A who’s who of Taylor Swift’s nightmare wedding guest list

Poppie Platt Sat, June 20, 2026 at 9:53 AM UTC

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Taylor Swift sang on 2008’s Fifteen that there were far greater things in life “than dating the boy on the football team”. Almost 20 years later, she’s marrying him.

Admittedly, Swift has everything else: $1bn-plus in the bank, comparisons to the Beatles from Paul McCartney himself, a forthcoming induction into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. Why not round off the perfect life by committing to the quintessential all-American love story after decades of doomed relationships and toxic exes?

The all-American love story: Taylor Swift is engaged to footballer Travis Kelce - Getty

In July, the world’s biggest pop star will marry one of the NFL’s most famous football players, Travis Kelce, in a ceremony so feverishly anticipated (and secretive) that it’s beginning to make the Prince and Princess of Wales’s 2011 nuptials look low-rent.

Who is invited? How will the poor sods tasked with the seating plan overcome the awkward matter of seemingly every guest having dated at least two others present? Will it be in New York or the Hamptons?Is the bachelorette party happening this weekend? And how massive is the budget? We dive into what is being called “the American royal wedding” below.

Who’s invited?

Swift is notoriously private, picky about friendships and paranoid about people using her for her fame. Every man, woman and dog in Hollywood, the Upper East Side and Nashville’s Music Row will be wanting a spot on the guest list – but it’s not looking promising for anyone outside her and Kelce’s inner circle.

The Daily Mail recently reported that certain guests had been informed they had no plus one, with only married attendees permitted the honour. Previous invitations sent out via text were found to be phishing messages, including one received by country singer Maren Morris, a friend of Swift’s, who said she quickly blocked the number.

Meanwhile, a Nashville record label source tells me that it’s become a sticking point at industry parties, with some executives and massive country music stars who worked with Swift early on in her career left peeved by their lack of an invitation. But that’s weddings for you: unfathomably expensive, inevitably headache-inducing and always overshadowed by what other people want.

See below for a list of the A-list stars who are guaranteed an invite – and the exes they may awkwardly run into.

Bradley Cooper’s models

Supermodel Gigi Hadid has been one of Swift’s closest friends for over a decade. They’ve holidayed in California, Rhode Island and Montana; appeared on stage together in London’s Hyde Park in 2015, when Swift was touring her album 1989; and are regularly photographed out and about in New York.

Rumours have been swirling that Hadid has been asked to be a bridesmaid, but what adds a slightly more awkward edge to her inclusion in the bridal party is her choice of boyfriend: actor Bradley Cooper. The pair have been dating since 2023, but before Hadid there was Suki Waterhouse, another model – though British – and another friend of Swift’s (and an opening act on the Eras tour). Hadid will be crossing her fingers that Cooper will join her at the high table rather than mingling with Waterhouse and her new partner Robert Pattinson down on the dance floor.

The Dunham quartet

This is a foursome to make even the most experienced wedding planner quake. Girls creator and author Lena Dunham has been best friends with Swift for years – Swift was a bridesmaid at Dunham’s wedding to musician Luis Felber in 2021 – meaning her place in the core bridal party is nailed on. Enter Jack Antonoff, Swift’s other best friend and closest musical collaborator, who dated Dunham from 2012-18 before they had a very public, very messy breakup.

In her recent memoir, Famesick, Dunham suggested that Antonoff’s relationship with the Kiwi singer Lorde – another long-term friend of Swift’s – may have played a part in their demise. Throw Antonoff’s wife Margaret Qualley into the mix – regularly spotted out with Swift, and a mutual friend of Swift’s pop-singer besties Sabrina Carpenter and Lana Del Rey – and you’ve got an awkward love-square for the ages.

Harry’s house

After a brief romance between 2012 and 2013, Swift penned a hit song about former One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles. Never one for subtlety when it comes to her exes, Swift named the song Style – unaware that, a decade later, she would be preparing to welcome him to her wedding to another man as a result of his current squeeze.

Styles is rumoured to be engaged to actress Zoë “daughter of Lenny” Kravitz, who has been one of Swift’s closest friends since 2016. They were even roommates during Covid. Styles will be praying that the DJ isn’t a drama-hungry nutjob intent on dropping Style on the dance floor on the night.

British supermodel Cara Delevingne first met Swift at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in 2013, and the pair have remained close friends. In 2014, Delevingne moved in with Swift at her NY home after a break-up (from The Fast and the Furious actress Michelle Rodriguez).

The model’s exes also include Pretty Little Liars star Ashley Benson (not to be confused with Swift’s cat, Olivia Benson), who has been photographed with Swift in the past. But the two close ties are rock singer St Vincent and – here he comes again – Mr Harry Styles. Delevingne dated St Vincent for around 18 months; the singer co-wrote Swift’s mammoth hit Cruel Summer, so is surely on the guest list. Awkward. Add in Styles, who will already probably be in attendance with Kravitz despite having dated Swift and possibly Delevingne (to whom he was linked between 2012-13), and wait for the drama to unfold.

Messy Mescal

Another A-list quartet, another headache for the person in charge of Swift’s seating chart. Singer Gracie Abrams, who got her big break opening for Swift on the Eras tour, has been dating the Hamnet actor Paul Mescal for almost two years. Their place on the guest list seems secure, but things get awkward when you remember that another of Swift’s opening acts, the indie singer Phoebe Bridgers, also dated Mescal. And now Bridgers is in a relationship with the comedian Bo Burnham, which could result in some very awkward jokes if he has one too many free glasses of champagne.

Blake-gate

Lively may have been downgraded from “Swift bestie” to “possible acquaintance” after her grippingly messy court battle with co-star Justin Baldoni, which mentioned Swift in the court documents. Swift and Lively had been close friends since 2015, with Swift even chosen as the godmother of Lively’s four children with Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds. The women were last seen together in October 2024, leaving a big ol’ question mark over Lively’s invite. If Swift wanted to look like the bigger person and bury the hatchet, this would be the perfect day to do it.

Miles away from an invite...

It’s not just friends-turned-rumoured foes Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds whose invitation has a question mark hanging over it. Model Keleigh Teller, who is married to Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller, has been friends with Swift since around 2014. The Tellers even guest-starred in Swift’s 2021 music video for I Bet You Think About Me, but were last pictured with the pop singer at the 2024 Super Bowl in Miami.

Since then, rumours of a rift have erupted, with a source telling US gossip site TMZ that Swift and Keleigh drifted apart due to “different lifestyles”. In November of last year, when asked by Parade magazine whether he and his wife would attend the celebrity wedding of the century, Miles said: “I don’t know. This is gonna be – I imagine – one impressive wedding.”

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Some fans suggested that the Tellers distanced themselves from Swift after their home burnt down in the Los Angeles wildfires last year, with eagle-eyed TikTok users noting Keleigh had liked a comment that read: “Pretty sure the woman lost her damn home in a fire. I think there’s way more things going on in her life than Taylor Swift. Good lord.”

Battle of the boy bands

Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner called Swift an “absolute hero” after the singer allowed Turner and her two children to live at her New York town house in 2023, following Turner’s split from Joe Jonas. Never mind the fact that Swift dated Jonas herself in 2008. The awkward element of this doomed quartet comes courtesy of Turner’s rumoured new love interest, Chris Martin.

The Coldplay frontman has openly sung Swift’s praises in the past, but may be relying on Turner to secure him a spot on the guest list. Either that, or he’s hoping to rekindle his relationship with ex-girlfriend Dakota Johnson, who has been one of Swift’s best friends for over a decade.

The work friends

The two broadcasters are bravely representing the UK and Ireland at what is shaping up to be an otherwise all-American shindig. Norton and James were both invited to the wedding by Swift live on-air last year.

Kelce’s crew

If we’re being honest, nobody is describing this as the Wedding of the Year because of Kelce. The people care about Swift, and Swift’s messy list of guests who all seem to have dated one another at some point, alone. Kelce’s half of the list should be simpler to identify, given his inner circle consists of his brother Jason, childhood friends and NFL teammates.

Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback for Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs, is among his closest friends, and will surely have a prominent spot at the wedding alongside his wife, Brittany – who has frequently earned the ire of Swift’s liberal fans for supporting President Trump.

Who are the bridesmaids?

Swift’s inner circle has included the same faces for more than a decade. Former Disney star Selena Gomez, supermodel Gigi Hadid, author Lena Dunham, the Haim sisters, Este, Danielle and Alana, stylist Ashley Avignone (introduced to Swift by Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone, another dead-cert for the guest list) and her childhood best friend Abigail Anderson Berard are expected to form her bridal party. Kelce has four young nieces – Wyatt, Elliotte, Bennett, and Finnley, daughters of his brother Jason and his wife Kylie – who will also probably feature in the ceremony.

That gives us two potential maids of honour in Gomez and Berard; six regular bridesmaids; and four adorable flower girls. I hope the song Swift chooses to walk down the aisle to is suitably long, so the 12 of them don’t have to sprint.

When and where will it be?

What better date for the American wedding of the century than July 3? (Well, July 4 of course, but even Swift probably realised her guests may have alternative plans on the US’s 250th birthday.) According to a number of US tabloid publications, save-the-dates have been sent out for July 3 (conflicting reports suggest that guests will find out the exact time and location on the morning of the event to guarantee maximum discretion).

Further proof of the event-of-the-summer’s date came when billionaire businessman Michael Rubin, the host of an annual “white party” in the Hamptons, decided to shift his party forwards by a few days to July 1, a Wednesday, so he wouldn’t clash with Swift and Kelce. How very neighbourly of him.

Gossip site TMZ has reported that Swift’s bachelorette party may be taking place at her Rhode Island home the weekend of June 20, with several of her friends spotted in the area in recent days. Security has also reportedly been increased.

As for neighbourhoods, Swift has a few to choose from. She has luxurious homes in New York, Rhode Island (straight down the East Coast from the Hamptons), Nashville and Beverly Hills, while Kelce owns properties in Kansas City and Orlando.

TMZ reported that Swift and Kelce had hired out the central NYC venue Madison Square Garden, which usually hosts basketball games and pop concerts, for the wedding, after being won over by its intense security measures (and lack of windows) and underground parking facilities. But this rumour has since been debunked, with Swift sources suggesting the wedding will take place near her home in Rhode Island.

It does seem unlikely the couple will decide to have their ceremony in the Big Apple itself – it’ll be boiling hot, it’s the mega-busy weekend of July 4, and there’s a World Cup match on July 5 in East Rutherford – even if Mayor Zohran Mamdani has decided to stir the pot. On June 15, Mamdani quipped during a press briefing that he was “excited for [the World Cup]. We know it coincides with the Knicks’ [NBA] Finals run. We know it coincides with July 4, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding – all happening at the same time”.

How much will it cost?

It’s impossible to say. Swift, who is constantly criticised for her vast wealth, may feel it safer to hold a scaled-back, intimate wedding than a multi-million-dollar extravaganza. But then again, even a small wedding by Swift’s standards would require round-the-clock security, solid entertainment (my money’s on Swift’s close friend Stevie Nicks singing on the night) and an impressive array of food and drinks – the A-list guests will be expecting a bottomless supply of expensive champagne.

Mark Niemierko, the founder of luxury wedding planners Niemierko, estimates that Swift and Kelce’s ceremony will cost upwards of $5m (£4m). “A 250-guest wedding in New York, with that calibre of guest list and the level of privacy and logistics required, very quickly escalates. Between venue buyouts, accommodation, transport, security, production and entertainment, let’s start at around $5m,” Niemierko says. He also suggests that guests will have signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) as a condition of attendance.

Who will design the dress?

One thing we can expect is that Swift’s bridal look will be vintage-inspired and classic, in keeping with her personal style. A source of inspiration could well be Elizabeth Taylor’s first wedding gown in 1950 – it was by costume designer Helen Rose, who also made Grace Kelly’s wedding dress. Swift has paid homage to Taylor in song, and was seen wearing a Darlene De Sedle 22K gold and opal diamond suite that once belonged to Taylor at a wedding earlier this year.

Swift may reference Elizabeth Taylor’s 1950, Helen Rose-designed wedding dress – worn for her first wedding to Conrad Hilton - Hulton Archive

In terms of designers, Ralph Lauren would be a natural choice: an American, synonymous with elegance, timelessness and an “old money” kind of wealth. There is no formal bridal offering from the brand, but the house has worked with a handful of A-listers on couture creations. Lauren designed the wedding gown of Swift’s close friend Selena Gomez (see below), as well as Jennifer Lopez, Lily Collins, Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

There are also rumours that Swift has held meetings with Sarah Burton of Givenchy. She certainly has form, having designed the most famous wedding gown in the world, for the Princess of Wales, during her tenure at Alexander McQueen.

Oscar de la Renta could also be in the running, although the label is currently without a creative director, since Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia left to focus on their label Monse. They would be an unexpected yet savvy choice for Swift.

Our senior fashion editor suspects Swift will choose something classic and vintage-inspired - Getty

Vivienne Westwood, the choice of Charli XCX and one Carrie Bradshaw may be an option. Elie Saab and Stella McCartney’s names have been mooted too. A stronger contender though, could be Nicole+Felicia, the couture duo behind three of Swift’s on-stage looks. Their bread and butter though? Bridal.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”