Emily Harris, 30, asked her dad to help appraise the guitar. But many fans on a Taylor Swift Facebook group refused to let her part with the instrument.
An autographed Taylor Swift guitar might just be one of the coolest collector’s items to own these days. But Emily Harris, a die-hard fan, recently thought about selling one such item to help pay for her wedding.
“I felt like it was the responsible thing to do. I have something that I know is a value that could help me afford all of the wedding bills,” Harris tells Inside Edition Digital.
Harris remembers the moment she was gifted the guitar 14 years ago well. The newly-minted 16-year-old from Thomasville, Georgia, was playing Country Rock Band with her friends when her dad walked in to the room with a giant box. It was a Sweet 16 present.
“I'm like, ‘What is that?’ And he's like, ‘You might want to sit down for this.’ I sit down and I open it. I started crying,” she says. He bought it at a charity event run by country music stars Dar Williams and Charlie Daniels.
Harris, now 30, is a board certified behavior analyst who works with autistic children. Her fiancé, Jacob McDaniel, is a high school athletic trainer. They have booked a venue for their big day on Nov 2, 2024. It's a wedding that the couple are paying for themselves, and in the process, they've come to realize how expensive such an event can be.
So Harris asked her dad to look into how much her one-of-a-kind guitar could be worth. “He's like, ‘I know this is something that means a lot to you. I would hate for you to sell it and then regret it later that 10 years down the line wishing that you still had it,'" she says.
Weary of selling it, yet following his daughter’s wishes, her father turned to a Taylor Swift Facebook Fan page, writing, “My daughter is considering selling her signed guitar to help pay for her wedding, any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.”
Hundreds of fans responded. Many people suggested a smaller scale wedding.
Others had more inspiring messages. “Honestly drop a GoFundMe for the wedding! I’d be happy to chip in a little so she gets to have the wedding she wants while not having to sacrifice such a treasure!” wrote one person.
“Start a GoFundMe instead of selling her guitar,” said another.
Harris couldn’t believe the encouragement. “I was blown away,” she says.
“I do think it's very special that there's a fan group out there that cares so deeply about the memorabilia that exists for this artist that they're willing to start a GoFundMe page,” McDaniel, Harris' fiancé, tells Inside Edition Digital. “I collect sports memorabilia and I can guarantee you that if somebody had something from Patrick Mahomes or Peyton Manning, they be the first people saying, ‘I'll buy it off you for whatever amount you want.’ They wouldn't be trying to make it where you could keep something so valuable and so meaningful."
Though it wasn't her intention, Harris did ultimately create a GoFundMe campaign. “I was going to sell my signed Taylor Swift guitar to help pay for my upcoming wedding. However, some very nice and hardcore Swifties are against the sale, and asked us to start this GoFundMe instead,” she wrote on the page description.
So far, the page has raised nearly $500. Harris is thinking of using it towards the DJ. “It makes sense. Taylor Swift music, have it go for that,” she says.
After the wedding, Harris plans to make another vow. She wants to give back and pay it forward after so many people helped her during a difficult time. “It's been wild," she says of the support she's received. "I feel like it's one of those moments where it makes you realize there is good in this world.”
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