More than two weeks after the fact, the Madison Square Garden wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce continues to generate headlines as celebrity wedding guests open up about their respective experiences while watching the couple exchange vows.
The latest star is country singer Brad Paisley, who attended the nuptials alongside his wife, Hallmark Channel staple Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
No Ordinary Wedding
Interviewed by the Associated Press, Paisley revealed he knew this would be no ordinary wedding as soon as he received the invitation.
As he explained, those invited were made to feel special.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you’re getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” said Paisley.
The singer holds a very special place in Swift’s heart and career, having hired the 17-year-old to be the opening act on his nationwide Bonfires and Amplifiers tour back in 2007, regularly inviting her to share the stage within him during his headlining sets.
A ‘Cat-and-Mouse Game’ for Guests
Paisley also shared his two cents on the cloak-and-dagger aspect of the invitation, which revealed little information in order to maintain as much secrecy about the wedding as possible.
“It was really fun to watch the cat-and-mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it’s going to be, we’re not gonna say what building … and here’s the date. If you’re in, we’ll tell you more,’” he recalled.
“I went to my wife, I said, ‘You wanna go?’ She said, ‘Absoltutely! We gotta be there,'” he added, explaining why they immediately RSVP’d yes.
‘Pretentious’ It Was Not
While some guests have anonymously griped that the wedding was “tacky” (per the Daily Mail), Paisley insists that was far from what he experienced.
“Ironically, [it] was one of the least pretentious weddings that I’ve ever seen or ever will see,” he gushed.
“It meant a lot to be [invited],” Paisley concluded. “It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Kimberly Williams-Paisley Shared ‘Every Single Detail’ with Her Sister
Paisley’s wife also opened up about her own experience at the wedding, dishing details to her sister, fellow Hallmark Channel star Ashley Williams.
“One of the very big stressors is that they were warned in advance that the phones would be taken away, so [my sister] was like, ‘What do I do if I have to go to the bathroom and then I come back … and I don’t know anybody?’” Williams recalled during an interview with Decider. “The strategy was to take people with you to the bathroom.”
To accommodate the no-phones mandate, she revealed that her brother-in-law took an old-school approach.
“Brad actually bought a watch because you’re not allowed to have Apple watches either,” Ashley said. “Brad bought a watch so he could know what time it was. [For me,] talk about, like, ‘Get your popcorn’ …”
In fact, she also revealed that she helped her sister get ready for the big night. “Yeah, you know, us little sisters, we have an important job,” she added. “When your big sister has a big event to go to, you gotta be there. You gotta be there to support in the hair and makeup department, and by support, I mean dance around like a total weirdo and make faces and squeal a lot. So, I did my job.”
