When global pop powerhouse Taylor Swift and NFL superstar Travis Kelce first went public, fans joked it felt like a modern fairy tale. So what would happen if the fairy tale ended in the ultimate celebration?

Jaws dropped and phones lit up around the world earlier this week as Taylor Swift and American football player Travis Kelce announced their engagement.

Fans of the singer and professional athlete pored over the ring, the caption on the five-slide Instagram post and the type of flowers included in the dreamy proposal – searching for any fresh insights into their whirlwind romance.

What might the future hold for these two? While fans can only guess how a wedding may look, one thing is certain: it will be a big deal with coverage and analysis that could rival that of a royal wedding.

Here’s what experts say to watch.

The planning process
With the scale of a fête like this, the task of planning and shielding the affair from public glare could prove as difficult as winning another Grammy or Super Bowl trophy.

And with Swift’s fans seconding as super sleuths, the artist has her work cut out for her.

“What she does is intentional. There is never an action taken without a lot of behind-the-scenes thought,” Katie Brundige, owner of Intertwined Events, a celebrity event planning company based in California told the BBC.

She expects Swift to sprinkle in some of her trademark Easter eggs for fans ahead of the wedding to deflect from what they are envisioning.

It’s likely the singer will be heavily involved in the planning process and won’t lean on big names in the industry to make the day special, she added.

“She sees talent,” Ms Brundige said. “She’s going to follow her heart on who she thinks can tell her story the best.”

A publicist for Swift did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Incidentally, one big name has already thrown her hat in the ring: Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart took to social media after the couple’s engagement announcement to offer up her services.

It’s time to call in the ultimate wedding planner,” Stewart said in a joint post on her official Instagram account and that of Martha Stewart Weddings.

Confidentiality will be key
High-profile events often operate under an alias and require those involved in the planning to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the hosts, Ms Brundige said.

Information on the event is given on a “need to know” basis, most of the planning is kept in-house and outside vendors often do not communicate directly with clients.

Similar care is taken when it comes to commissioning a wedding gown, industry experts told the BBC.

Swift is already well-versed in keeping operations close to the vest and goes to great lengths to preserve the element of surprise in her personal life and career.

She managed to keep news of her engagement quiet for two weeks. She has extras in her music videos dance to click tracks so her new songs stay secret. She often drops new music

seemingly without anyone knowing she’d even been in the studio.

Ownership, as reflected in her years-long battle to buy back her master recordings, is also important to the star.

She often writes and directs her music videos and regularly enlists an inner circle of trusted creatives to work on her albums.

She’s also known to cut out the middleman, illustrated in her decision to go directly to AMC Theatres to release The Eras Tour concert film rather than distributing it through a studio. The theme came up again when she lambasted ticketing giant Ticketmaster in 2022 for being unable to keep up with demand when she launched her juggernaut Eras Tour.

The dress(es)
The songwriter is no stranger to donning extravagant wedding gowns in her music videos, but when it comes to her own I dos, Swift’s gown is expected to reflect her red-carpet style: romantic, statement-making and refined, Nicala La Reau, the marketing director for wedding gown-megalith Pronovias, told the BBC.

In her 2008 Love Story music video, a teenage Swift wore a white Victorian-style gown from a Nashville bridal boutique.

In the music video for her 2021 song, I Bet You Think About Me, in which she played a wedding crasher opposite actor Miles Teller, she selected a Nicole + Felicia couture strapless ball gown. That same year, she wore a similar ball gown in a TikTok featuring a piano rendition of her ballad Champagne Problems.

“Taylor’s style has always told a story, one that is romantic, symbolic, and era-defining,” Ms La Reau said. “So it’s no surprise to us that her wedding dress will be more than just a fabric and silhouette, it will be a love song in couture.”

It’s not uncommon for brides to commission multiple gowns either. That could mean a classic A-line or ballgown for the ceremony with a shift to mermaid cut, column or mini dress for later events, she said.

While some may expect the Miss Americana star to opt for an American design house, her fashion history tells a different story, according to Ms La Reau.

“She has consistently embraced international designers on the red carpet from British and French couture to Italian and Spanish houses, demonstrating that she values artistry and storytelling over strict nationality.”

Swift wore a white Schiaparelli gown at the 2024 Grammy Awards, and a custom Vivienne Westwood mini dress to the 2025 music ceremony. She and Kelce have also opted for his designer of choice, Gucci, during some of their joint outings, with Kelce frequently donning full looks from the Italian design house.

But Swift has leaned on American designers with some frequency too, including wearing a blue Oscar de la Renta ball gown to the Los Angeles premiere of her The Eras Tour concert film and a few J Mendel gowns at various awards shows.

Whatever she selects for her wedding, Ms La Reau said it will be “be more than couture; it will be narrative just like her artistic work”.

Could the wedding happen in Kansas City?
Ms Brundige, who has planned events for American football player Aaron Rodgers as well as numerous weddings, believes that Swift and Kelce, both 35, will take a more intimate route for their wedding by selecting a location “that has significant meaning about who they are as a couple”.

I’d expect it to be transformed in a way that’s done just for the two of them, in a way that really tells their story,” she said.

The pair met two years ago in Kansas City, Missouri, after Kelce attended Swift’s concert in his hometown.

Then this week, just miles away from where they first met, they got engaged. Travis’ father, Ed Kelce, talked about the moment in a news interview.

“He got her out there, they were about to go out to dinner, and he said, ‘let’s go out and have a glass of wine,'” Ed Kelce said. “They got out there, and that’s when he asked her, and it was beautiful.”

Those local ties have left some wondering if a Kansas City wedding is a possibility, and Lisa Forbes, a senior wedding planner with Hitched Planning and Design in Kansas City, told the BBC she thinks it is.

“The thing that we love about the Travis and Taylor moments are that they have happened here, to take that to the next step would be amazing,” she said.