DM: Taylor Swift’s wedding guests hated the buffet, the raffle, the ceremony & the vibe

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.

[From The Daily Mail]

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.

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53 Responses to “DM: Taylor Swift’s wedding guests hated the buffet, the raffle, the ceremony & the vibe”

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  1. Megan says:

    Majorly side-eyeing this story, for lots of reasons. (Though it does sound like a bizarre wedding). The main thing that stand out to me is Taylor supposedly introducing Travis to Adam Sandler. He officiated the wedding. Travis was in Happy Gilmore 2 with him.

    • DK says:

      Yeah, ITA. And the level of snark and grossness from this “insider” providing the quotes? Complaining about “…amazing A-listers having to stand in line…” and getting snippy because they felt like T&T were treating them like “their poor fans”?

      Dude, whoever you are, you are clearly an entitled a-hole, so I’m not going to take your wedding hot take too seriously.

      And the Ellen DeGeneres thing? Last I heard, Ellen was cancelled for fostering a toxic workplace, so why is Taylor getting sh*t for not inviting Ellen, especially when it sounds like their entire relationship was…at Ellen’s place of work?!

      I know people get weird about Taylor, and people always get weird about other people’s weddings, but…good grief.

    • Carol says:

      I thought the same thing. Travis knew Adam Sandler from both having him on the podcast and being in Happy Gilmore 2. Travis sat beside Steven Spielberg when Taylor was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame. There maybe some truth to the story but he already had met those two before. I’m sure some people thought that the way the wedding was done wasn’t their cup of tea but that’s true with a lot of wedding guests at any wedding. The raffle was weird though but for the non-celebs and non-athletes that were there like the relatives and friends who aren’t wealthy it may have been fun to win a designer watch or bag. Maybe it was their version of party favours since little party favours for the majority of their guests are used to getting swag bags at events they attend. If they gave out a thousand swag bags there would probably be criticism of that too. No matter what they did they were going to get criticized as has been apparent on all the social media and in the comments here too since the wedding.

      As far as the Ellen thing goes, she’s been cancelled for her mean behaviour to many people but that also includes Taylor. She wasn’t the nicest host to her on the show pulling pranks to scare Taylor and pressing Taylor about her dating life when she was in her late teens and early twenties. Taylor may not have the best feelings about Ellen and her being on the show so many times was most likely more for professional reasons than any kind of friendship.

  2. Gloriana says:

    Haters gonna hate and they can invite whoever they want to their dang wedding. Let it go.

    • KellySays says:

      Agreed. I don’t think anyone can make a “most of” statement about 1000+ people. And on this site, especially, the DM is hardly considered a source of record.

    • Sarah says:

      I wouldn’t this is me they made choices for their wedding. I wouldn’t make for mine, but I’m willing to bet that’s true of any wedding of any couple if they’re happy that’s great.

  3. Quitblockingme says:

    A cheesy wedding for two cheesy people.

    • I agree the buffet was cheesy. In 2003, I worked the Emmy after party in LA and Charlie Palmer Group did table service for all of those guests. It is possible to do. Fun fact: I was the Staff Accountant for Charlie and wanted just to be a part of the event! I passed champagne around on a tray and had an awesome time!!

  4. Ameerah M says:

    As some who planned corporate events for 13 years- a sit down meal was absolutely possible. Usually the only roadblock to that is cost – and considering that they shelled out 20mil I think they could have paid for waitstaff. The food costs would remain largely the same. The bulk of the money would be going to service. This just sounds so tacky, unromantic and soulless. And her taking him around the room to schmooze just confirms that this wedding was essentially a corporate merger lol

    • Dee(2) says:

      I side eye this somewhatbecause I’m not going to believe that they tell the truth about this and are always lying about other stuff, but I do agree with you about how things are possible as long as you’re willing to throw enough money at it.

      And the details that are coming out about this wedding, and the guest list sound more like corporate retreat then romantic endeavor. Maybe there is no way around that, if you’re inviting a thousand people, but then also did you have to invite 1,000 people?

      • Ameerah M says:

        Considering that they apparently only had seats for 150 people and everyone else had to stand – THAT was the real guest list lol.

    • ChillinginDC says:

      Agreed. I was like um I have been to sit downs with that many people. Just say you’re cheap.

    • LeonsMomma says:

      Agree. You can do a nice sit-down dinner for 1,000 (and have been to them!)
      I think they may have been concerned about having too many service staff there — more chances of leaks and random photos being taken. I view this more as a fear of leaks issue over $.

  5. Big Earl says:

    Ellen and Taylor may not be close, even if she was on E’s talkshow 19 times. But Ellen is besties with Kris Jenner, mother to Kim Kardashian, and I could see why Taylor wouldn’t want her there.

    • Yup, Me says:

      An ICE affiliated dude is okay but God forbid a Kardashian?

      • Carol says:

        The ICE thing has been debunked. He hasn’t been with that corporation since he retired over 2 years ago long before the contract was given out.

      • Graphinya Heather says:

        He is STILL with that corporation as the chair of the board of directors. Who the CEO reports to. He is not removed from the situation and his son is even more heinous for his voting record against LGBTQ

      • Carol says:

        In my longer reply to @Graphinya Heather in a few posts below I stand corrected about him still being there as Chair. However the son who is confirmed to be there was his black adopted son Reggie who is a friend of Travis from High School days. There is no proof that the son who is a Republican State Representative was there. Most likely Demetriou was invited as the parent of Reggie. Doesn’t excuse Travis & Taylor from doing their homework on him though. I feel bad for Reggie if that is the family situation he has to deal with.

  6. ChewieNYC says:

    A friend’s cousin (connection to Travis) was at the wedding. They said that the vows were super sweet and everyone was crying during them. That except for the bathrooms you never would have realized you were in MSG- it was that transformed. I would take all of these articles with a huge grain of salt.

  7. Yup, Me says:

    None of this contradicts my assertion (which I maintain) that this is a contract marriage that Taylor had to arrange for her career.

    Even the parts of her album that were supposedly about Travis turning her out didn’t land (and seemed incredibly awkward).

    I’m not mad about a contract marriage. They both know what they’re there for. But it explains why there’s no chemistry to this supposed great love story.

    The ring is pretty though.

    • mightymolly says:

      I am truly terrible at guessing whether or not celeb pairings are the real thing, but a couple years ago Newsweek (once a respected news mag and not a right wing mouth piece) published a column saying that Taylor is not a good example for young girls because she’s 35, unmarried, and childless (despite the obvious of her being a massively successful artist with a global following). My point being that yeah the misogynist backlash against an unmarried woman was beginning if not in full swing, so I agree that her wholesome image was going to require a husband. I hate it. Tay was powerful enough to fight back, but it does support the theory that this is a PR marriage. What’s more “apple pie” American than a football star husband?

  8. Mel says:

    Yes, it does sound tacky but if that’s what they wanted, it’s their wedding. I think this is going to be a Hulu/Disney special. That’s why it was so “much”. They get to do what they want.

  9. Lucy says:

    I’ve heard multiple football guys who were there talk about what a great wedding it was, how much fun it was and how much the couple love each other. This sounds like the same sources who hate Meghan’s existence sniffing at things. Same vibe.

    What I have heard that I hate, is apparently peach was one of the main colors? Ick. And the raffle sounds weird but it might’ve been aimed at the normie friends, like her dancers that were there. Meh. The color is the only thing I have a visceral reaction to

    • Carol says:

      Agreed. I’ve also heard multiple comments from football guys and a few celebs that were they talking about the love and that they had a great time. It will stand out to a lot of the attendees as it was different from any other wedding they’ve ever been to. That may mean they loved it or thought it was weird. With 1000 people attending you’re going to get a lot of different opinions and reviews. That’s the same with any wedding though, some guests will say it’s not how they would have done it and others will have said it was great.

      For me from what I’ve read about it I wouldn’t have picked the peach colour scheme either but then again I’ve been to weddings where I wouldn’t have picked their colours as well and I’m sure that some people wouldn’t have picked my colours from my wedding either lol. The food choices from what I read though seemed more like appies than a full sit down or buffet would have provided and seeing as it was a long event I would have wanted a full meal. Then again maybe there was more food there than what we’ve been told so far.

  10. Serena says:

    20 minutes speeches for each? That is the weird part.
    It’s also tacky as hell they invited people they were not close to just for networking and for getting the groom a job after his football career.

  11. Sue says:

    Just my take: The raffle right after the ceremony reads to me like it was a consolation prize for the folks who didn’t get to go into the magic castle to witness the wedding vows.

  12. tamra says:

    I think that the DM wrote this hit piece because Bulliam didn’t score an invite! If Skull and Bones had been invited, it would have been wonderful! LOL

  13. Lurker 🇨🇦🇨🇦 says:

    I’m glad they had the wedding they both wanted. Happy for them.

  14. Truthiness says:

    Ellen DeGeneres delighted in torturing Taylor with pranks and uncomfortable games about who would Taylor fancy. One prank was surprising her in the bathroom and she fell on the hard floor. Ellen was cruel to so many guests, it wasn’t much of a surprise to learn she was cruel to her employees. I’m sure she’d delight in pranking Taylor at MSG.

  15. YankeeDoodles says:

    I can believe the Daily Fail is jaundiced about anything American these days but fwiw I will never not side-eye a wedding at Madison Square Garden…. If you had a budget of eight figures, you could rent a super yacht, sail out beyond the range of any drones, into waters adjacent to restricted air space to fend off any helicopters, like, within 20 miles of any naval base, like Newport, where she has a home, and just have a lovely day. In a place that doesn’t smell of bleach and wet socks. With fluorescent lights and linoleum. I mean. I’m still pondering this one.

  16. Amanda says:

    Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate…meh. I don’t care what kind of wedding they had. No judgement for what they chose on their day. I just hope they enjoyed it and it was the magical day they hoped for.

  17. Luane says:

    I’ve been to good weddings and bad weddings and I’ve been in good weddings and bad weddings. At the end of the day, I’m a guest who only wishes happiness and longevity for the newlyweds. I think a buffet makes perfect sense for that number of attendees. Asking a thousand people to sit for a meal anywhere is unreasonable. Even cruises know better. Also, this is the DM and they specialize in trash.

  18. Jayna says:

    Why would you believe any of this as insider info since they always have Meghan and Harry insider info, which is always fake. It wasn’t one long buffet line. It’s already been stated that they had a ton of different food stations depending on what you want, even caviar.

    So, yes, you did go to that or those particular food stations. One thousand people did not stand knee-deep in line for one, long buffet as is inferred in their article.

    DM is a crock of shit as always.

  19. Bri says:

    Yeah…this just sounds like another salty Brit commentator with “contacts” in their fantasies. All these people irritated about somebody ELSES wedding not fitting THEIR expectation for what a wedding for people richer than God looks like need to chill. It was THEIR wedding. It’s over now. Move on. It IS possible to be a Swiftie and be NORMAL.

  20. martha says:

    If they’d only listened to me when I said they should have small private ceremony + release a few pix, then hold a real blowout to celebrate their first anniversary + Travis’ retirement next year.

    Oh, well …

  21. Changing my name because I can says:

    I’m not believing anything written by the Daily Fail.

  22. aquarius64 says:

    Inviting people you don’t know to use as networking for Travis’ post football career is tacky. The menu is definitely is not black tie wedding and these guests expected a sit down meal served to them complete with wine, champagne and a bar. Some elements of fun but not give state dinner. The raffle was tacky and the menu could have been saved for the rehearsal dinner with family and friends. Taking over MSG and blocking off streets so people can’t get around did it for me.

  23. Plums says:

    So the narrative from Murdoch rags and the Daily Fail are full of shit and serving an agenda when they trash the Sussexes using anonymous sources, but this site doesn’t like Taylor Swift so all the articles also citing unnamed sources giving supposed insider knowledge about how her wedding was so terrible and tacky and all the guests hated it are the genuine article. Okay.

  24. Graphinya Heather says:

    It could have been the perfect wedding and reception and I would still give serious side eye and judgement because of ICE guy and his son. That was a statement. Why has no one started talking about it? Is everyone that afraid of extreme Swifties?

    Also about the raffle, I think, and this is just me, given all of Taylor’s money, the raffle should have been charity donations. Like, the winner of the first raffle gets x amount of dollars donated to a recognized charity of their choice.

    • Carol says:

      The ICE thing has been debunked. He retired 2 years ago. The contract was given out in March of this year. He had nothing to do with that contract. Probably why no one is talking about it.

      • Graphinya Heather says:

        He’s the executive chair of the board of directors. A board of directors may not oversee day to day operations, but is responsible for high level strategy and has the power to fire a CEO. They’d also be responsible for approving high level contract like a $425 million government contract. He’s not removed from this His son has also voted against LGBTQ issues and has voted for requiring teachers and counselors to out their LGBTQ children to their parents no matter the situation and restricts LGBTQ material in curriculums.

        She and Travis have showed us who they are despite lip service and PR donations. And everyone seems to be so wary of the fandoms (especially Swift, who is irreproachable in many eyes) that these things get swept under the rug in favor of whether guests liked the buffet or not.

      • Carol says:

        @Graphinya Heather I was under the impression that he was no longer Chair as well as he had stepped down after the merger of Amentum with Jacobs and that he had come from the Jacobs side of things. While with Jacobs he seemed to support DEI and LBGTQ. Perhaps that was lip service and if he is still there I stand corrected. One thing though that is not proven is that his son who is the Republican representative was there. The son who did attend the wedding with him was Reggie King who was adopted by Demetriou as a teenager and is a high school friend of Travis and they played on the same team together in High School. Reggie is black and the picture that the NY Post posted of Demetriou attending has Reggie beside him. If both Sr. and Jr. Demetrious are truly supporting ICE and anti LBGTQ then I feel bad for Reggie. It’s not always easy being in the same family as MAGA members. I personally have experience with that it’s not fun and my relationships with those members are not the same.

        I got most of my information about Demetriou and his position with Amentum that was no longer associated with them was from IG and @bringjessthehorizon account. She did have some interesting information about Demetriou while he was at Jacobs and how he seemed to support DEI and LBGTQ. She seemed to have deep dived more into him than others and it is a shame that he has since not still seem to back up what he stood for there.

      • Graphinya Heather says:

        The company website lists him as executive chair of board of directors. As far as his son goes, he made the comments “epic, great, and life changing” about the wedding (life changing about someone else’s wedding is beyond cringe lol). I hope he didn’t attend. Sometimes hard choices have to be made for invitations, especially when you have a “brand” to protect.

  25. Ellie says:

    Ok but Taylor has 2 BILLION dollars and is one of the most famous people alive. She didn’t need to turn her WEDDING into a marketing event to help get Travis work. She wanted the attention, she wanted people she barely knew that had big names there, she wanted tacky MSG and tacky signs that flashed “JusT&T Married” outside the arena. If she wanted to even PRETEND that she wanted privacy, she would’ve had her wedding in a castle in Italy and anonymously tipped off the paparazzi so there would still be images of famous guests arriving and public discourse around her wedding. She wanted this tackiness. I’ve followed her since her breakout country days and don’t recognize her anymore.

    • mightymolly says:

      Two theories:

      1. I think the adrenaline of her two year tour that elevated her to billionaire and global sensation – especially when her name became intertwined with the 2024 election and *everyone* was talking about her – impacted her deeply and now she’s continuing to chase that high.

      2. I think she and Travis feed off one another’s need for an adrenaline high, and their original wedding plans were probably simpler and then kept growing. It’s possible MSG really did start as a decoy rumor and then morphed into the real thing.

  26. Tis True, Tis True says:

    If you invite a thousand people to your wedding, enough are going to hate it to have quotes to fill a Daily Mail.

  27. Amy Bee says:

    I’ve only been to weddings where there was a buffet so I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s clear that this wedding was a networking event but I find it weird that so many people who didn’t know Taylor or Travis accepted an invitation to this wedding.

  28. mightymolly says:

    I don’t believe any guest that agreed to attend this wedding, knowing exactly what it was, and who signed an NDA is now complaining to the DM. If you’re an A-lister who doesn’t even know Tay but you went to this wedding anyway, you went for the same reason adults go to Disneyland without kids. It was going to be goofy fun and probably a great story, not because they expected it to be elegant.

  29. Normades says:

    This is DM so of course they’re gonna snark. So it probably wasn’t the tacky fest they’re dreaming but having a 1000 guest wedding at MSG wasn’t subtle either.

    I was still betting on a destination wedding at some remote location with guests in the couple hundreds. They absolutely had the money to do that.

    Even if Taylor was on Ellen 19 times I don’t think she appreciated Ellen or her time there. There was one episode with Zack Efron where they played an acoustic duet basically ragging on how awkward and uncomfortable they were every time on her show. You could tell Ellen didn’t like it