkers), I’m curious to see how much of the wedding Swift ends up revealing on her own; how much is going to be leaked by various “insiders”; and how much is going to be accidentally dropped by like, Jason Kelce or Benny Blanco. Then again, there’s also the possibility that this has all been an excellently executed ruse.

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• Keke Palmer to Druski at the BET Awards: “This should’ve been my gig. Why the hell would they have you host?” She’s not wrong! [PopBase]
• Adele had an amazing time at the Bad Bunny concert in London. Stars, they’re just like us! [Independent]
• Two headline-grabbing couples tried very different tactics for “being in public together” this weekend. [Daily Mail, Daily Mail]
• I admit that I have not kept up with the details of their relationship but I definitely thought Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith split up years ago. [DeuxMoi]