At every table, Mikaela Shiffrin will save Aleksander Aamodt Kilde a seat—but in every playlist, she’ll save Taylor Swift a slot.
While sharing insight into her upcoming nuptials, the Olympic skier—who got engaged to the fellow World Cup athlete in April—revealed she’s locked in one of the most important details for her wedding: playing “multiple” Swiftie-approved hits at the reception.
“I don’t even know if we want a band or a DJ, but whoever it is—it’s on the dancing playlist—absolutely,” Mikaela told E! News in an exclusive interview. “I'm not sure that I’ll include her in the ceremony. That might be a little bit too much.”
She joked that while she might like to even incorporate Taylor’s music into the ceremony itself, it may prompt horrified looks from the person standing alongside her at the altar.
“It might strain my relationship too much,” the 29-year-old laughed. “He's like, ‘Okay, we're gonna just have to put her away now for a minute, and then you can bring her back.’”
And yet, Taylor’s music has also made the couple’s sparks fly—specifically her 2023 hit “Karma,” which is a “must, must” play at the couple’s celebration.
“Because she changed the lyrics to ‘Karma is the guy and the Chiefs coming home to me,’” Mikaela explained, referencing the Grammy winner’s nod to boyfriend Travis Kelce. “I’m like, ‘Karma is the guy on the skis coming home to me.”
Despite Aleksander’s need for some blank space from Taylor every once in a while, the 32-year-old is also very willing to be the token Eras Tour boyfriend-turned-fiancé.
As Mikaela, who started dating her fellow Olympian in 2021, added, “When we went to the concert, I wrote Karma on his white T-shirt and I was like, ‘Karma is my boyfriend.’”
Taylor may play a crucial role in their upcoming vows, but the record-holding World Cup winner has other ways of bonding with her fiancé amid their engagement—including frequent FaceTime calls when they’re apart, and, of course, cooking.
“A couple years ago I learned how to make pretty good carbonara from a chef who works at Barilla,” Mikaela, who is also teaming up with her longtime sponsor for Barilla’s World Pasta Day Oct. 25, gushed. “I think both of us agree that our favorite pasta dish is carbonara and I think that's also just our favorite meal in general.”
The gold medalist also emphasized that the duo is simply enjoying this stage of their relationship—as they don’t plan to officially tie the knot until after the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. (She’ll look to add another gold medal to her shelf while Aleksander, who has previously picked up silver and bronze, is looking to represent Norway for his fourth Olympic Games.)
“Weddings are a wonderful time to share meaningful moments with the people you love,” Mikaela added, noting Barilla’s Ticket to Togetherness sweepstakes emphasizes the same value. “I think we want to make it thoughtful—I’m not sure if we want big or small—we really don't know anything but we know that we both want to be thoughtful about it. So, we'll take our time.”