If Taylor Swift were to marry Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in Rhode Island, as Page Six reported last week is under consideration, she’d probably need a lot more than a body double.
“I think it would have to be at a private home, like her house, with insane security,” said Amira Tranchell, a Newport-based wedding planner. “She could do a hotel, but it would have to be a full property buyout, probably for a week.”
Non-disclosure agreements for vendors would be a given.
“You really can keep it as secret as you want to,” Tranchell said. “For Taylor, there would be a wild NDA, and you don’t want to mess that up and lose that business.”
“She hasn’t called me, but I’m ready,” she joked.
Swift owns a $28 million colonial-style cliffside mansion dubbed the “Holiday House” in Watch Hill, a quiet coastal enclave in the town of Westerly. A stone’s throw away is the iconic Ocean House, a wedding venue and hotel where former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and NFL star Christian McCaffrey were married last year.
Unlike Newport and its gilded mansions, the tiny seaside village is a bit more laid back, and offers celebrities a chance “to get away from prying eyes,” said Faye Pantazopoulos, the creative director for the South County Tourism Council.
“This has been the playground of the rich and famous since the 1800s,” Pantazopoulos said. “We are really excited about the buzz” surrounding the wedding speculation. The tourism council even offers a self-guided tour of Watch Hill for Swifties.
Villagers were shocked when Swift first arrived in 2013 — “I had a marvelous time ruining everything,” she sings on her eighth studio album “Folklore” — but locals tend to respect her privacy. Her dad Scott Swift is frequently seen around town.
“The location of the house makes it a little difficult from a security and privacy standpoint,” said Kate Murtaugh, a wedding planner and Westerly native who has run into Swift in town, one time accompanied by Selena Gomez.
Swift’s home is visible from a public beach on one side and a lighthouse on the other. A public access way to the beach runs alongside her house, though drop-offs by car are prohibited.
A wedding there “would have to have a lot of complex production associated with it,” Murtaugh said. “It has the charm and the beauty. … There’s not much you need to do with that backdrop. It’s pretty perfect the way it is.”
Construction has been underway on the house since the spring.
Crowds could form if news of the wedding’s date and location gets out, though Watch Hill has very little public parking, and fewer tourists than Newport.
If it’s a large wedding, finding accommodations for all the celebrity guests would be another hurdle. Rooms are limited in Watch Hill.
“They might try to see if they can secure Ocean House,” said Katie Davin, a hospitality professor at Johnson & Wales University. “They would need the whole thing.”
But if Taylor and Travis are trying to get married next summer, as the tabloids suggest, hotel room blocks and events are already getting booked up.
“Could you imagine asking Taylor Swift, ‘Are you flexible with your dates?’” Davin said.
A spokesperson for the Ocean House said the resort is “thrilled for any couple marrying in Rhode Island and wish the newly engaged couple much happiness,” and declined an interview about potential options for Swift and Kelce’s wedding.
“Ocean House values its guests and respects their privacy, therefore sharing how the resort handles discretion around wedding preparations is not something they will be able to comment on,” spokesperson Autumn Mayfield said.
The Chanler at Cliff Walk, a high-end oceanfront venue in Newport, already requires couples to buy out the entire property for weddings, which could provide some cover for Taylor and Travis; it wouldn’t be too unusual for the restaurant and bar to be closed down.
“Everyone thinks we have a celebrity nine or 10 times a year,” said Cheryl Twiss, Chanler’s director of sales. The venue maxes out at 200 guests.
“Wherever it is, it has to be a complete buy out for an extended period of time,” Twiss said. “We would open another date if her wedding was a good fit.”
Other famous Newport spots include Castle Hill Inn, known for its sloping oceanfront lawn dotted with Adirondack chairs, and Newport mansions that date back to the gilded age, such as Rosecliff or the Elms.
“I would think that Newport is too populated,” Tranchell said. “She’d just be spotted constantly.”
Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe
Idyllic Block Island, 13 miles off the coast, could also be an option. It’s small, with only about 600 hotel rooms, but rental houses are also available. Venues book up fast.
“They’d have to start planning now,” said Blake Filippi, a former state representative whose family owns the Hotel Manisses on the island. The Spring House Hotel and The Sullivan House also offer picturesque ocean backdrops for weddings.
But Block Island’s airport can’t accommodate large private jets, so travel logistics would be a little more difficult than the mainland.
Jessica Willi, executive director of the Block Island Tourism Council, thinks Watch Hill is the more obvious choice for Taylor and Travis to tie the knot. But she offered this pitch for a Block Island wedding: discretion.
“There’s famous people here all the time, we never talk about it,” Willi said. “We can keep a secret out here.”
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
