Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to celebrate wedding Friday at Madison Square Garden

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are expected to celebrate their wedding at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden on Friday night, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the security arrangements.

The festivities will kick off with a smaller rehearsal dinner planned for Thursday night, the official said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the events.

Speculation about the superstar singer and football player's nuptials has built to a frenzy in recent days, following weeks of unconfirmed reports that it would take place over July Fourth weekend at one of New York's iconic landmarks.

This week, crews have been unloading equipment from trucks outside Madison Square Garden. A large carpet was briefly unveiled outside one entrance and then promptly removed.

Nothing has been publicly confirmed by the couple, despite multiple requests from The Associated Press to Swift's representative for comment, including on Wednesday.

At a press conference Wednesday, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department was tracking an event at Madison Square Garden planned for Friday, but declined to go into further detail.

“The NYPD will of course have a detail in place, but I'm not going to go into more specifics at this time,” Tisch said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also confirmed that a permit was filed for a large event. “We are fully prepared,” he added. “There isn't anything to share beyond that.”

(FRANCE 24 with AP)