As temperatures rise in New York City, so is speculation about what is being called the “American royal wedding,” as pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce prepare to say their “I Do”s. Not since Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot 15 years ago has a wedding received quite so much attention.
“I don’t think we’re going to see another celebrity wedding bigger than this one anytime soon,” said Michelle Edgemont, sales director for the digital wedding and event florist service Poppy Flowers. “The popular girl is getting married to the popular football player. Can you get more American than that?”
While Swift has not confirmed her wedding date or venue or any other details about her big day, wedding experts are weighing in on what they expect to see.
The dress
“When it comes to this branding of the all-American couple, Ralph Lauren seems like a very obvious choice,” The Knot Editorial Director Esther Lee told Spectrum News.
Swift is known to consistently wear the iconic designer’s timeless designs in her personal life, including earlier this month when she donned a Ralph Lauren velvet Bordeaux tank dress to a theater performance in New York City with her husband-to-be.
“If she chooses to surprise us, there are some other names that have been thrown around,” Lee said, noting the British designers Sarah Burton — known for romantic, emotionally driven clothing — and Vivienne Westwood, whose corsetry is less a symbol of restriction than sexual empowerment.
“Folks think a ball gown is what she’s going to wear or some kind of princessy look, and I would actually argue the opposite,” Lee said.
Edgemont also sees Swift’s bridal gown as either a simple, elegant A-line dress or a fitted beaded bodice.
Both Lee and Edgemont expect multiple dresses throughout the bridal festivities, with Swift changing from her ceremony dress to a flirtier, less restrictive reception dress and most likely a mini dress for late night dancing.
The venue
Nothing has been publicly confirmed by the couple, but public records show New York City issued a permit for loading and unloading theatrical materials at Madison Square Garden from June 29 to July 4.
The New York Times reported the couple are planning a gathering of 100 people at the arena that seats up to 19,500 people on July 2, and a second event for about 1,000 guests on July 3.
“It’s quite strategic and smart if she moves forward with this because it gives her full control over a venue that has been privatized and locked down from a security perspective for not only herself and her husband to be, but also her guests,” Lee said.
Choosing MSG as the venue offers security, staffing and the opportunity “to really control the narrative tightly around her wedding,” while also accommodating a large number of guests, she added.
Edgemont said MSG is accustomed to hosting high-profile events and guests and is used to doing quick event changes, sometimes switching from a basketball court to a hockey rink in a matter of hours.
Edgemont says she expects a venue to be built within the venue, most likely by a production company that’s used to staging huge events in a day’s time.
“I’m definitely expecting Madison Square Garden to not look like Madison Square Garden,” she said. “It’s not going to look like the basketball arena that the Knicks played in.”
“I can see partitions,” Lee said, to create separate spaces for the ceremony and reception.
The ceremony
Like Swift’s separation of her musical catalog into different “eras,” complete with different aesthetics, themes and color palettes, both Edgemont and Lee expect a themed wedding with a narrative.
What that narrative is, Swift has not revealed, but “she and Travis both will have a carefully crafted narrative around the theme all the way through every single detail of the wedding,” Lee said.
That theme will also play out in the dresses Swift wears and the event’s floral arrangements. (Edgemont predicts calla lilies presented in a way that is romantic and modern and a little bit different.)
“I guarantee there will be a floral moment and a design moment for her wedding that will be unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Lee said.
“I’m seeing the ceremony being very romantic” with lots of draping to make it feel soft and elegant and beautiful lighting that makes it feel more intimate, Edgemont said.
The reception, she expects, will be more whimsical and surprising.
The Taylor Swift effect on weddings
“Whatever she does, I think the wedding industry is going to see brides and grooms asking for that or something similar,” Edgemont said, whether it be a color palette, a flower variety or overall aesthetic.
Lee calls it the “Swiftification” of weddings.
“When you think about travel, décor, just the industry at large, whatever Taylor does, there is an effect to it,” said Lee, who expects a $2.2 billion lift in new global wedding spending over the next two years because of Swift’s nuptials.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source spectrumlocalnews.com ’
