Taylor Swift’s fans gathered in the heat outside New York’s Madison Square Garden on Friday for her wedding – or at least the celebration of it – to Travis Kelce, and the sense of being close to the superstar singer-songwriter and her NFL champion groom on their big day.

Whether or not Swift and Kelce have already tied the knot, which has been at the center of contradictory reports, fans said they were thrilled at the union – and the location.

“I think it’s like a safe bet for them, because she is a very private person when she wants to be,” 19-year-old Frankie Root said outside the venue. Her friend, 18-year-old Gray O’Sullivan, said the venue was appropriate because she’s “always been a big Knicks fan”.

“It’s a nice that she is doing it here and connecting with her life in New York because it’s so special to her,” O’Sullivan said, less than a month after the Knicks clinched their first NBA championship since 1973.

Root and O’Sullivan agreed that for the bride and groom, who perform in stadiums, the venue was akin to their safe space. Plus, Swift had made a good match.

“He treats her so well and makes her so happy,” Root said. “He treats her like a princess – and she feels safe enough with him to go to very public spaces.”

The pair planned to be outside until the event, which was planned to run Friday evening through early Saturday morning.

Permits to host 1,000 people have been issued, and an arrivals tent adjacent to the venue had been erected.

Asked if he thought the wedding might inspire scenes similar to after the Knicks won the NBA championship, a Madison Square Garden securities chief laughed and said, “I hope not!”

With final preparations in full swing, even staff booked to work the party said they had little idea of what was being planned. Swift fans said it didn’t matter that so little is known for certain, perhaps best symbolized by conflicting reports over whether the wedding decor will include a castle.

“There’s something about being a Swiftie that you can have an experience with other Swifties even if Taylor isn’t there,” said Margaret Brower, who was visiting the venue with her daughter, Angelina. “We have the shared the love of her music and her life. Taylor believes in energy so we’re sending out that good energy to her.”

Erik de Schipper and his 17-year-old daughter, Vera Suzanna, said on Friday that they were visiting from the Netherlands and wanted to see the venue even if there was nothing much to actually see.

“Privacy-wise, it’s very clever,” de Schipper said of the venue. “All the fans stay outside. It’s the only way to keep it private.”

His daughter said Swift had made the right choice after a string of moody British boyfriends. “I think Travis is genuine,” she said while rejecting that Swift might be less available to her fans once married. “She deserves it” even if that were the case, Vera said. “She’s been in the industry for so long she deserves some free time now.”

The Swift fans who are set up outside Madison Square Garden cut across generations. Lori Powers, 50, and Cecily Hall, from Cold Spring, New York, said they had come into the city “because they’d heard a rumor ‘Taylor and Travis were having a big event today’.”

“We said, ‘Let’s just go investigate’ – we love her so much’”, Powers said. Acknowledging she was not as young as many other Swifties, she said, “There’s one who lives inside of me who has been listening to Taylor for ever. She feels like my younger sister or niece. I feel so happy for her.”

Asked if there was no better man than Kelce for Swift, Powers thought for a moment in the 101F heat of midtown Manhattan on Friday afternoon and replied: “He’s not moody. She … found someone who was like, ‘Bring it on! You’re the most famous woman in the world and that’s fine. Let’s do this.’”

Hall added: “She shares his energy. She’s on board for everything he does. That’s huge.”