It’s been ten days since the “wedding of the year,” Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Madison Square Garden wedding on July 3rd. Reportedly, they spent about $20 million on the wedding, which makes zero sense when you hear about what actually went down during the ceremony and reception. All of that money, all of that careful planning, and it just had the vibe of a corporate retreat in a cavernous sporting venue. The Daily Mail had a big exclusive about how most of the guests were aghast by the bad vibes all around:
Of the 1,000-person main event [on July 3], one guest reports that ‘the ceremony was really long,’ with couple’s vows each lasting ‘around 20 minutes’. And there has also been criticism of the food laid on for the famous attendees.
‘I couldn’t believe that there was a buffet at the wedding of the year,’ another guest said. ‘That felt like such a tacky move… amazing A-listers having to stand in line. It wasn’t quite what I expected.’
And now there’s more, with the raffle that Swift and Kelce held at Friday’s reception raising eyebrows.
‘It was really bizarre,’ one insider told the Daily Mail. ‘Straight after the ceremony, Taylor and Travis did a raffle and gave out expensive gifts for an hour. Everyone was weirded out. It was a circus meet-and-greet. Everyone kind of felt like, why are they giving away Chanel bags as if we are all their poor fans? It was pretty demeaning. It killed the vibe.’
Another guest told us they enjoyed the ‘playful’ raffle – which reportedly saw the bride and groom give away Cartier watches and a vintage 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle – though that was perhaps because they won an expensive Chanel bag. And the happy guest did note that many of the bigger-name celebrities present did not ‘care to play.’
Several of those high-profile names were spotted leaving the wedding early. They included Tom Brady, Jessica Alba and Hugh Grant, according to paparazzi pictures. Though, it remains unclear exactly why they left. Meanwhile, those who stayed were reportedly buzzing over the realization that some guests had never even met Swift and Kelce, and yet somehow bagged an invite.
‘We actually don’t know them. We were surprised when we got the text,’ one source said. ‘It was just all odd and seemed like a corporate charity event.’
Some of those big-name invitees were potentially there for Kelce’s benefit. ‘Taylor and Travis worked the room like crazy with Taylor introducing him to every heavy hitter there, especially Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, and Tom Cruise, all people who can help get him cast in movies because he wants to become a big actor after he retires from football,’ a guest claimed. ‘It felt like a networking event to help Travis get a leg up in Hollywood.’
Some who did know the bride and groom well allegedly tried to go up to the newlyweds to congratulate them, but felt rebuffed by the bride’s ‘minion’ friends who were closely guarding her, according to one insider.
The parts I believe: that they had a buffet and people hated it, and that Taylor was trying to introduce Travis to people so that he’ll have a post-football cushion. I can absolutely see both of those things being true. I’ll defend the buffet actually – there were a thousand people, I doubt sit-down service would have been possible, and a buffet ensures that everyone gets what they want. I won’t defend Taylor using this wedding to network on Travis’s behalf though. Oh, and I totally believe that people were weirded out by the raffle. As I said last week, a raffle is a weird vibe for a supposedly A-list wedding.
What else? Page Six had an interesting piece about how Taylor snubbed Ellen DeGeneres and didn’t invite Ellen to the wedding. It’s notable because Taylor appeared on Ellen’s show 19 times! One person told P6 that while Taylor was a regular guest, “it was always just a talkshow relationship. They did lots of fun stuff together, but there was never a friendship beyond a professional one.” Yeah, but Taylor clearly invited a bunch of Hollywood types who were just there to network. I think it’s less about “Taylor and Ellen were never really friends” and more like… Ellen has zero clout these days and Taylor didn’t want to bother inviting someone who couldn’t help her or Travis.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
