It was the kind of spectacular event that would have made even the most accomplished luxury wedding planners beam with pride.
The wedding planners who worked with Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz have responded to a lawsuit filed against them for $159,000
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Though everyone was thrilled to see Brooklyn Beckham wed Nicola Peltz last year, the event was ruined for two women who were integral in its planning but were let go at the last minute.
Billionaire groom’s father Nelson Peltz sued wedding planners Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba last week for failing to return his $159,000 (£132,000) deposit, citing “mistakes” in their work.
The pair, however, hit back at what they call a “frivolous” lawsuit in an interview with The Mail on Sunday that was available nowhere else on the planet last night.
In an interview conducted from their Florida homes, they claimed they put in countless hours before last April’s $3.5 million wedding to make sure everything went smoothly.
Women claim they have never had a customer complaint in the 17 years they have been running Plan Design Events. We heard from the wedding coordinators, and they say:
The day before they were fired, the bride Nicola sent them a gushing text saying: ‘You’re killing it!’
They claim to have put in over 159,000 hours of work and should be compensated for it.
In a message he sent, Brooklyn Beckham gushed over them, calling himself “sweet” and “a gentleman”: ‘Thank you guys so much for everything you’re doing.’
Party planner Nicole remarked: ‘We love what we do and we’re good at it,’ adding that ‘never once in that time’ have they ever felt ‘bullied or disrespected by any of our clients’.
‘My daughter gives the best job description when she says “my mommy makes dreams come true”. If it was Mr Peltz’s mission to damage our reputations, impact our business and hurt our families –then mission accomplished.’
Mr. Peltz, 80, and his third wife Claudia, 67, a former model, first approached the women on February 23, 2018.
The Peltzes intended to host a lavish three-day wedding celebration at their opulent £75 million Palm Beach, Florida, mansion. David and Victoria Beckham, the groom’s parents, along with Eva Longoria, Gordon Ramsay, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams, were among the five hundred guests flying in from all over the world. Mr. Peltz claims in the lawsuit that his daughter is a famous celebrity around the world.
‘Nicola is 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 Peltzes had been working with Preston Bailey, an industry legend who had previously planned the nuptials of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas as well as those of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, for close to a year.
According to Mr. Peltz, the two women “misrepresented” themselves and were unable to pull off such a complex event.
Included in the lawsuit are emails in which Nicola complains to the planners that she is “tired of catching” their mistakes.
In light of the pending litigation, Nicole and Arianna cannot discuss the case in detail.
However, David Rosemberg, their attorney, told the MoS that the lawsuit does not give a complete picture: ‘My clients have impeccable reputations within the event-planning industry and among their high-end clientele worldwide. They operate their business with the utmost integrity and discretion.
‘The lawsuit that was filed by Nelson Peltz is frivolous and unimpressive. Relevant and complete emails and text messages that address the misleading statements contained in the complaint will be revealed in discovery as part of my clients’ response to the complaint, including in support of the counterclaim they intend to file.’
Mr. Peltz claims the women lacked the necessary expertise in his lawsuit: ‘During their nine days of negotiations… (they) failed to book a single new wedding vendor, failed to finalise the terms of any agreements with any of the vendors that had previously been selected by Peltz and his family and failed to attend previously scheduled meetings with Peltz.’
Mr Rosemberg said: ‘Nobody has seen all the texts or any of the emails.’
The MoS expects the event organizers to disclose texts demonstrating positive feedback about their services. From Nicola Peltz on 3 March, in one text message: ‘You’re killing it!’ In another, Brooklyn writes: ‘Thank you guys so much for everything you’re doing.’
From Arianna: ‘Brooklyn is a very sweet person. He treated us with respect and courtesy. He is a gentleman. We have nothing but respect for the Beckhams.’ A text from Nicola’s assistant, sent after the planners were fired, praises them for ‘getting s*** done’.
After the women were let go, the women say Mr. Peltz called Arianna.
She says: ‘Two days after we got fired, Nelson called me and he said, “Arianna, are you crying?” And I said, “No, why would I be crying?”
‘And he said “OK, so are you laughing now?” and I said, “No.”
‘Then he stayed quiet and I stayed quiet and he said “I don’t know why I called you”, and then he hung up.’
The Peltz family hired Michelle Rago, a third wedding planner, who Mr. Peltz claims ended up charging him more than necessary due to the short notice with which she was hired.
