Stars including TV presenter Graham Norton and Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge have been spotted arriving in New York ahead of pop star Taylor Swift's expected wedding to NFL player Travis Kelce.

Swift invited Norton to the ceremony on his BBC chat show last year. Asked by the host when the wedding would be, she replied: "Oh, you'll know. I was going to invite you to it."

Waller-Bridge was also seen in the city ahead of the big day, which is thought to be taking place on Friday at Madison Square Gardens. A rehearsal dinner is rumoured to be happening on Thursday at the venue.

While the guest list is unknown, Waller-Bridge and Swift have been known to socialise together previously., external

Norton was photographed with his husband Jono McLeod at JFK Airport, while Waller-Bridge was also seen separately.

Waller-Bridge was among the attendees at Swift's Eras Tour in London in 2024, and hosted US sketch show Saturday Night Live in 2019 when Swift was the musical guest.

NFL San Francisco 49ers player George Kittle, singer Benson Boone and English actress Suki Waterhouse are among other celebrities reportedly attending the wedding.

Selena Gomez and Swift’s childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard, who has been in multiple Swift music videos, are also expected to be there.

It is unknown if actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into a bitter legal battle with Lively's It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will be invited. The case was settled in May.

Props including a grand piano, carpets and a box of mirror balls have been seen being taken into the arena, while "no parking" signs have been placed around the vicinity.

A forklift truck operator has also been spotted wearing a Swift t-shirt while working at the venue.

Neither Swift nor Kelce has confirmed details of the wedding.

However, the couple announced on Thursday that they had donated $26 million (£19.5 million) to charities in the US, including food banks, children’s hospitals and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

As speculation mounted, New York City officials confirmed to the BBC that someone had applied for a street closure permit near Madison Square Garden over the 4 July Independence Day weekend.

Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the New York City mayor's office, told the BBC a permit was filed in early June to close roads around the area from 2 to 4 July.

The New York Times (NYT) first reported that the concert had been booked for a private event last week. It added that several players on Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs American football team had booked hotel rooms nearby.

Before the NYT‘s report, TMZ and other outlets speculated that Madison Square Garden, a 22,000-seat arena that is used mainly for large concerts and is also home to the New York Knicks basketball team, would host the wedding celebrations.

The NYT has not explicitly said the arena event is a wedding, descriving it as a celebration that could be related to the nuptials.

An unnamed law enforcement official, briefed on the security plans, also confirmed the wedding plans to the Associated Press (AP), saying they had been warned about an influx of Swifties (Swift's fans).

Mickey Blank, a celebrity photographer who has been working in New York for over 10 years, told BBC Newsbeat that Madison Square Garden is currently surrounded by members of the press but there's not actually much to see.

Despite rumours of a red-carpet reception for the expected A-list guests, Blank said she's not expecting a parade of big-name arrivals.

"It's like Pentagon-level secrecy," she said.

"You cannot go in, you cannot see anything."

"They have an underground parking lot. All the high-profile guests are expected to arrive underground."

The same applies to seeing Swift herself.

"Your chances of seeing Taylor Swift are, like, lower than zero," she said.

She added that one of the biggest challenges facing those preparing the venue will be the event that was just staged there.

Blank attended a darts championships at the arena earlier this week, filled with beer-drinking fans, many dressed in costume.

"The floor was so sticky, I could barely move," she said.

"So I cannot imagine the preparation that goes into that from the darts championship."

At a press conference on Wednesday, New York's mayor Zohran Mamdani said in response to a question about the wedding: "We are fully prepared, there isn't anything to share beyond that."

In a post on social media giving advice about dealing with the heatwave in the city, Mamdani told them to stay cool, "especially if you're (hypothetically) having your wedding at MSG this weekend".

The date 4 July is apparently a favourite national holiday of Swift's, which she has previously celebrated by throwing big parties.

Swift announced her engagement to the Kansas City Chiefs player in a joint Instagram post in August last year.