Vogue Editors On Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Epic MSG Wedding

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0:48I'm a couple blocks away. I had to clean the scene. It's just kind of nuts. It's like the stuff out of an urban planner. nightmare. Imagine New York City, Midtown, Penn Station area the day before July 4th weekend, one of your highest traffic times of the year. But let's add World Cup fans and let's plan a secret wedding of the world's biggest pop star that is just mobbed by news crews, police, undercover police, higher-up police, state police, state troopers, traffic cops. If this whole thing is a smokescreen and they're actually just getting out to get married somewhere, on a private island, I think they should pay the city of New York$8 billion.

1:45I gotta go. I got a green light. Bye.

1:55This is The Run Through. I'm Marlee Marius, a senior editor at Vogue, and I'm filling in today for Chloe and Choma. Chloe's in Paris right now for Couture, but she was very much online with the rest of us discussing the big event of the holiday weekend, and I don't mean America 250. What I'm referring to, of course, is the wedding between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, which took place right here in New York City on Friday. What you were just hearing was an on-the-scene report Thursday evening from the motorcycle of our editor, Corey Seymour. Since then, we've learned a lot more about the events that transpired in and around Madison Square Garden.

2:32To break down what was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated events of the year so far, I'm joined today by a panel of my most esteemed colleagues, two Annas, not the other one. Can you both introduce yourselves and share a little bit of your personal history, such as it is with Ms. Taylor Allison Swift, maybe beginning with you, AGL? Wow. Hi, I'm Anna Grace Lee, and I'm Vogue's lifestyle writer. So I cover food, interiors, travel, weddings, and more, plus a bit of arts and culture. And I thought I'd get this out of the way, which is a really fun fact, I think, which I'm pretty sure I saw Taylor Swift's first concert at Madison Square Garden when I was in elementary school.

3:16It was the fearless era, and I will share more, trust me. Nice. I am Anna Cofola. I am the news editor. I am based in London and I cover a lot of fashion, beauty, lifestyle, culture. I went to see Taylor for the Eros tour in Paris. I made a little holiday of it, but I would say I go way back with Miss Swift also. So I actually caught one of her guitar picks during maybe Red era. And yeah, I still have it at home, like pasted in a notebook somewhere. So your seats were amazing. We're kindred. I think I ran down the gangway right at the end and probably almost got rugby tackled by a security guard trying to get there.

4:07But, you know, it was worth it. Oh, my God. Okay. Deep lore for both of you. So that's awesome. So now, I mean, before we really dive into our thoughts and feelings on the ceremony, Anna Lee, do you want to start us off by sort of recapping how and when we started sort of receiving information about this wedding? Yeah. Well, I mean, I'll say that there were a lot of, you know, rumors and speculation from the beginning. And people thought it was going to be at her Rhode Island house. There was this situation with, like, it was going to be on June 13th because that's her lucky number. And then I would say like a few weeks ago, we started hearing that it was going to be in New York City.

4:47And then we started hearing it sort of zeroed in from there. It was like, okay, it's going to be in Midtown. And then we heard from TMZ that it was Madison Square Garden was going to be the actual venue. And I think at first people were like, what? That's so crazy to have your wedding at Madison Square Garden. But in a way, I think we also were like, that kind of makes sense. I think number one, it was, it made sense from a logistical and like privacy and security perspective. And it also, you know, because it has this ultra, you know, locked down sort of way of entering underground through a garage.

5:24And also there's a history of, you know, private and special events there. There's like, you know, Marilyn Monroe saying happy birthday to JFK famously. And also Sly Stone got married there in front of, you know, a massive crowd during a concert. So we thought, well, it wouldn't be the first wedding to happen there. It seemed like there was a live music component, which we will get to later. And also we were like hearing kind of like weird like decor rumors. First of all, we were like seeing mysteriously labeled like boxes and packages and things sort of going into the venue that were kind of giving us a sense maybe of what it was going to look like inside.

6:01But some of it, I wonder to this very moment, if it was a red herring, because there were things that, you know, it was labeled castle or I saw one that was it was labeled as a mirror ball. And then people were like, oh, that's a reference to her song. And yeah, but the castle was sort of that gained a lot of a lot of traction, I think. And that sort of made sense to me in a way because also with Madison Square Garden, people are like, oh, it's going to feel, I think Choma, you know, said it would not feel like getting married at the office. But you're like, it is also just a big space that you can transform into whatever you want.

6:37So if she wanted to make it a magical garden with a castle, you know, she could. And also there was a story in The Times over the weekend sort of like unpacking the notion of this wedding sort of being the equivalent of our royal wedding and making the point sort of along the way that like four people like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, like Madison Square Garden is actually kind of a small venue for them. Like, she doesn't perform there anymore because it's not big enough. It's not, like, doesn't quite have the right dimensions to be a football field. Like, they're used to really being in front of big crowds, bigger crowds than what would even be accommodated at Madison Square Garden.

7:14When we were trying to piece together whether the rumor was true, you know, we read reporting in the New York Times about hotels. I think it was in Times Square, hotel rooms being booked by players on the Kansas City Chiefs. And so there were a lot of signs pointing to it. What rumors were making their way to you? And like, what does Madison Square Garden mean to you, dare I ask? Like, were people over there like, that's weird? Or were they like, okay, sure, it's just a big space? Well, I feel like I am a scholar of this wedding. And I have never set foot in MSG. I have not even been near it. And I feel like I understand it so intimately.

7:56I can see all these like gangways and the underground in my head but I think things started to become a lot clearer whenever we saw everyone start coming in for that rehearsal dinner on the Thursday evening and it also gave us an understanding of who was going to be on the guest list for the main event too so there was a rehearsal dinner on the Thursday night where I think it was about 100-ish people very, very intimate for this occasion had the dinner in a theatre underneath the main Madison Square Garden arena. I mean, do we want to talk about some of the people that we started seeing on Thursday who kind of tipped us off for like what the actual list was going to be?

8:39Yeah, everyone on the Thursday was really who you would expect of like the Swift girl gang era. There was Selena Gomez. There was Lena Dunham, Gigi Hadid. then we saw Jack Antonoff and then a couple of the different players from Travis Kelsey's team and from there I think it was page six had quite a detailed running order and schedule of then the next day or so so yes there was a rehearsal dinner on the Thursday night and then on Friday I think it was from 3.30 sharp the doors opened and we started getting those like flashes of paparazzi shots of people coming in and out of their cab so again we saw Lena Gigi, Cara Delevingne all starting to arrive together.

9:26And then there was the 4pm cocktail hour, which was on the sixth floor concourse, whatever that means. And 5.30 was whenever the actual ceremony on the arena floor actually kicked off. 6.30, our reception, and then the festivities went on late into the evening till about 2am. It was a long day for everyone involved and only peripherally involved. I will say that like seeing on Instagram the visual of like Taylor being driven from her home in like a big like Chevy Silverado with like blacked out windows and people like screaming as it was coming by. It really was giving her a wedding. Like it really was giving like Catherine and William like in their carriage and people on the mall.

10:12Like it was really something. Yeah, definitely. And also I think there were people, yeah, people on the ground, people staking out Madison's Wargarden. But also, for me at least, it really took over all my social media feeds. And I felt like I became, you know, a Taylor Swift wedding detective where I was seeing, you know, I was seeing videos on various things of, you know, people arriving, showing their QR code. Did you guys see this? Which makes, which like, totally. But then I also saw what I believe I'm pretty sure to be our, you know, AI photos and videos of the wedding. Really, like, every famous person you can think of was there, probably.

10:53But as far as what we learned about what went on inside, let's talk a little bit about the dress. I mean, we don't know much, but, like, Anikful, do you want to tell us what we do know about the dress? Yes, very proudly speaking for all of Ireland that it was fellow Irishman Jonathan Anderson for Dior. And I think that makes Taylor his first couture bride. And Travis Kelsey also wore Dior. I think there's reports that it is an all-white suit, but there's not too much detail on it yet. Dior did release quite a brief statement, but we have kind of no other visuals aside from that. And yeah, like Anna says, a lot of AI slop of Taylor in various kind of princessy, A-line, frilly dresses going around, but nothing so solid just yet.

11:46It was interesting as well seeing everyone suddenly drop their photos of themselves all at once on Instagram. It was hilarious. I think I had just left the house and had just gotten on a bike and then opened my phone and just immediately had to turn back around again. I was like, oh God, there's Gracie and Chanel, there's Gigi and Wetterhoft, there's back in. so yeah there must have been some kind of embargo on everyone dropping their looks I mean I don't think she's really going to do a Zendaya and not give us anything but I don't know what the rollout on these wedding dress photos are going to be I was sort of thinking like in terms of like secrecy this sort of occupied a strange place between like Tom Holland and Zendaya we know nothing, we learned about it after the fact, we don't even know how long after but the fact it was.

12:40And then, like, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, like, last fall, and Dua Lipa and Callum Turner this summer, where we kind of got a lot. I mean, like, the weird thing about this wedding is that it's, like, absolutely in the middle of a huge metropolitan area, had so many people, but they did a pretty good job of, like, keeping what was going on inside really quiet, at least for now. Although, like, then a couple of things did come out via Taylor's team, namely her publicist, Tree. Do you want to tell us what we know about the efficient, who I think everyone was so, I was kind of surprised, but then it sort of makes its kind of sense.

13:14Yeah, so Adam Sandler was the efficient. Actually, one of the AI slop photos that I saw was like Adam Sandler in basketball shorts and with a suit up top. Which didn't feel totally out of the realm of possibility. But yeah, when I heard that Adam Sandler was the efficient, I was in the back of the car and I just go, Adam Sandler. And my friends are like, what? But it turns out that, you know, he's actually a close friend of Travis and Taylor. They have this longstanding, I think, mutual respect and adoration for each other's work. Travis had a cameo in Happy Gilmore 2. Right. And Adam Sandler was on the Kelsey's podcast.

14:02But yeah, supposedly he did a great job. Andy Reid, who's the coach of the Chiefs, gave a couple of soundbites about the wedding. And he said that Adam, he said something like Adam Sandler, you know, he's crazy, but he did a great job. And he said that the advice that Adam gave to the newlyweds is to keep kissing. I'm like me not romantic

14:32but then also he's been married a long time because he knows what he's talking about yeah he was like honestly it's you know when you boil it all down like that's that's going to keep you going so that's what counts thank you Adam Sandler and we learned that she didn't really have a traditional wedding party it sounded like it was just both of their one brother like up there with them, which was sort of sweet. Austin Swift was her man of honor. Is that, I mean, LOL? Yeah, man of honor. And Jason Kelsey was Travis's best man. So that's sweet, sort of an intimate family moment up at the altar. So as guests, there were quite a few of Taylor's different support acts from across the eras tour and elsewhere.

15:18There was Griff, who's a British pop star. Gracie was there. And then actually performing, we had heard rumors that it was Stevie Nicks. And indeed it was, as far as we know. And maybe one little Easter egg that Taylor allowed in the weeks before was wearing the Stevie Nicks shirts along with the Haim sisters during the NBA finals that Alana Haim made. Some very cool bootleg merch. but yes apparently Stevie Nicks performed as did Paul McCartney who did one of the Beatles biggest tracks ever I want to hold your hand I think there was also rumors that Taylor Taylor did the sound check with Stevie but whether she performed or not we don't know yeah because I was when I heard that I was like why is she performing at her own wedding yeah what do we think about performing at your own wedding I mean I guess if you're Taylor Swift I'm sure everyone was like delighted to hear.

16:18True. I feel like I would have liked to see some sort of duet. I wonder what they would have sung together. I heard there was karaoke as well later on in the night. Okay, cute. Some real chaos combinations as well. Like a Hugh Grant with, I don't know, Bo and Yang doing some Addison Rae. Oh my God. Yeah. Fergie. Oh my God, yes. Lest we forget. Yes, okay. Because she was also someone who like dropped an image of herself getting ready and I was like, what? At first I was like, okay, then I was sort of like, these two are millennials, so it makes sense. I would also have to forget my wedding if I could, you know what I mean?

16:55Yeah, it definitely, I feel like it reads the guest list. It's sort of like this Mad Libs, you know, dream list of, you know, it's like if someone was like, who would you have at your dream dinner party? And then you could have all of those people, you know, up to a thousand. Totally. Also in attendance was Carly Kloss. The Carly Kloss of it all is really got people talking. I think there was a lot of speculation whether she would or wouldn't attend because I think there's been this understanding that there's some kind of rift or distance between them. But Carly did show up wearing a very Taylor Swiftian red lip.

17:34And she looked fab. She did look great. She looked really glam. And at the same time as this wedding, we've had the start of Couture in Paris. And Carly Closs was straight on that flight to Paris to walk in the Schiaparelli show. She wore this really stunning, I think it's silicone, like molded icy blue corset. And the whole show is just really beautiful. I should add that our fearless leader, Chloe Mao, just left the Dior show in Paris with Sam Sussman, Vogue's global social director. and they sent us a voice note speculating about the dress Taylor might have worn based on what they saw kind of going down the runway.

18:12So here's that voice note. So we just, I'm with Samantha Sussman, and we just left the Dior haute couture show, and it was very exciting to be at the Dior show just mere days after Taylor Swift wore Dior couture to her wedding. and like many couture shows this one closed with a wedding dress it had embroidered fern motifs on it on a long train i don't think that taylor had a fern motif but we can imagine sam what were your thoughts i don't think that that dress i think people were going to be looking for hints at the couture wedding dress but i don't think that jonathan anderson's bride was taylor's I think that's so true.

18:57I think that's a very good point. This one was very, it was light as air. And it just kind of wisped about. Yeah, too wispy. I think she might have had more structure. I think for a thousand person Madison Square Garden wedding, you need a little more structure.

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21:02Since you were doing a lot of, you know, reaching out to stylists in the morning after and, like, asking to clear photos and updating our gallery of the attendees, When you were doing that, what were some of your favorite looks? Yeah, a scholar of this wedding dress code because it was black tie and everyone really went for it in terms of like color and texture and shape. And it felt very fun and maybe kind of leaning into all the eras of it all. So I loved Lena Dunham's, I think it was on the actual wedding day that she wore this really cool, like custom Christian Coyne magenta shirt and this long black maxi skirt with this really big like baby blue floral corsage.

21:47She's styled by Talia Castle, who I think is really fantastic and is really good on Perrin-Lena with like young emerging designers and kind of cool, interesting looks. Gigi also really went for it in what is very much Taylor Swift's favourite, Wetterhoft. And it was this really sugary, pink, sparkly, super corseted drapey gown. And who else do we have? Zoe Kravitz was there, looking very chic, actually, in this vintage Balenciaga, sparkly little mini dress. So chic. I have to say as well, Trepian also looked great in that kind of smoky gray Rachel Gilbert dress. She looked good. Also, I saw the picture of Gracie Abrams at the wedding, and I was like, why does that dress look familiar?

22:35And it was a Chanel dress that she also wore in her recent Vogue summer. A cover shirt. Yeah, isn't that so funny? I mean, I love the idea of her being styled in that by us and being like, wait, yeah. I can't put my finger on it. There's something I really love about it. Totally. So that was, yeah, it was fun to see her sort of re-wearing a look that ran on our very own pages. The Bixie is Bixie-ing as well for the uninitiated, a Bob Pixie. It really is. I also have to say that I did kind of love what Fergie wore. I felt that it was very glam, rock star, kind of like Penny Lane. You know, it just seemed like she was ready to have a good time.

23:15Yeah, Fergie Bombshell, vintage Kristen Dior with that big boa. We've gotten into maybe some of the more expected guests, but do we kind of want to talk about some of our favorite sort of wildcard additions to this list? like some of the people that like gagged you when you saw them like popping up on Getty. I think it was some of the car shots, like seeing Andrew Scott, like maybe looking a little bit worse for wear at the end of the night. I mean, that might just be the blinding paparazzi light on you. But I was like, I'm glad Andrew Scott had a good time. I just like the idea of Lena Dunham being in the car with Sadie Smith as well.

23:58I was like, what is happening? Yeah, right. Right. Also, like, I saw Tom Hanks and Paul McCartney in a car together. I was like, could you not get your own rides? Or like, what is going on there? Like, it just seems like, sure. Like, I mean, why not, I guess. when we saw Hugh Grant walking in on the Slack channels, there were sort of various reactions to that. Our colleague Liam Hess was sort of like surprised because I think he's sort of, Hugh Grant doesn't really give, I want to go to this huge pop culture wedding. But at the same time, I was like, he does give heirs to our dad. You know what I mean?

24:34So I was like, that sort of makes sense to me. I actually saw him a couple of summers ago at a day festival in London. I think with his daughters and they were seeing Blackpink. Oh, cute. He looked so miserable, but yeah, so very dad who's up for it for the girls. Totally. I mean, also Ethan Hawke, sure. Jason Zedekis, sure. Yeah. Well, I was thinking with Hugh Grant too that the love actually of it all where it makes sense to me that that would be part of an overall vision of just romance and sort of... I love the idea of, like, curing a wedding based on just kind of, like, vibes. Yeah. Like, associations that you, like, want to have.

25:19Because also, like, I mean, Brad Pitt, Beck, Ashanti, Nelly, again, millennials. Jenny Han, author of The Samurai Turned Pretty, also was on the ground. But then it kind of makes sense. Yeah, because there's Taylor Swift songs are all over The Samurai Turned Pretty. And it's one of the kind of one of the themes there. Yeah, it's interesting as a guest list that kind of telegraphs their taste and their references and what they're also trying to signal about themselves as well. Relatively to this big guest list, it sounded like Taylor and Travis were very explicit about not accepting gifts, but they did do a kind of interesting thing in the days leading up to the wedding that you wrote a bit about, Annalise.

26:06Yes. A few days before, they donated$26 million to a whole variety of charities. It was a lot of food banks and children's organizations, and quite a few of them were in New York. There was City Harvest, for example, and that felt, number one, like it was really expressing that, yeah, there were going to be no gifts, no wedding gifts from their guests. And this was sort of, it felt to me like this is their wedding gift to the wider country because there were also some organizations in places that were, you know, meaningful to them across the country, but also sort of a gift to New York for, you know, playing host to, you know, what, yeah, what people are calling the America's royal wedding.

26:54Because, I mean, it was no small thing, I'm sure, to people who worked anywhere in the vicinity of Madison Square Garden that, like, streets were closed for several days. And, like, there was a big police presence. Like, there were signs that this cost the city quite a bit of money. So I think it was a good strategic move, of course, in addition to being, you know, a lovely philanthropic sort of gesture.