A new countersuit filed by wedding planners details alleged behind-the-scenes drama ahead of their vow exchange.
The behind-the-scenes drama surrounding Nicola Peltz's wedding to Brooklyn Beckham is getting thrust into the spotlight. The alleged details are emerging amid an ongoing legal battle between the actress' billionaire father and the wedding planners who organized the grand event.
Nicola, 28, and Brooklyn 23, tied the knot in a lavish, $3 million ceremony in Palm Beach, Florida, in April 2022.
While the event seemingly went off without a hitch, Nicola's father, Nelson Peltz, wound up filing a lawsuit against Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba of Plan Design -- wedding planners who were employed temporarily before being dismissed before the event -- in December. Nelson's lawsuit claimed that the planners refused to refund him a $159,000 deposit.
Now, the planners -- who were brought in six weeks before the wedding and were let go after nine days -- have filed a countersuit against Nelson, and shared alleged details of the behind-the-scenes tension, drama and infighting that they claim made planning the wedding exceedingly difficult.
"Let me point out that Plan Design did not start this fight. Throughout their time working together, my clients felt that Nelson, Claudia and Nicola were appreciative and respectful of Plan Design’s work--as evidenced by the sincere and respectful nature of the parties’ communications," said Braghin and Grjalba’s attorney, David Rosenberg, in a statement to ET. "My clients were totally shocked to learn about the lawsuit given their experience working with the Peltz family. At this point, my clients will continue to defend against the false accusations made against them in the lawsuit, and Plan Design will continue to pursue the legal rights and remedies it possesses in connection with this matter."
Among the many factors contributing to the difficulty was the cost of the event, which Nicola's mother, Claudia Peltz, allegedly attempted to hide from her husband to prevent him from getting upset at the price tag.
According to the court documents, obtained by ET, the planners claim that Nelson "paid more than $100,000 plus travel expenses for Nicola’s hair and makeup services for the wedding."
"Claudia mentioned to Braghin that Nelson could not know the cost of the hair and makeup, or he would 'kill her, and be so mad,'" the suit claims.
According to the countersuit, a meeting was held on March 1, 2022, to discuss the challenges that had been faced during the planning of the event -- allegedly including difficulty obtaining accurate guest list information from the different parties involved in the union.
It was at this meeting -- held just over a month before the event itself -- that the planners claim to have heard Nelson air his frustrations regarding the entire affair.
"Nelson said, in front of Braghin and Grijalba, that he wanted to 'cancel the wedding' and that it was 'a s**t show,'" the docs claim. "But Claudia begged Nelson not to cancel the wedding because it would 'destroy Nicola’s career.'"
Apart from allegedly trying to keep Nelson from knowing the extent of the costs, Claudia allegedly wanted to keep Brooklyn's mother -- Victoria Beckham -- from knowing of any of the problems that had arisen during the planning process.
One major issue that the planners say led to delays and obstacles was the sizable guest list. The countersuit claims the Beckhams provided a full list of the guests they wanted and their list was "fully organized with all contact information fully revised and nearly ready to go."
However, the suit claims that the Peltz family's list "was not revised, not up to date, and contained the wrong guests." Additionally, a separate list provided by the bride and groom allegedly "contained wrong addresses, missing addresses... [and] some guests with no point of contact."
Complicating matters, the countersuit claims that Nicola was "too busy to speak with Plan Design by telephone, so all communication was conducted through text message," and those texts numbered in the hundreds.
"Between February 24, 2022 and March 4, 2022, in this Chat Group alone, more than 1,400 text messages were exchanged relating to the planning services rendered by Plan Design," the documents claim. "There are also hundreds of e-mails and other text messages relating to the planning services rendered by Plan Design at the request of the Peltz family."
Because of the alleged lack of cooperation, the planners stated that getting the guest list finalized was like hitting a "moving target" and booking the right vendors and designer for the event was equally challenging.
Braghin and Grijalba were ultimately let go from the event, and the family hired Michelle Rago of Michelle Rago Destinations to complete the planning for the lavish wedding.
Meanwhile, regarding the behind-the-scenes drama, a source tells ET, "When Nicola and Brooklyn were first dating, Nicola and Brooklyn's parents were very close, but after they got engaged, there was some tension between them due to Brooklyn not spending as much time with his family."
"Ahead of the wedding, there were some arguments about various aspects of the celebration, which caused some friction among the families," the source adds. "But Brooklyn and Nicola are happy in their relationship, and things between them have gotten better as they've matured and settled into married life."
Rumors of a feud between Nicola and Victoria Beckham first began to swirl when Nicola didn't wear a gown designed by her mother-in-law on her wedding day, instead opting for Valentino couture.
In September, Nicola opened up about the fashion decision in an interview with GRAZIA USA.
“Well, I was planning on wearing Victoria’s wedding dress, and I was truly so excited to be able to wear a design that my future mother-in-law created," she told the magazine. "I thought that was so beautiful and such a beautiful story.”
But Nicola said that their vision didn't pan out the way she'd expected.
“I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be so fun. One of my best friends and my mom,’" she said of collaborating with her stylist pal, Leslie Fremar, and mother, Claudia. "We connected to start designing the dress, and then a few days went by and I didn’t hear anything. Victoria called my mom and said her atelier couldn’t make it. So, I spoke to my mom and Leslie, and I was like, ‘Well, unfortunately, this can’t happen, so what’s the next step?’ I’ve been a fan of Valentino and their couture for so long. I was really lucky to be able to travel to [the atelier] to try on the dress. That’s really what happened."
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