The movement in New York for Taylor Swift's mega wedding

Yes, this is really happening.

But what exactly is this?

After months of speculation and tabloid fervor, pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will hold a wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City this week, two sources told CNN on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, people familiar with the planning told CNN that the power couple is expected to hold what was described as a rehearsal event on Thursday at the arena in Manhattan, expected to be attended by approximately 100 people and take place at the Infosys Theater.

A larger wedding celebration is expected on Friday, March 3, with a ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by a reception that could last until the early hours of the morning. About 1,000 people are expected to attend that event, sources familiar with the planning added.

Earlier on Wednesday, crews were working intensely around the site. A worker pushed a stack of boxes marked "lobster meat." A truck appeared to deliver a huge tree branch.

When asked about the movement, a worker replied: "My lips are sealed."

Extra New York Police Department (NYPD) officers will be deployed to the area around Madison Square Garden for the event, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the plans.

Organizers plan to set up a tent to obstruct the view of a portion of West 31st Street near Seventh Avenue, the official said, so guests can exit their vehicles without being seen.

About 500 vehicles are expected to drop off wedding guests at the venue, according to people briefed on the plans.

The intention is for police to keep 7th and 8th Avenues on either side of Madison Square Garden open to traffic, meaning that if fans show up in large numbers, they could be confined to the sidewalks with little view of anything happening at the Garden, the sources added.

The security plan calls for the deployment of heavily armed teams, including long guns, canine units, emergency services teams and other agents to the event, as well as additional police for crowd control, the official said. Despite heightened security, the area will not be considered a "freeze zone" as was the case during the NBA Finals, the official said.

Swift, one of the most famous women in the world, has faced security threats in the past, including several cases of stalking and an alleged terrorist plot to attack her Vienna concerts in 2024.

At a press conference on Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned "an event we are monitoring at Madison Square Garden on Friday night" and said the NYPD will have "an ongoing security operation" but declined to provide details.

The highly anticipated wedding takes place as New York City experiences a busy start to summer.

The Knicks really did well, ending a 53-year drought by winning the NBA championship and inspiring acts of passion and euphoria throughout the city. The FIFA World Cup drew crowds of delighted tourists to ride the subway and try ranch dressing for the first time.

Is the happy couple already in town? It's possible: A plane associated with Swift took off from Nashville and landed in Morristown, New Jersey, on Tuesday afternoon, according to the open-source flight tracking site ADS-B Exchange.

Any Swift fans who descend on the city will be accompanied by hordes of press, who until recently had little or no concrete information about the event being kept under strict secrecy.

It seems that the guests are also in the dark about the location. Not even George Kittle, Travis Kelce's colleague and co-founder of Tight End University, who confirmed he received an invitation to the wedding, knows for sure where the ceremony will be held - or at least that's what the San Francisco 49ers player told Entertainment Tonight last week.

"I actually asked Travis last night and he laughed at me," Kittle told the outlet during a TEU event, where Swift gave a surprise performance.

One thing he knows: the couple told guests "absolutely no gifts", Kittle told Extra TV at the same event. "But I was thinking... for some reason, Travis likes old coins, so maybe I'll give him an old coin," said Kittle.

There was also no mention of any imminent marriage in Wednesday morning's episode of "New Heights," the laid-back sports podcast hosted by Super Bowl champion brothers Travis and Jason Kelce.

Swift and Kelce, who have been dating since 2023, inspired weeks of fan theories and debates about the supposed party at Madison Square Garden, much of it based on incredulity that the music superstar would get married in one of the most rustic places possible.

Hurtle around Madison Square Garden for Taylor Swift's wedding - Reuters / Ed Ou
In the venue's defense, the arena's nearly impenetrable exterior probably had something to do with its selection. Besides, if there's anyone who feels at home in an arena, it's Swift.

If the celebration actually takes place at Madison Square Garden, the couple is likely to shell out a huge sum to transform the space to suit them and their star-studded guests.

One luxury wedding planner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing her clients' privacy expectations, estimated that a luxury wedding at the Garden could cost between $15 and $20 million. But the cost of transforming that empty space would be just a drop in the bucket for the billionaire and her fiancé.

There's still a possibility that all the excitement around Madison Square Garden is just an elaborate and expensive distraction to divert our attention from the real place where the pair will tie the knot.

When CNN spoke to Garden officials on Tuesday, they said they knew absolutely nothing about the wedding. Still, a man working outside the arena was seen wearing a crew t-shirt from one of Swift's old tours. A masterful troll? Or a feat of brilliant planning on Swift's part in utilizing a well-known team? Maybe time will never reveal.

Neither did New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who on Tuesday also declined to elaborate on any insider information he might have, carefully dodging a question about Swift's event during a press conference about the impending heat wave.

"If you happen to be getting married at Madison Square Garden, you'll stay inside and stay cool, and I think that's a good example for the city as a whole," Mamdani said.

The mayor has been getting into the wedding banter for weeks, first making a subtle reference to a "celebrity" wedding while listing major events taking place in New York this summer during a press conference last month.

Asked if he would attend the supposed wedding, Mamdani replied that he would stay at home listening to Swift's song "Only The Young" in celebration.

Now, he is becoming more direct in his responses.

The soaring temperatures could end up becoming an unexpected story in the narrative of Swift and Kelce's wedding weekend.

New York is forecast to record temperatures in the triple digits (in Fahrenheit) due to an intense heat wave that will affect millions of people, including those who may be keeping vigil outside Madison Square Garden to try to catch a glimpse of Swift and Kelce's celebrity guests.

As Swift herself once sang: "Welcome to New York."

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Source: CNN