Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Wedding Reportedly Has a Black-Tie Dress Code—What That Means for Guests

THE RUNDOWN

• Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are having a black-tie wedding, two sources familiar with the event told The New York Times.
• One source revealed most women would be wearing gowns.
• Two bridal stylists previously explained the difference between white-tie and black-tie dress codes to ELLE.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding is reportedly just two days away, with a rehearsal dinner scheduled for tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. While most details are being kept under wraps, information about the dress code has come out, courtesy of The New York Times. Two sources familiar with the event told the newspaper that the wedding is black tie. One source shared that many of the women will be wearing gowns.

The outlet wrote that men would be expected to wear “a tuxedo, with a jacket, black bow tie, and matching satin-striped trousers,” and women could choose from “floor-length gowns, elevated cocktail dresses, or dressy separates.”

A red carpet was seen being installed—then dismantled to swap colors to purple—at the Garden on Tuesday, which makes sense given the event’s dress code.

Black tie is the second most formal wedding dress code, and white tie is one step above.

Corinne Pierre-Louis, a bridal stylist, fashion editor, and founder of the Substack Forever and Always, previously explained the difference between white tie and black tie to ELLE, saying guests at a black-tie wedding “get a little more freedom to have fun. You could wear a column dress, a ball skirt and blouse combo, or something a little more trendy [than you would for a white tie]. It’s less royal wedding and more Oscars after-party.”

The New York City setting may impact the kind of dresses guests wear, though. As bridal fashion stylist Gabrielle Hurwitz told ELLE, “A bright, colorful, or printed dress is perfect for a black-tie wedding in a tropical climate but wouldn’t necessarily be the right call for a black-tie wedding at a city’s art museum or hotel ballroom.”

While the over 1,000 guests Swift and Kelce invited will likely have different interpretations of black tie, following the couple’s dress code is a matter of politeness above all else. “Dress codes allow the couple to curate a visual story for their day,” Pierre-Louis said. “When everyone is in the same aesthetic, the whole event looks intentional and elevated. Plus, it’s absolutely rude to disregard a couple’s request when attending their special day.”