It was a scene that wouldn’t have been out of place in a cinematic Taylor Swift song.

There was record heat. There were sudden and intense storms blowing through. The city teemed with celebrities from seemingly every corner of public life — from the actress Mariska Hargitay to the musician Ed Sheeran to the model Gigi Hadid to the comedian Adam Sandler, the wedding officiant — many of whom flew from across the world for Swift and her now-husband Travis Kelce without knowing almost any details about the event.

It was the most public setting one could imagine, and yet the most private celebrity wedding, in recent memory, of such a size, completely shrouded in secrecy. Manhattan was alive with sailors in town for Fleet Week, soccer fans visiting from the world over to watch the World Cup and tourists in town to see the tall ships in the harbor for the Fourth of July. The heat, which peaked at 100 degrees, also lent a level of intensity to the day.

The White House commented on it, and little girls came from neighboring states to watch it. Only Taylor Swift, the woman whose songwriting has inspired fans young and old and whose love life the public has watched, criticized and cooed at over the years, could have a wedding that would bring together such a scene.

Outside Madison Garden, Zeinab Yassine, 13, from Long Island, watched a caravan of black vehicles ferrying guests to the wedding with her mother. Soon, she spotted Hargitay roll down the window to wave to fans.

Most of all, Yassine was happy for Swift and her then-husband-to-be Travis Kelce.

“They’re so cute,” she said. “I’m so happy she finally found love.”