Speculation about where and when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding will take place is endless, but there's finally some more clues about the most anticipated ceremony of the year. According to the New York Times the couple rented Madison Square Garden for a multi-day party over the Fourth of July weekend. The two are reportedly planning an initial reception for around a hundred people on July 2 followed by a celebration with around 1000 guests, presumably in the arena which has a banquet capacity of around 1250 people, or in the MSG theatre, which can accommodate up to 5500.
No confirmation has come from the couple, but the MSG actually seems to solve a big logistical problem. The arena is known for the security it offers: no windows, numerous secondary entrances and underground tunnels that allow celebrities to move without being seen (according to the Times permission was requested to close the surrounding streets from July 2nd until noon on the 4th, Amtrak rail police officers would be warned to expect an event of gigantic proportions). The Garden offers future spouses privacy, space and glamour.
There is also a precedent. In fact, it is not the first time that Madison Square Garden hosts a pop wedding. In 1974 Sly Stone married model Kathy Silva during one of his concerts at the same venue in front of around 20,000 people. Stone and Silva had just had a son and in his 2023 autobiography Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) the soul legend says the idea to get married at MSG came during a phone call with A&R Steve Paley. «I could do a concert, get paid and get married at the same time… We set the date for June 5, a Wednesday. We were going to have the ceremony right before the concert, there on stage. Then the show and a party on the rooftop lounge of the Waldorf Astoria. Steve wanted everyone to be dressed in gold to give an impression of pomp.”
Things are organized very quickly: Japanese food and soul food, champagne, a cake with a gold record on top and coordinated gold suits by Halston for the bride and groom. Stone rehearsed a wedding march-style song with his band, Eddie Kendricks opened the concert, Stone's mother and niece gave speeches. Then came gold-clad models, followed by the bride and finally Stone and his sunglasses. They got married in front of delirious fans and the celebrations went on well into the night. “Years later I saw a photo of a note that someone had saved: eight and a half dollars for a wedding and a concert together,” Stone writes. “A deal.”
Stone was not the first to practice the art of marriage on stage. Indeed, he may have been inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who in 1951 put on a similar public show by marrying Russell Morrison (who would later become her manager) in front of 25,000 people at Griffith Stadium in Washington DC. According to music historian Gayle Wald, the operation was designed to revive her career, with promoters giving Tharpe a year to find a husband (she had already married twice). She chose Morrison. It's unclear how well she knew him at the time of their marriage, but the two remained together until her death.
Those who were there witnessed a real musical show, with choristers acting as bridesmaids and a performance by Tharpe. She wore a sumptuous dress purchased from Thalhimer's, a department store in Virginia, a sort of revenge: in 1948, the security guards of that same store and the police had stopped her simply because she was trying to buy a fur coat with cash. The shop had the wedding dress delivered in a luxury private car to the stadium, which was later demolished. The dress cost $800, equivalent to about $11,000 today.
Other celebrity weddings have also become cult moments in pop culture, although they were celebrated on a smaller scale. Hank Williams and second wife Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar married privately in 1952, then held two sold-out public wedding ceremonies at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium. Lucinda Williams took inspiration from that party when she married her manager Tom Overby live on stage at Minneapolis' First Avenue nightclub in 2009, tying the knot while performing for 1,500 fans dressed all in black.
In 2022, Jack White did the double by first asking then-girlfriend and musician Olivia Jean to get married during a sold-out concert on the tour Supply Chain Issues at the Masonic Temple Theater in Detroit and then married her on the spot. White proposed during Hotel Yorba by the White Stripes in front of an enthusiastic audience that included his parents (the couple recently began divorce proceedings).
Swift won't get married in front of a hall full of fans, but many hope that she will at least share as much as possible about the big day. There's a stage available and the Swifties bet there will be music and performances (there are rumors about a performance by Stevie Nicks, ed). They will find a way to celebrate the yes.
From Rolling Stone US.
