Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will have their wedding at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the security plans.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding celebrations to begin with rehearsal dinner

The festivities will kick off with a smaller rehearsal dinner planned for Thursday night, the official said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the events.Speculation about the superstar singer and football player’s nuptials has built to a frenzy in recent days, following weeks of unconfirmed reports that it would take place over July Fourth weekend at one of New York’s iconic landmarks.

NYC ‘prepared’ for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday that a permit had been filed for a “large event” at Madison Square Garden.“We are fully prepared,” he added. “There isn’t anything to share beyond that.”New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said police “will of course have a detail in place,” but also declined to go into further detail.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding prep underway

This week, crews have been unloading equipment from trucks outside the Manhattan arena. A large carpet was briefly unveiled outside one entrance and then promptly removed.As materials were loaded into MSG this week, some reports showed video of a man with a “Taylor Swift Carpenters” shirt operating a machine; others caught what appeared to be a staircase being hauled into the venue.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding bash for 999 people

Citing an entertainment industry executive and another person with knowledge of the matter, The New York Times reported that the couple were planning a gathering of 100 people at Madison Square Garden — an arena that seats up to 19,500 people — on July 2 followed by a second event at the arena for about 1,000 guests July 3.The Associated Press has been unable to independently confirm those details, but there have been no public events planned at the venue from June 29 until a Bon Jovi concert on July 7.Public records show that the city issued a permit for loading and unloading theatrical materials at the arena from June 29 to July 4. Winick Productions, a company that has produced red carpet events for Grammy and Tony awards shows and movie premieres, also applied for a permit to set up a canopy or tent outside the Garden for an event involving up to 999 people.

Friends, family and plenty of celebrities are expected to attend

Swift joked in October that “anyone I’ve ever talked to” would be invited to the wedding, telling Graham Norton that she believed “the only stressful weddings” are those that are small and force people to make aggressive cuts to the guest list.Yet just who exactly would show up is to be determined.Aside from family, Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, would likely be in attendance.For Swift, close friends such as Selena Gomez, Abigail Anderson Berard, the Haim sisters, Emma Stone and Gigi Hadid would all likely attend.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce not the only celebs to wed at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden may not scream “bridal,” but the venue is available for private rentals, advertising a banquet capacity for 1,250 — or 2,000 if you are serving only cocktails. And it has hosted weddings before.Sly Stone got married to Kathy Silva there in 1974 before thousands of fans. And more than 2,000 couples were wed in a mass ceremony at the Garden officiated by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1982.Located above Penn Station, the busiest rail hub in the U.S., the Garden doesn’t scream “privacy” either.But it does have guarded entrances, a secure garage and a lack of windows, which would allow Kelce, Swift and celebrity guests to stay out of sight of photographers or camera-equipped drones.

Safety a ‘top concern’ for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Some have theorized that the MSG buzz could be an elaborate smoke screen to divert attention from the couple’s real wedding plans. Swift did once write, “No, you can’t come to the wedding,” in her song “But Daddy I Love Him,” which some fans have been reupping lately as a reminder that the wedding isn’t supposed to be a public spectacle.Safety also is a top concern. In 2024, Swift canceled three concerts in Vienna during her Eras Tour due to a thwarted attack plan.New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday declined to confirm that Swift and Kelce’s wedding would take place Friday at MSG but said her department will have appropriate resources at each major event over the weekend.“I would be remiss not to mention an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night,” Tisch said. “The NYPD will, of course, have a detail in place, but I am not going to go into more specifics on that at this time.”