Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will be celebrating their nuptials with about 1,000 guests this holiday weekend in New York City after days of speculation about the most anticipated celebrity wedding of the year.
A rehearsal dinner was held Thursday evening, law enforcement sources said. The couple plans to have a wedding celebration Friday into the early hours of Saturday morning at Madison Square Garden, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the security planning for the events.
The rehearsal dinner Thursday was for around 100 people at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden, the two sources told CBS News. The second, larger event can accommodate around 1,000 people, the sources said, with the space booked until 4 a.m.
ABC News was first to report the planned celebrations on Tuesday.
Guests lucky enough to be among the 1,000 people attending the celebration on Friday will be treated to cocktails on the 6th floor concourse of Madison Square Garden at 4 p.m. (doors open at 3:30 p.m.), a ceremony on the arena floor scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and then a reception set to start at 6:30 p.m. that will go until 2 a.m., the sources told CBS News, noting that the exact times are subject to change.
The event will feature musical talent, and the couple is building a massive set inside the arena for the event.
Guests will be entering the Garden via a special VIP area that will be covered with a tent, the sources said. Security officials are expecting about 500 vehicles to bring the guests.
For the 100 or so family, friends and VIPs attending the rehearsal dinner, Thursday evening festivities at MSG’s Infosys Theater were scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and go until 10:30 p.m., the sources said.
The New York City Police Department is preparing to handle the extra traffic, security, media, fans and paparazzi that come with an event like this. The couple has also hired private security.
The wedding will likely use about the same amount of NYPD resources as any other major event or concert at Madison Square Garden or a big game at Yankee Stadium, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the security planning.
About 135 officers will likely be assigned to work the MSG wedding events on Thursday and Friday, the sources said. They noted that an event organizer typically covers overtime police staffing costs, and expected about 25% of officers’ hours to be billed as overtime at roughly $90 to $100 per hour per officer.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting details and sharing rumors about the potential ceremony for Swift and Kelce after news broke that Swift had rented out the massive concert venue, which locals refer to as “the Garden.”
Swift’s team applied for a street activity permit from July 2 to July 4, a senior law enforcement source told CBS News last week.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
John Hart, a retired assistant chief of the NYPD who has extensive experience handling security for high-profile events, told CBS News that the confined space of Madison Square Garden will help the security team keep Swift, Kelce and their guests safe. He added that obtaining the street activity permits frees up the burden on the NYPD and allows for private security to help secure the area around the venue.
“That said, it will be swarmed by media of all types and fans hoping to catch a glimpse,” Hart said.
Managing media and what’s known as “fan pens” will likely fall on the NYPD, as they will be outside the hard frozen zone secured by private security.
“Paparazzi chasing cars with guests and swarming hotels will be a side issue that will fall to NYPD as well,” Hart said.
Large trucks have been seen parked outside the venue in recent days, with work crews unloading stage equipment, lights and other gear, much of it under wraps. Some of it bore signs labeled “Garden Party” or “GP.”
Ahead of their wedding events, Swift and Kelce donated $26 million to charities this week, with donations spread out across 20 local and national charities, according to Swift’s publicist, with many located in areas where the couple has deep ties.