The wedding planners being sued by Nicola Peltz’s billionaire father have filed a countersuit against him, accusing the family of poor communication and of making a number of difficult demands on short notice.
Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba of Plan Design Events were hired by Nelson six weeks before Nicola tied the knot with Brooklyn Beckham on 9 April 2022 in Miami.
Less than a year later, it was reported that Nicola’s billionaire father was suing Braghin and Grijalba for refusing to refund his $159,000 ( £132,000) deposit after they were fired.
Braghin and Grijalba have reportedly now responded with their own lawsuit against Nelson, claiming “breach of contract” and “interference” with a business deal. Nicola, her mother Claudia Peltz, and wedding designer Rishi Patel are also named in the filing.
The planners are asking for £41,000 in damages as well as costs, which could be significantly higher.
The countersuit, which was obtained by The Mail on Sunday, includes hundreds of WhatsApp messages and emails exchanged between Nicola and the wedding planners in the days before the wedding at Nelson’s £76m family mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
Braghin and Grijalba, who took over from celebrity wedding planner Preston Bailey, detailed some of the alleged demands made by Nicola in the run-up to the nuptials. They claimed the bride was “too busy” to speak on the phone, and that the Peltzes were worried about Victoria Beckham finding out about any mistakes in the planning – including with the guest list.
The filing reportedly said: “Both Claudia and Nicola had insisted that Victoria Beckham could not know about any internal mistakes regarding the ongoing planning of her son’s wedding, including any errors with the guest list.”
Guests included Eva Longoria, Serena Williams, and two of Beckham’s former spice Girl bandmates: Mel C and Mel B.
A representative for Nelson told The Daily Mail the counter-suit is “replete with inaccuracies” and that the planners’ claims have “no merit”.
Texts exchanged between Nicola and the planners indicate the guest list was a major point of contention, with the heiress becoming increasingly frustrated over it.
One message from Nicola reportedly read: “This is not what I asked for. I ASKED FOR OUR INVITE LIST. IN. VITE. NOT. RSVP. Can u [sic] manage to send that to me.”
“I don’t want it to be so complicated. I just want a list PLEASE,” she apparently said, in another text.
When Beckham messages on the group chat, calling the guest list “a mess”, Nicola allegedly replied: “Omg [oh my God], more like A MURDER SCENE.”
Nicola apparently objected to the floral arrangements not being white enough. Responding to a picture of peonies and cabbage roses, she apparently said: “They should be more white – I didn’t realise the second picture [of roses] were cream.”
She reportedly disliked the suggestion to have “Brooklyn” and “Nicola” burgers to be served at the wedding. Brooklyn was reportedly keen on having a “double or single burger” as a “Brooklyn” burger and a “Nicola burger witch [sic] is no bun and it’s lettuce instead of Bun and meat for the girls”.
Reacting to the idea of calling one of the burgers “Bag it Like Beckham”, Nicola allegedly replied: “These names are embarrasing.”
The planners also claim Claudia didn’t want them to tell Nelson the cost of Nicola’s hair and make-up (estimated at £85,000) because he would “kill her and be so mad”.
Grijalba and Braghin have accused Nelson of “acting like a billionaire bully” after they asked why they had been fired by Claudia.
One message from him reportedly read: “‘Arianna, I don’t want to keep talking to you, this is clearly not going to work. I will have my people call you. I don’t like to have these types of conversations.”
The Independent has contacted representatives for the Peltz family and Plan Design Events for comment.
In his lawsuit, Peltz claimed that Braghin and Grijalba couldn’t handle the expectations of the VIP guestlist, which “included more than five hundred people, including numerous celebrities, athletes, dignitaries and other influential individuals, who travelled from all around the globe to attend.”
His daughter is also described in the lawsuit as a “world-famous actress who has starred in blockbuster movies and television shows, including, among others, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Bates Motel, and The Last Airbender.”
“The celebrity of the wedding couple combined with the anticipated attendance of many high-profile guests required that the wedding planner have the expertise and staffing to plan, coordinate and execute a wedding event of the expected caliber and complexity,” Peltz’s lawyers said.
The Peltz family accused the owners of Plan Design Events of overselling their abilities “regarding their experience, expertise, and capability of planning the wedding.”
