Handing out some gifts before their own wedding.
If you’re on social media, you’re probably already sick of hearing about this weekend’s wedding between pop superstar Taylor Swift and her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
After months of secrecy, it’s finally been revealed that the wedding will take place tomorrow, July 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Permits filed with the city for street closures from July 2-4 reveal that the couple expect to host around 1,000 guests at the event, which will reportedly feature performances from Tim McGraw and Stevie Nicks. And trucks have been spotted unloading massive amounts of gear, with TMZ reporting that the couple would construct a giant garden inside the New York City arena.
Earlier this month, the couple were on what many believed to be their bachelor and bachelorette parties. Taylor and her friends reportedly spent the weekend at her house in Rhode Island, complete with fireworks, while Travis and a group including his brother Jason Kelce spent a weekend in California that included a show from EDM producer and DJ Chris Lake and the NASCAR Cup Series race on the street course at Naval Base Coronado.
Of course there are many who believe that this whole Madison Square Garden wedding is a decoy, or that the couple really plans to tie the knot at a more intimate ceremony somewhere else before hosting friends at MSG for a reception, but NYPD have been spotted holding documents referring to the wedding so if it’s all one big deception, props to them for pulling it off.
Last month, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle also revealed one specific rule that the couple had for their ceremony: No gifts. (He also admitted that he was probably going to break the rule and get something for Kelce, a rare old coin).
And though they’re asking guests not to bring gifts, apparently the couple are handing out some big gifts of their own before their big day.
According to reps for the pop star, Swift and Kelce kicked off their wedding week by donating a total of $26 million to 20 different charities across the country.
While most of the recipients are in New York where the couple plans to tie the knot, they also made donations to several organizations in cities that have ties to the couple, including Los Angeles, Kansas City, Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio and Swift’s hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania.
The couple, who have a combined net worth of around $2.8 billion ($2.1 billion of which is thanks to Swift), also made a donation to a charity in Nashville, given her close ties to the city and its music industry.
In Music City, the lucky recipient was The Store, a nonprofit grocery store founded by Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams Paisley. The organization serves as a completely free, referral-based grocery store to provide dignified access to food and other support services for families facing food insecurity, operating like a regular supermarket with volunteers and offering services like music therapy and financial literacy.
It’s designed to remove the shame out of getting donations and food assistance, letting people “shop” with choice, and also runs seasonal programs like a toy store for holidays.
After the donation, The Store took to social media to express their thanks to the couple. And while we don’t know how much they received (other charities have revealed that their portion of the donation was $2 million), The Store calls the gift “transformative.”
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Of course Taylor and Brad go way back: Swift appeared in the music video for his song “Online,” and the pop star opened for Paisley, along with Kellie Pickler, way back in 2007 on his Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour, where the openers even pranked their headliner while out on the road.
Along with The Store, the couple also donated to several national organizations, including another one founded by a country music legend: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to children every month from birth until they turn 5.
Other charities that received donations include Community Food Bank in Rhode Island, New York City’s City Harvest, Food Bank for NYC, New York Cares, Education Through Music in New York, Answer The Call in New York, Musical Mentors in New York, After-School All- Stars in New York, MSK Kids, the pediatric cancer program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Children & Teen and Adolescents & Young Adult Programs, Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Helping Harvest in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital and Harvesters – The Community Food Network, After-School All-Stars in Cleveland, Ohio, Feeding America National, ASPCA National, and Grammy In The Schools National.
I know everybody’s probably sick of hearing about the wedding, and it’s only going to get worse over the next couple days, but it’s hard to be too cynical about it when they’re using their big day to help out so many others.
Congrats to the happy couple.
