Taylor Swift's biggest tease yet: As gossip over her wedding reaches fever pitch, will she REALLY say 'I do; at a giant concrete bunker in New York?

There is nobody in the contemporary music world who casts a cultural shadow to equal Taylor Swift.

Her tours are bigger, her music sales are staggering and the story of her romantic journey – those bad boyfriends and a succession of new ones – has been at the heart of her extraordinary success story since she sang her first love song 18 years ago.

It's a narrative which Taylor, 36, has always fed, rewarding her fans with clues to her life, known as 'Easter eggs', in countless songs and videos.

When the 14-time Grammy winner got engaged to American football star Travis Kelce, the three-time Super Bowl champion who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, in August last year, it was naturally a public event.

'Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married' she wrote, captioning a swooningly romantic picture of the two of them in each other's arms in a garden filled with flowers. The post was 'liked' 37 million times.

And the climax of this love story is just around the corner, for, according to multiple reports, her wedding date is this Friday, July 3.

That the big day is imminent is confirmed by Kelce's father Ed, who told the TV station Fox 29 Philadelphia this week: 'I am super-excited. She is a sweetheart.'

Footballer George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers giddily confirmed this week he had his suit and was ready to go along to what many observers are likening to an 'American royal wedding.'

Vogue magazine, meanwhile, has been speculating on who will design the wedding dress. Some smart money is on Oscar de la Renta, whose dresses Taylor has worn on the red carpet, although there is also a school of thought which favours Ralph Lauren. She wore one of his designs in her engagement pictures.

Given that the star loves a costume change – she wore up to 20 outfits each night of her Eras Tour – one would imagine there may be more than one frock.

The gossip magazines say there will be up to 1,200 guests and the event will cost $20million, which is chump change for Taylor – the wealthiest woman in the history of music, worth $2billion. But the big question – a riddle gripping the media in New York – is where the wedding will actually take place.

According to a report which was apparently confirmed in the The New York Times this week, Taylor is getting married in Madison Square Garden, an ugly indoor arena in the city's unglamorous Midtown, where the July bride and her guests will enjoy complete privacy – at the cost of not seeing any daylight.

Many of her fans – and some of the media – just aren't buying it. The idea of Taylor Swift, the high priestess of romantic femininity, tying the knot in an 'insanely tacky' concrete bunker? No way!

'You can't bleach the stink out of Madison Square Garden,' marvelled one gossip columnist this week, 'although it is the one place in the world which no paparazzi can get to.'

Legions of Swifties – the singer's vast global fanbase – are also sceptical about the choice of venue.

'Why would you want your wedding at a massive, soulless venue?' asked one on social media, while another marvelled: 'I'd definitely want to be able to see the sky and feel a breeze or something. So weird to be in this giant cave full of LCD screens. She went from this down-to-earth cottagecore girl during the Folklore era to Trump-level tacky.' Ouch.

Madison Square Garden – where Taylor has performed several times – also hosts ice hockey, basketball, boxing, mixed martial arts, concerts, ice shows and wrestling.

Some commentators believe it's the perfect place for the singer and American footballer to get married as it hosts both music and sports events.

Its stage is reached via a long concrete ramp, which in its time has seen elephants led up for circus performances. Guests can enter by car without being seen.

But is this really what the billionaire bride, notoriously a perfectionist, wants for her big day? Or is the story just a decoy, with the real wedding planned for a different venue?

One leading industry figure confides: 'I have heard that she's getting married at her holiday home in Rhode Island. Maybe Madison Square Garden will just be a big party afterwards.'

Another source says that – unlikely though it appears on the face of it – the venue would track with what they hear of the size of the guest list. The source said: 'I think this wedding is going to be HUGE. A friend says they know six people invited and even they are confused as to why they were invited. They might have met her a few times – I mean only a couple; they aren't close friends! Taylor's casting a wide net.'

She certainly is: she has invited British chat show host Graham Norton and DJ Greg James, having met both when they interviewed her. Neither would say they form part of her inner circle.

Some believe the Madison Square Garden event will be a celebration with a concert, with Taylor planning for American singer songwriter Sombr, 20, to cover some of her hits. She's a fan of his.

Among the A-list royalty expected to attend is actress Selena Gomez, along with her new husband Benny Blanco. British actress and singer Suki Waterhouse is also expected to be there with her actor partner Robert Pattinson. Model Gigi Hadid is a close friend and is expected with actor Bradley Cooper, plus the acting and singing Haim sisters and model Cara Delevingne who are close friends with Taylor. There is talk of Zoe Kravitz coming, although she is currently in the UK. Her fiance Harry Styles – who dated Taylor – will be touring.

And those not invited? Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds. Despite reports, multiple sources say Blake and Taylor still aren't friends. The two were close for a decade – Taylor is godmother to the couple's three daughters – but the singer apparently iced Blake out after she was drawn into the actress's legal action against film director Justin Baldoni over the film It Ends With Us.

Another possible indication that Madison Square Garden is the venue, is the hiring of wedding planner Mark Seed, known for building spectacular temporary structures. 'She's so rich she can build her own chapel inside the stadium and have a church brought over from Rome!' said a source.

Certainly, The New York Times appears convinced, saying Winick Productions, an event planning firm that has helped produce major red carpet events including at Madison Square Garden, filed an application with the city's Street Activity Permit Office in June. The company requested authorisation to set up a tent or canopy outside the arena for the event, which it said would include 500 to 999 attendees.

Amtrak police officers, who patrol the train station beneath the arena, have reportedly been told to expect a Swift wedding the weekend of July 4.

People with knowledge of the permit, the hotel bookings and the event planning at Madison Square Garden spoke to the New York Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. City officials have confirmed to this publication that permits have been sought.

Reports of some kind of concert have been given added credence as people who work for Swift have been seen at Rock Lititz, a production campus in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where sets for major concerts are constructed and where high-profile musicians can rehearse.

But on the ground this week, the picture was still confusing.

A worker at 4 Boy Pizza, across the street from the venue, said: 'It would be great if they have the wedding here because we'd be busy, unless the NYPD shut the street down. They never give us any warning when they do that'.

A worker at a nearby deli said: 'The cops just shut it down whenever they want. They do whatever they want. They would do it for Taylor Swift.'

This week Kelce's dad George Kittle revealed he doesn't know the venue. He said: 'I actually asked Travis last night and he laughed at me. I'm half expecting there to just be a jumbo jet on a runway and they put us on a plane somewhere. I don't have expectations. I know it's going to be amazing.'

He added, in what appears to be a giveaway, that he hopes the happy couple 'have so much fun with all of the events'. Note the plural.

So might the ceremony be at Taylor's beachfront home on Rhode Island, which sits in five acres and is only 45 minutes from New York by helicopter? She was there for her bachelorette party last weekend. But this week the property appears closed.

The local Building Department doesn't have any permits for tents or similar structures on her house and the harbourmaster in nearby Westerly said although he expects the harbour to be busy over the July 4 weekend, it will be 'no more than usual'. A nearby hotel is booked for other events.

Other venues which can be crossed off the list include St Patrick's Cathedral, the most famous church in Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue. A spokeswoman said: 'Taylor Swift is not getting married at St Patrick's'. It's the same story at the Cathedral of St John The Divine on the Upper West Side.

At the Beekman Hotel in Manhattan, known for its 19th-century decor and stunning internal courtyard, staff said they had no idea about a wedding and staff at the Met Museum laughed at the idea of Swift holding it there.

It's the same story at Rockefeller Center venues: there are multiple possibles including the Rainbow Room, a stunning ballroom on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. There is also a roof garden at 620 5th Avenue but staff at Radio City Music Hall over the road said they didn't think Swift was marrying there. One said: 'She came to a Knicks game but she's not getting married here.'

Perhaps she will surprise us all and opt for an intimate, private affair somewhere like the five-bedroom penthouse at the Mark Hotel where the Duchess of Sussex had her baby shower.

But, for all that, signs still seem to point towards Madison Square Garden – perhaps the least romantic destination in the city.

Wedding planner Mark Seed will truly need to be a magician to turn this pumpkin into a venue fit for a pop princess.

Additional reporting: Daniel Bates in New York