It’s a love story, and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce said yes!

The superstar singer and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, both 36, married in a splashy wedding ceremony at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday, July 3.

For the momentous occasion, the happy couple had various spaces of the iconic arena transformed.

“It looked like a forest,” an insider tells PEOPLE exclusively of the decor, which included ferns and trees, with the arena seats covered in white.

During the ceremony, “Taylor walked down the aisle to a stage where they said ‘I do,'” says the source, who adds, “their vows were about 20 minutes each,” and Swift and Kelce read them from gold books. The pair also provided guests with embroidered handkerchiefs for any emotional moments throughout the evening.

“After the ceremony, Taylor’s mom invited everyone into the reception room where a stage was set up,” adds the source, who says Paul McCartney performed The Beatles’ beloved hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand”; Stevie Nicks was also on the lineup of A-list performers.

At the reception, guests noshed on bites from food stations with Italian cuisine, sushi and passed trays, and “there were bars everywhere,” says the source, who adds that despite the size of the venue, “It was very crowded!”

Reps for Swift and Kelce have not responded to requests for comment.

In addition to their families, Swift and Kelce celebrated the next chapter of their love story with an extensive guest list of famous friends and colleagues, including Ed Sheeran, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Sabrina Carpenter, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Bradley Cooper, Dakota Johnson and scores more.

A rep for Swift confirmed the marriage on the evening of July 3.

“The bride and groom’s wedding ceremony looks have been created by Christian Dior Haute Couture. They are designed by Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Dior Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the Bride and Groom. This is the designer’s first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity. Their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry,” her rep said in a statement.

“Taylor & Travis did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen. Instead, her brother Austin Swift served as Taylor’s Man of Honor and Jason Kelce was Travis’ Best Man. The ceremony joined both families together and was officiated by friend Adam Sandler,” the statement continued.

Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the New York City Hall, confirmed to PEOPLE last week that a permit was filed through the City Street Activity Office to shut down the area around MSG. The permit was filed for authorization to set up a tent or canopy outside the arena for the event, which would include 500-999 attendees and also covers space for trucks in the area to load and unload materials at the arena.

Though Madison Square Garden may seem like an unconventional wedding venue, it makes sense for Swift and Kelce, whose relationship sits at the intersection of two of the venue’s defining attractions: blockbuster concerts and major sporting events. It also offers several safety, security, and privacy advantages.

Ahead of the celebration, the couple and their guests kept most details under wraps. However, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle did reveal to ExtraTV that guests were told “absolutely no gifts.”

The pair met after Kelce revealed that he tried — and failed — to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it at one of her Eras Tour concerts at Arrowhead Stadium in July 2023 — a grand romantic effort that Swift has jokingly compared to an ” ’80s John Hughes movie.” Although Kelce was unsuccessful, he publicly declared his interest in Swift on his New Heights podcast later that month, and they began seeing each other shortly afterward thanks to Swift’s mom Andrea.

“I’m looking at the headlines and perusing around on the internet and I see that this guy came to your show and he brought a friendship bracelet and wants to meet you,” Andrea recalled during episode four of Taylor Swift: The End of an Era. “So I call up my resident expert on the Kansas City Chiefs, my cousin Robin, and I go, ‘Tell me about this guy named Travis Kelce.’ ”

It was cousin Robin’s response that really sealed the deal for Andrea, who immediately noticed a telling green flag. “She goes, ‘Oh my God, he is the nicest guy! And he really loves his mom.’ And I went, ‘Ding, ding, ding, ding,’ ” Andrea said, laughing. “And then I said, ‘Now, how in the world am I going to get her to meet him?’ ”

Although Swift had been “very non-athlete” and wondered what they’d talk about on a date, Andrea convinced her to give Kelce a chance, adding, “He’s really cute!”

The “Opalite” singer and the NFL star announced their engagement in a joint post on Instagram on Aug. 26, 2025. Alongside five photos of the enchanting garden proposal, Swift wrote, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨.”

Kelce proposed on bended knee with an old mine brilliant-cut diamond engagement ring he designed with Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry. He popped the question to Swift at his home after they filmed their record-shattering New Heights podcast episode, which released on Aug. 13, 2025.

“He really crushed it when it came to surprising me,” Swift said on The Graham Norton Show on Oct. 3, 2025. “We had actually filmed a podcast episode — he has a podcast called New Heights — so we filmed the podcast for about three or four hours … and meanwhile behind his house, he was having the whole back garden turned into this.”

“And one of the things that he put in there, very strategically, was a wall of hedges that weren’t there before. And inside the hedges was my tour photographer hiding in bushes that had not previously been there,” she continued, adding, “He went all out — 10 out of 10.”

Kelce’s father Ed added of the proposal during an interview with News 5’s John Kosich on Aug. 26, 2025, “He got her out there, they were about to go out to dinner, and he said, ‘Let’s go out and have a glass of wine’ … they got out there, and that’s when he asked her, and it was beautiful.” Following the proposal, the couple FaceTimed their family with the happy news.

Although Swift has written several songs about love and weddings, she revealed on Heart Radio on Oct. 3, 2025, that she had never pictured her own wedding until getting involved with Kelce. She shared, “You would think that I had been the type of person who would have obsessed over the idea of a wedding my whole life, but I actually never thought about what I would ever do or what I would want until I met the person.”