Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce: The big wedding date is finally here! | The Excerpt
Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce: The big wedding date is finally here! | The Excerpt
Ralphie Aversa, USA TODAYTue, June 30, 2026 at 2:19 PM UTC
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On the Tuesday, June 30, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: It’s being called the wedding of the century! Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are getting married, and it looks like it’s going to be big! New York City, Madison Square Garden BIG and all the clues are pointing to July 3rd. USA TODAY reporters Bryan West, Melissa Ruggieri and Morgan Evans joins Senior Entertainment Correspondent Ralphie Aversa on this special episode of The Excerpt.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Ralphie Aversa:
Yes, it's being called the wedding of the century. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are getting married and it looks like it's going to be big. How big? Well, maybe Big Apple, New York City, Madison Square Garden Big and all the clues are pointing to Friday, July 3rd. The rumors have run wild. Some say it's a distraction, a ruse. Others think MSG will be the big party "for everyone they've ever met" while the actual ceremony will be somewhere private and intimate. So what is really going on? From the celebrity guests to the venue, music performances, the wedding dress, we are breaking it all down right now.
Hello and welcome to USA TODAY's The Excerpt. I'm Ralphie Aversa, USA TODAY's senior entertainment correspondent. Today is Tuesday, June 30th, 2026. Joining me today to talk about all of the things regarding this wedding are USA TODAY reporters, Bryan West, who covers Taylor Swift, of course, National Music Reporter Melissa Ruggieri, and Style and Beauty Reporter Morgan Evans. Thank you all for joining us here on The Excerpt.
Mr. West, we'll start with you. What do we know so far? I guess, specifically, why do you think Taylor and Travis chose, we think, Madison Square Garden for their wedding and/or reception?
Bryan West:
Hey, Ralphie, I have to be honest. I was the biggest naysayer when I first heard about this, being like, "There's no way that everyone is going to the middle of Manhattan," but it does appear that all signs are pointing there. We have confirmed that a permit was filed of some large event from July 2nd to July 4th to a production company that specializes in concerts and events. And so everybody is really honing in on that permit and that area. It does make sense for a lot of reasons. If you look at security, Madison Square Garden really is a fort. You can't get paparazzi, you can't get long range lenses, you can't get helicopters or drones, any of that. If you are on the guest list, there would be multiple checkpoints that you would have to check. Also, maybe facial recognition and other technology. So everybody that she wants at this party or this event would be the people, the guest list inside the actual event.
The question though is, how does she pull it off? I have talked to a lot of event planners and they said it would take a week to transform the space. And so if we're just going down the road that yes, they're going to have a huge event there, I could see her treating this like The Eras Tour, having one day of setup where she already has everything kind of prebuilt, they bring it in, they set it up and then they tear down the next day. And so again, everything is all speculation. Everyone is incredibly excited. The only thing we know for sure that's been reported is that they're getting married before Travis reports for training season, which is the end of this next month.
Ralphie Aversa:
Like a true sports reporter, training season. We'll call it training camp as well, Bryan. That's all right though. All right. So it's interesting. I totally hear and it makes sense that a wedding planner would say a space like a 19,000 seat arena would take a week to transform. These aren't your typical bride and groom though. Taylor, obviously you know her net worth, it's $2 billion according to Forbes and we know that Travis from just his NFL contracts alone has made over $111 million. So as far as The Eras Tour, if they kind of take that line of production into this, you think they could do this in 24, 48 hours?
Bryan West:
Well, all of the negatives that I've heard when it comes to this is like, how do you get rid of the stands? I think you could hang along drapes. She could bring in sand and make a beach. She could probably have a waterfall in the backdrop. The sky is the limit when it comes to them. So transforming the space isn't necessarily the issue. The other question though is is this a decoy? It would be iconic in and of itself if she sent the entire world paparazzi, media included, to the middle of Manhattan on a hot summer day on 4th of July weekend during the World Cup. Could you imagine everyone's just waiting there and she's like, "Actually, I got married on an island."
But another reason why New York does make sense is because of FOIL. So that's a Freedom of Information Law where you can request access to certain documents. Exemptions to that though are a marriage certificate and a marriage application. And so that would be another level of maybe privacy that the two could have if they chose to get married in New York.
Ralphie Aversa:
Okay. So will there be a wedding party? I mean, there's bridesmaids, groomsmen, right? Who do you think is going to be a part of that?
Bryan West:
So you had said everyone they ever met. I don't know that that's true because Taylor once did a 13-hour meet and greet. Could you imagine there would be literally tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. But everyone they met as far as friends, I could see this. The permit says between 500 and 1000 people. That makes more sense. I think you'll see as far as celebrities, a lot of people in her close circle, Ed Sheeran, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, maybe Beyonce, a lot of country stars. I mean, she's worked with Sugarland, Dan + Shay. They were recently at Tight End University. So even on his side, I could see football players, Chief's team's players. Andy Reid flat out went and got his suit tailored and the place that he got it tailored at said it was for the wedding. And so I think you're going to see both sides of this, celebrities that they've been pictured with, the Haim sisters, Mariska Hargitay, all getting scoring invites to this wedding.
Another thing that's interesting though about Madison Square Garden is there a more iconic venue that does marry both the sports and entertainment worlds than MSG?
Ralphie Aversa:
No, that's a great point too. Exactly. There's been so many incredible events from, again, the Knicks, the Rangers. I mean, there's been tennis, there's been college sports, papal visits. I mean, you name it and obviously so many big concerts including a few headlined by Ms. Swift in addition to her many appearances at Z100 Jingle Ball. It's funny you bring up the Andy Reid Instagram. I was a little surprised that the place he went and got his custom suit from posted that and then explicitly put, "Oh yeah, by the way, this is for the Taylor and Travis wedding." Were you shocked? Given how secret so much of this has been, were you shocked at all by that?
Bryan West:
Well, Taylor is a mastermind when it comes to planning everything. If you even look at The Eras Tour, nobody knew about the set that's designed anything until it debuted in Phoenix, Arizona. And so with this, I imagine that it is true that a lot of details are being kept under wraps because if you are looking at a large scale event, that's the only way to prevent leaks. George Kittle, who is one of Travis Kelsey's friends, was recently interviewed and asked if he scored an invite and he said yes. He said he has a blue suit ready to go, but they asked, "Is it at MSG?" And he was like, "Oh, I don't know where the wedding's at." And I could see for the level of privacy, people know, "Hey, you have to meet at this place or you have to go to this place," but they might not know the exact details until morning of or night before.
Ralphie Aversa:
Yeah. Or who knows, maybe even afternoon of. I mean, at the end of the day, if they've just been told, "Be in New York City and be ready by this time and then we'll see with the shuttle." I mean, you mentioned security is one of the benefits of being at Madison Square Garden. I mean, I'm sure as you've seen off of 33rd Street and sports teams take advantage of this as well, you could literally drive right into the Garden basically and be dropped off inside. Nobody would even see you get out of the car.
Bryan West:
Exactly. And that is one thing that Taylor Swift has always been conscious of is just security. I mean, she is probably one of, if not the most famous woman in the world. We saw when she was at Jack Antonoff and Margaret Qualley's wedding that hundreds and hundreds of fans bottlenecked the streets, they all went to that area and it was almost impossible to get out because everything was clogged. They had to call in police. And so when it comes to her, I'd seen people be like, "Oh, she could just fly somewhere." No, there are people that track her jets. There is security. This is one venue and one area though where they are used to high profile events and they could provide her a safe venue.
Ralphie Aversa:
Long Beach Island, by the way, down the Jersey Shore where Jack and Margaret got married and our sister newspaper, the Asbury Park Press reported that that was quite the big boom for a lot of these small businesses down there as well as you mentioned many flocking to LBI to try to get a glimpse of Taylor, and Jack and Margaret, too, I'm sure.
All right. You mentioned again, some of the other celebrities, some of the other athletes that may be going. You mentioned Ed Sheeran, maybe we see Paul McCartney. That would be interesting, too. Anybody else off the top of your head maybe that you didn't mention? A lot of people from Nashville, you're based in Nashville, of course. I'm sure you got to be hearing about some people who've been invited, right?
Bryan West:
I mean, I have heard about people being invited and also maybe that there's performances. What I find most fascinating is this is your Spotify wrapped coming to real life. And so it is, again, like Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, those have been people in her sphere as far as country like Kenny Chesney could get an invite. She had mentioned him during her Time magazine interview. Also, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill are close friends. And so I really think this is going to be a who's who. My question is, if there's a thousand people, I mean, can you imagine at your wedding, just you'd be consumed going up and saying hi to everybody.
Ralphie Aversa:
I had a fraction of that and at mine and it was intimidating. All right. Bryan, we're going to do a little bit of clowning here, so I'm sorry. You know the Easter eggs, you know the clues that Taylor likes to leave. Has she left any regarding this wedding?
Bryan West:
No, I think even though she does have a very public profile, I think they have been trying really hard to keep as many details private. I mean, it is hard to have a private event in the middle of New York, but as far as Easter eggs, Taylor doesn't usually do those for her personal life. It is always usually career based. She even said when she was on the New Heights podcast announcing Life of a Show Girl, that she doesn't do Easter eggs for her personal life. I think the Easter eggs that you might find are maybe in people's schedules. So Mariska Hargitay is a really close friend. She has a Broadway show and Friday, July 3rd, that's the only Friday during the run that there isn't a show. And so that's more of the Easter eggs that Swifties have been trying to hone in on.
Ralphie Aversa:
That's a one person show she's doing on Broadway too. So that's a pretty big deal for sure.
All right. Taylor is one of the biggest music icons in the world and we know that music is probably one of the most important items on her wedding punch list. With so many musicians, many of whom Bryan just talked about, pop, rock stars as close friends. We turn now to our National Music Reporter Melissa Ruggieri.
So let's talk music. I mean, this is like all time, right? We're not just hiring a DJ here, right? There's got to be some type of epic music happening at this epic event, right, Melissa?
Melissa Ruggieri:
This is not getting the cover band from Jersey, right, Ralphie?
Ralphie Aversa:
No, not at all. The wedding singer will ... Well, maybe Adam Sandler shows up. Who knows at this point? But your typical wedding singer is not going to be there.
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Melissa Ruggieri:
Adam Sandler sat in front of me at the premiere of The Eras Tour movie in LA a couple of years ago. So they are really good friends. She loves his kids. So that could actually be pretty funny if he did.
Ralphie Aversa:
That would be hilarious. Do you envision this if you had to take a guess, Melissa, to be like a concert?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Yes and no. Like Bryan was saying, I mean, there's so many people in her orbit that she's known for almost 20 years from the country world, from the pop world. You got Sabrina Carpenter, Tim McGraw, Stevie Nicks, who penned a lovely poem for her Tortured Poets Department album. But she and Stevie obviously have a kinship. But what I'm thinking is, as everyone is saying, they might not be getting married at MSG, but it might be the site of either a cocktail hour ahead of time or perhaps the reception afterward. And that production company that Bryan mentioned that does do sets and that's also where a lot of bands go to rehearse before their tours kick off in Pennsylvania, that they absolutely have reportedly been building something that they're making from Madison Square Garden. So in my head, I'm seeing sort of like the end of every Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony where everybody who has either been inducted or performed shows up on stage and just sort of has a jam fest or a very loose casual thing.
Kenny Chesney also canceled his shows at The Sphere on July 3rd and 4th, which sort of also gives you another Easter egg as far as the musicians go. He might want to hop up and do a song. Tim McGraw, she named her first song after him. He might want to hop up and do a song. Maybe she'll do a duet with Stevie Nicks. I mean, there's so many people who are potentially on the guest list who are also musicians that the permutations are really endless of how this could be. But I really don't see it being some sort of formal thing where Sombr comes out and does a song and then they introduce Taylor and Travis or whatever. I think it's just going to be a fun party environment really.
Ralphie Aversa:
We have seen the groom belt out some impromptu Beastie Boys lyrics at Arrowhead Stadium. We have seen the bride, just saw her at Tight End University. She's shown up there a couple times now and surprised folks. Do you think Taylor and/or Travis get up on stage at any point?
Melissa Ruggieri:
Yes. I think Travis is such a lovable goofball that he will absolutely be up on stage with some of his football friends and they will be drunkenly belting out some Garth Brooks song or something like that. And Taylor, reportedly, has written a song for Travis and whether she wants to perform that for him in a more intimate ceremony beforehand or afterward or it's something... I think if she's written a song for him, you're going to hear it, that she's going to want to be up on that stage and sing it for him. And you know what? Probably release it afterward, too.
Ralphie Aversa:
All right. The big question for fashion aficionados is who will the bride wear? Taylor's known for her impeccable style, starting trends, sure, with every outfit she wears some of those aforementioned Easter eggs in there sometimes as well. But like any celebrity billionaire, Swift loves a designer label. She's never been known as a front row at Paris Fashion Week luxury celebrity though, so, we bring in Morgan Evans now. Morgan, what do you think Taylor will wear?
Morgan Evans:
Hi guys. So yeah, there are a few designers that Taylor has cultivated a really loyal relationship with over the years. Recently wrote about the five designers that, to me, and I think if you're a Taylor fan and you've noticed her wardrobe in her closet throughout the years, these are designers that she wears and turns to often, not only for street style looks, but also for red carpet looks.
So we're looking at Vivienne Westwood for me, I think is the top one. Her Eras Tour, the really beautiful white gown with her lyrics that were scribbled across the dress that was custom Vivienne. So to me that makes sense. But then in addition to that, there's Ralph Lauren. She wore the Ralph Lauren smock dress in her engagement photos with Travis. And then there is also Oscar de la Renta, who she's a really great red carpet designer for her. She wears Oscar a lot. She just wore Oscar to the Toy Story premiere. And then for a newish designer who I love, I've actually been a fan of them since their debut in 2019 is Wiederhoeft. And Wiederhoeft is a New York-based brand by Jackson Wiederhoeft. So if we're thinking of kind of homage to New York as well. And Wiederhoeft is very new for her though, she's only worn the designer a few times, but most recently all this year. And then the last one, which would be very high fashion and couture would be Givenchy. She just wore a beautiful custom Givenchy dress to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
If that was her last big red carpet look before the wedding, then that could have been - you guys were talking about Easter eggs - that could have been the final like, "This is it. This is the Givenchy dress that we're wearing."
So I think those are the five designers we're looking at. I would be shocked if she's strayed away from those, but who knows? There's going to be multiple dresses though. That's another thing.
Ralphie Aversa:
Oh, all right. I mean, please. So what do you think? One for the ceremony?
Morgan Evans:
Yes.
Ralphie Aversa:
One for the reception?
Morgan Evans:
Yes.
Ralphie Aversa:
One for if she hops on stage?
Morgan Evans:
Yes.
Ralphie Aversa:
What are you envisioning, Morgan? All of the above.
Morgan Evans:
I think she would go for a more classic designer for the dress. I do think she will wear a ball gown. In my mind, I'd see her in that. So I would say something like Oscar de la Renta, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren for that, or Vivienne, but I could see Wiederhoeft being an awesome party look for her. So a reception look.
Ralphie Aversa:
Oh, what a perfect way to wrap this up. All right. Bryan West, who of course covers Taylor Swift and music for the USA TODAY Network and The Tennessean. Melissa Ruggieri, our national music reporter, and style and beauty reporter, Morgan Evans. The three of you, thank you all so much for joining me to talk about this epic wedding.
Morgan Evans:
Thanks.
Bryan West:
Thank you.
Melissa Ruggieri:
Thank you.
Ralphie Aversa:
Thanks for listening. I'm Ralphie Aversa, USA TODAY's senior entertainment correspondent. What story or topic would you like to hear about? Reach out to us podcasts@usatoday.com. We read every email.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The iconic pop start and football player are finally tying the knot | The Excerpt
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