If anybody has it all, Taylor Swift does. And while you knew that already, brace yourself for a pushy reminder this holiday weekend, because the culmination of Swift’s storybook romance with proverbial captain of the football team Travis Kelce will apparently be a multi-day wedding flex, set in the world capital of attention: New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
In addition to being recognized as one of the great American songwriters, Swift is an absolute master of publicity and brand image. So who knows if everything we think we know about her marital extravaganza is a massive head fake, and she and Kelce are exchanging vows in front of close family on some remote island right now.
But barring such a twist—and at the risk of poking the Swift-fandom bear—it’s gotten hard for anyone who’s not a diehard Swiftie to wonder if the proceedings, as reported, feel a little out of touch.
Certainly some New Yorkers think so. The main criticism is that reported street-closure plans around the Garden will be particularly irritating for locals over the July 4 weekend, right in the middle of the World Cup. “It feels rude,” commented one of many anonymous sources weighing in. “They should have their wedding in Pennsylvania or wherever she’s from,” the head of New York City’s police detectives union told The Times, noting officers are already logging copious overtime thanks to other events.
Nevertheless, permits point to a smaller rehearsal-dinner-style event for about 100 people in the Garden’s Infosys Theater on Thursday, followed by a larger black-tie affair in the arena Friday for perhaps 1,000 guests. Truckloads of decor—including boxes labeled things like “trees” and “lobster meat”—have reportedly been spotted. Rumored guests include Kelce’s coach Andy Reid, Ed Sheeran, the Haim sisters, Selena Gomez, and, according to The New York Post, the starting lineup of the Knicks, among others. The list mostly remains speculative, thanks to NDAs: Part of the apparent flex is that this high-profile event in a global media capital is shrouded in secrecy.
Again, details are not clear and misdirection is possible. But as described, the event has shades of the Met Gala, or the widely panned Venice mega-wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. Venetians and activists protested the latter as a symbol of wealth inequality and the privatization of municipal space, treating Venice as a playground for billionaires. Protesters flashed slogans like “No Space for Bezos,” and outside Venice, the event drew sharp commentary from public figures who criticized the sheer excess of it all.
A smattering of online critics see a similar disconnection in throwing what must be a multimillion-dollar bash in the midst of an affordability crisis, viewing it as another example of billionaire excess impacting historic cities and ordinary people: “disgustingly elitist” behavior, “just like every other rich snob.”
But really this backlash evidence has been pretty minimal. Despite the grumbling of New Yorkers (and certain MAGA types who suggest Swift is trying to overshadow Trump-centric July 4 events), the Swiftie nation seems happy that its protagonist has found true love at last, and if she wants that to play out in an arena, well, so be it.
It’s unclear what the rest of us will ultimately learn about the event’s details, and when; guests are apparently banned from bringing phones. The happy couple has so far managed the hype remarkably well, balancing maximum publicity with impressive information control, and decidedly limited criticism. So on her schedule and terms, we’ll wait to hear how it all worked out—Taylor’s version, at least.