Ex-White House aide George Stephanopoulos says Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding was 'moving'
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Former White House Communications Director George Stephanopoulos described the wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as “moving” after attending the star-studded ceremony at Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 3.
The ‘Good Morning America’ host said the celebration felt deeply personal despite its grand scale, calling the ceremony emotional and memorable.
Swift and Kelce exchanged vows in front of around 1,000 guests in a ceremony officiated by comedian and actor Adam Sandler.
George Stephanopoulos reflects on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s intimate wedding
Stephanopoulos described the ceremony as one that exceeded expectations, calling it both emotional and memorable. “The ceremony was great,” he said in a statement to ABC News. He also praised Sandler, saying, “Adam Sandler? Funny and touching. Vows? Everything you would hope for: real, vulnerable, serious, and silly.”
He added, “Who knew that a wedding in Madison Square Garden could be so intimate?” After they were pronounced husband and wife, the singer’s representative told PEOPLE that the couple chose not to have bridesmaids or groomsmen.
Instead, Taylor Swift’s brother, Austin Swift, served as her Man of Honor, while Travis Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, was his Best Man. According to the representative, “The ceremony joined both families together."
Hours after the wedding, Stephanopoulos discussed the celebration with his ‘Good Morning America’ co-hosts Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan. He described the ceremony as “so beautiful” and said, “It’s hard to imagine that a place that big and a wedding with such stars could feel so personal and intimate … as intimate as it could possibly be given it was Madison Square Garden.”
Roberts agreed, saying the wedding felt like “any wedding that you would attend,” with neighbors, high school friends and loved ones filling the venue. She also confirmed that singer Stevie Nicks gave a special performance during the celebration.
Roberts and Strahan further revealed that they wrote their own vows, keeping them in “little books” for the ceremony. Strahan summed up the occasion by saying, “It was their dream wedding and it really was amazing. Congratulations to both of them."
George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth share their own marriage traditions
While reflecting on weddings, Stephanopoulos and his wife, actress and comedian Ali Wentworth, previously shared details about their own marriage traditions. Speaking to PEOPLE while attending ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s’ gala last year.
Wentworth revealed that the couple prefers heartfelt gestures over traditional gifts for their wedding anniversaries. The pair, who married in 2001, were preparing to celebrate 24 years of marriage. “We are going to go out for dinner and we don’t usually do gifts, but we write each other cards,” she said, explaining that it is a tradition they have “always” followed.
She added that their upcoming 25th wedding anniversary could be celebrated differently. “Next year will be 25 [years of marriage], then we’ll celebrate,” Wentworth said adding, “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I would like to take a little family trip, but of course our daughters are like, ‘Let’s have a big party.’ So I don’t know."
Wentworth and Stephanopoulos became engaged within two months of meeting on a blind date in April 2001 and married later that year. They later welcomed daughters Elliott and Harper in 2002 and 2005. The couple exchanged vows at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City.
Looking back on their “traditional Greek wedding” in 2023, she recalled one of her favorite memories, “Watching these circles of people we loved, arm-in-arm, kicking their legs up to Greek music — the director Mike Nichols next to George’s grandmother next to an 8-year-old flower girl next to my college roommate."
