Swift and Kelce wedding brings tight security to MSG

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to celebrate their marriage Friday at Madison Square Garden, drawing crowds, celebrities and a heavy security presence to one of New York’s busiest venues.

The event, anticipated for months by fans and celebrity watchers, is expected to bring about 1,000 guests to the arena, according to law enforcement sources familiar with security planning cited by CBS News. A city permit obtained by The Associated Press says the event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and could continue until 4 a.m. Saturday. CBS reported guests were expected to begin arriving around 3:30 p.m., with a ceremony set for 5:30 p.m. and the celebration expected to last until 2 a.m.

Neither Swift nor Kelce has publicly confirmed the wedding, but preparations have been visible for days. Trucks and crews have moved in and out of Madison Square Garden, tents and covered walkways have gone up, and streets directly around the arena were closed Friday, CBS reported. Police barricades blocked pedestrians from camping out on nearby sidewalks.

Private security will be in place at the venue, while the New York City Police Department is expected to manage fans and paparazzi outside. CBS reported that 135 officers were assigned around Madison Square Garden. The New York Post reported that 100 police officers would be dispatched for the event. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch did not confirm the wedding but said police would be tracking an event at the arena. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday, “We are fully prepared. There isn’t anything to share beyond that.”

The celebration began Thursday night with a rehearsal dinner at Madison Square Garden for about 100 family members and friends. CBS reported that Lena Dunham and Swift’s childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard were spotted arriving. Al Jazeera reported that Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Jack Antonoff, Bradley Cooper and Adam Sandler were among those photographed at the dinner, with other reported guests including Gigi Hadid, Zoe Kravitz and Emma Stone.

Guests arrived in black SUVs and entered through tents and covered walkways. Pink curtains covered windows to block views inside, Al Jazeera reported. Reuters also reported seeing signs telling attendees that by entering the event, they agreed to maintain strict confidentiality and not discuss the hosts or other guests.

Details inside the arena remain closely guarded. CBS reported that crews were building a massive set and that the event would include musical entertainment. “This is going to be an absolute, spectacular blowout,” People magazine editor-in-chief Charlotte Triggs told “CBS Mornings.” “According to a source, it doesn’t look at all the same inside. They’ve completely transformed it.”

USA Today Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West told CBS he saw a bar stretcher labeled “trees” among items being unloaded. “So I’m picturing kind of like a forest or a garden,” he said.

The couple announced their engagement last August in a joint Instagram post captioned, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” Their relationship began after Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast that he had hoped to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number after attending one of her Eras Tour shows in Kansas City.

“I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Kelce said at the time. Swift later said in her “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” docuseries that the relationship surprised her. “If you ever would have told me that the most meaningful relationship I would ever have would start with a man saying that he was butthurt that I didn’t want to meet him, like, unbelievable,” she said.