Rob Gronkowski Explains How This Buzzed About Aspect of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Wedding Really Worked

Rachel BurchfieldThu, July 30, 2026 at 3:44 PM UTC

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Rob Gronkowski on December 31, 2025.Credit: GettyThe Gist -

One of the 1,000 guests at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s star-studded July 3 wedding at Madison Square Garden was Rob Gronkowski.

Gronkowski, who like Kelce played the tight end position, explained how the raffles worked at the couple’s wedding reception.

“It wasn’t no hand-me-outs,” he explained.

One of the most buzzed about aspects of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding reception was the raffle games, which were available for the wedding’s 1,000 guests to enjoy at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Swift and Kelce married to much fanfare on July 3, and former NFL star Rob Gronkowski and his girlfriend Camilla Kostek were two of the pair’s guests at MSG. Gronkowski broke down how the raffles worked at the wedding, explaining to People that he was “trying to win something for my girl, Camille.”

Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek in New York City on May 14, 2026.Credit: Getty

Calling the nuptials “magnificent,” Gronk said he participated in the raffle and explained “what was really cool was that you had to play the games in order to get the raffle tickets, so that was really, really cool.”

“You had to earn the raffle tickets and that’s why I appreciate it,” he added. “It wasn’t no hand-me-outs, you had to earn the raffle tickets, and that’s what made it so much fun.”

The former New England Patriots tight end told the outlet he was “starstruck” at points by some of the star-studded guests, adding, “I mean, when you meet someone that’s been your hero, that you’ve been watching, but you’ve just gotta play it cool, though.” Even beyond the raffles, he added that his “favorite highlight” from the night “was just the dance floor and everyone performing.”

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 26, 2026.Credit: Getty

“It was so cool to see it live, to be able to have a good time on the dance floor and to mingle with so many people in my industry, but also so many people in other industries,” he said. The athlete continued, “For how big it was, it was very intimate, still. There’s no doubt about it.”

Kostek previously told People she too was “starstruck”—particularly by fellow guest Julia Roberts. “Even thinking about her, I lose my train of thought,” she said earlier this month. “She’s amazing.”

Swift, Kostek added, “literally was like a real-life princess in her custom Dior.”

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Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek on May 27, 2026.Credit: Getty

Gronkowski previously said on Tubi’s The Other Football show that the wedding “was top notch. Hats off to Taylor and Trav. The dance floor—that’s the one thing—it was popping. It was popping.”

“We’re sitting there, it was the most amount of black cars I’ve ever seen going into Madison Square Garden,” he continued. “It was five blocks of black cars in a row.”

Rob Gronkowski on July 19, 2026.Credit: Getty

Guests have been sharing snippets of the evening’s details since the event nearly a month ago, like when ESPN sportscaster Joe Buck said on The Athletic’s “Starkville” podcast that Kelce was “a puddle” as Swift walked down the aisle.

A source told People of the bride and groom that “A huge smile never left either of their faces,” and that the “fun” event included “so many games,” the aforementioned raffle and other “added excitement.”

“The whole evening felt very guest-centric,” the insider shared. “There was always something to do, see, or play. There was never a dull moment.”

Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski on February 7, 2021.Credit: Getty

Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski on February 10, 2022.Credit: Getty

The reception featured a number of games that, as Gronkowski explained, earned winners raffle tickets for prizes, like a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle—the same make and model of the convertible that Kelce drove off in with Swift after her first Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023—and designer handbags.

Guests enjoyed food at a number of stations that featured sushi, steak, Italian food, burgers and fries, and seafood. There were also “bars everywhere,” a source told People, and Swift “was absolutely glowing and floating around the room,” a friend told the publication. “I didn’t see her stop smiling once.”

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce during the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals on May 23, 2026.Credit: David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images

“All of us close to her know how long she’s wanted her happily ever after, and Travis is absolutely her Prince Charming,” the friend said. “It was just the perfect celebration for their fairytale love story.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”