It’s been dubbed the showbiz wedding of the century.
Yet Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Madison Square Garden nuptials haven’t been without criticism either.
On Friday July 3, the Actually Romantic hitmaker tied the knot with the American professional football tight end in front of 1000 guests in a ceremony estimated to have cost $20million.
Yet preparing a spectacle of such stature was no mean feat, with parts of New York City shut down and hundreds of police officers drafted to work security.
So over the top was the ceremony that it’s drawn parallels to Jeff Bezos’ Venetian wedding to Lauren Sanchez, which was protested last year after the couple hired out parts of the Italian city for their nuptials.
Taking to X/Twitter fans noted the similarities, penning: ‘Jeff Bezos shut down Venice for his wedding. Taylor Swift is shutting down New York’s Midtown for hers. Billionaires shouldn’t be able to disrupt entire cities on a whim.’
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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s ‘over the top’ wedding has been compared to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s excessive nuptials after the couple shut down NYC streets
So over the top was the ceremony that it’s drawn parallels to Jeff’s Venetian wedding to Lauren, which was protested last year after the couple hired out parts of the Italian city
Others added: ‘ I don’t mind Taylor Swift, but anyone else feel all this is just a bit over the top?….talk about separating yourself from your fans, even if they don’t mind…it’s almost Jeff Bezos like….FFS it’s just a wedding, it’s not the second coming…’;
‘Who has the more evil wedding: Taylor Swift or Jeff Bezos’;
‘Taylor Swift doing quite literally the same that Jeff Bezos did in Venice, Italy but in New York… figures.’
It’s believed that Taylor and Travis’ wedding could have cost up to $20 million, and taxpayers footed over $1 million to help cover the bill.
The cost to the public will have come from enlisting hundreds of police officers to provide security and patrolling MSG.
Photos taken on Friday afternoon showed scores of New York City cops in their uniforms drenched with sweat as they stood guard close to the Garden in 100f heat.
Former NYPD official Sal Lifrieri, who spent two decades with the department and previously led its protective operations unit, previously condemned the couple for shutting down streets over the July 4 weekend.
He shared: ‘City resources are pushed to the limit as it is. I don’t think they’re recognizing the potential impact that they’re going to have.’
Ahead of their celebration, Taylor and Travis donated $26 million to 20 charities. The unusually specific number has sparked speculation that it matches the actual cost of their wedding celebrations.
The ceremony has been shrouded in secrecy, but it’s been said that Taylor built a custom ‘castle’ inside MSG and supposedly bought every available calla lily in the city.
They hung curtains on the arena’s large windows and erected an arrivals tent which blocked the public’s view of who was there.
A sign at a security checkpoint outside the venue instructed guests to ‘have identification out, have devices ready’, suggesting attendees were forced to give up their phones before entering.
Stars brought traffic to a halt with police banning the press from assembling near the venue and even threatening to arrest those who don’t comply.
Taking to X/ Twitter fans noted the similarities between the billionaires’ ceremonies
Stars brought traffic to a halt with police banning the press from assembling near the venue and even threatening to arrest those who don’t comply
Eyebrows were also raised over the guest list.
Taylor’s close pals, including Selena Gomez and Gigi Hadid were in attendance , as were most of Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs teammates.
However, other random A, B and C-listers were seen en route to the venue, with social media users snarking that it seemed more like a social networking event than a celebration of everlasting love.
The highly anticipated wedding was confirmed via screens outside the venue, which displayed a congratulatory message around 7:20 pm ET reading ‘JUST&T MARRIED!’
Taylor and Travis’ nuptials were undoubtedly the biggest celebrity wedding since Amazon founder Jeff’s ceremony with The View host Lauren.
With a $20million budget, the most high-profile of A-list guests and the backdrop of Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the wedding was the most highly-anticipated events of the year.
But despite the glamour, the nuptials left many with a sour taste.
Even before they arrived, protests by Venetian locals accusing the pair of ‘taking over the city’ had suggested the wedding would not be as smooth sailing as they had been hoped for.
While A-listers had flocked to the Italian city – including the likes of the Kardashian and Jenner sisters and their mother – there were some notable no-shows, such as Lauren’s long-time best friend, Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria, who had been at her hen do in Paris in May.
And one of the most famous faces present – climate change warrior Leonardo DiCaprio – seemed to want to hide completely under a low sitting baseball cap following backlash at his attendance.
Some questioned the apparent contradiction between his climate activism and his presence at a lavish event possibly involving private jet travel, a point raised by several media outlets.
About a dozen Venetian organisations – including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups – protested under the banner ‘No Space for Bezos’ amid complaints he has ‘taken over the city.’
The banner was a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride’s space flight.
One group displayed a banner which read: ‘Money cannot buy style.’
Another banner read: ’55 million dollars spent on the wedding just to get a divorce in three days’.
Greenpeace activists unfurled a huge banner in St Mark’s Square, the iconic heart of Venice, protesting against the wedding.
It showed an image of Jeff’s face and the slogan: ‘If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax’.
Activists from British group Everyone Hates Elon were also involved and said they had carried it out to highlight the ‘environmental and social injustice of the wedding’.
The highly anticipated wedding was confirmed via screens outside the venue, which displayed a congratulatory message around 7:20 pm ET reading ‘JUST&T MARRIED!’
When Jeff and Lauren tied the knot, protests by Venetian locals accusing the pair of ‘taking over the city’ had suggested the wedding would not be as smooth sailing as hoped for
Lauren and Jeff, however, seemed to be unfazed by all the criticism of their ostentatious display.
The couple were hounded by local journalists as they left the Aman hotel – where rooms start at well over $1,000 a night – on Saturday, with one reporter asking: ‘What do you think about the protests, Jeff?’
But while Lauren valiantly ignored the yelled questions, the Amazon founder – who is worth some $230 billion – simply said: ‘Love you guys’, before blowing a kiss to the cameras.
Taylor and Travis have yet to address the backlash to their wedding.
Yet the singer previously defended her giant guestlist, telling Graham Norton – who was also invited – last year: ‘I think the only stressful weddings are the ones where you have a small amount [of guests] and people are on the bubble, right?
‘And you have to evaluate and asses your relationship with them to see if they should be there,” she said. “I’m not gonna do that.”
‘Anyone that I’ve ever talked to [is invited],’ she joked before later adding, ‘I shouldn’t have said any of that.’
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