A ritzy A-list wedding has been marred by a litany of scandals. Photo / Getty Images
A ritzy A-list wedding has been marred by a litany of scandals. Photo / Getty Images
Marrying a Beckham, having a flashy US$5.2 million ($8.3 million) wedding and making the cover of British Vogue could’ve been just the right ingredients to send Nicola Peltz’s acting career skyrocketing and cement her celebrity status.
However, all that could be tarnished after an astounding new 188-page lawsuit reveals the extent of alleged behind-the-scenes drama.
According to The Sun, wedding planners Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba are suing Nicola Peltz, her mum, Claudia Peltz and wedding designer Rishi Patel, for damages that come to a minimum of US$71,000 ($114,000), on top of costs that could amount to thousands.
This follows the lawsuit that Peltz’s dad Nelson launched against the planners earlier this month, in which he accused them of making “mistakes” before the couple’s big day, which resulted in the planners being fired.
Peltz’s father is demanding his US$230,000 ($368,000) deposit back as a result.
But Braghin and Grijalba filed a counterclaim last week for “interference” with a business deal and breach of contract, branding the Peltz patriarch a “billionaire bully”.
The planners claim he referred to his daughter’s wedding to Brooklyn Beckham as a “sh**show” and was close to calling it off. However his wife allegedly “begged” her husband not to in fear of “destroying Nicola’s career”.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Peltz family were strict in keeping the groom’s mother, Victoria Beckham, in the dark with regards to errors made during the wedding planning stage.
Additionally, it reveals that Peltz spent US$144,000 ($230,000) exclusively on hair and make-up, claims the bride made numerous stressful demands throughout the planning process and allegedly complained that the flowers “weren’t white enough”.
The claims are expected to cause concern for the newlywed and her career - her most recent appearance and first role since her April 2022 wedding being in Disney’s television drama Welcome to Chippendales - claims a source who spoke to The Sun.
“Nicola must be worried what a spoiled diva reputation will do for her career”, they told the British tabloid.
Timeline of the wedding planners’ nightmare
In February 2022, Braghin and Grijalba’s company, Plan Design Events, was hired for US$460,000 ($736,000) — of which half was paid by Nicola’s dad as a deposit — just six weeks prior to the three-day event.
The duo took over the project from planner Preston Bailey, who left “by mutual agreement” after a year of planning the event, blaming his “over-committed” diary and his stressful 17-hour day schedule to get the project done.
Braghin and Grijalba claim that things were absolute chaos from the moment they stepped in, with various WhatsApp messages revealing breadcrumbs of incomplete guest lists and botched travel arrangements.
Key wedding features, such as the flowers, the cake, photographers, videographers and hair and make-up artists, were also not confirmed.
What’s more, the court file states: “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.”
The mother and daughter-in-law are reported to have fallen out after Peltz wore a Valentino wedding dress instead of one made by her mother-in-law when she married the eldest Beckham.
Despite the bride claiming “there is no feud” between her and the former Spice Girl, an interview with The Sunday Times, saw the actress allude to a rift when she commented: “no family is perfect”.
Despite the alleged drama leading up to the lavish nuptials, the wedding was attended by a star-studded guest list, including 500 celebrity pals. However, messages in the court files shed light on Peltz’s alleged bad temper, with the bride-to-be reportedly getting upset over the list of attendees just a few weeks before the wedding.
According to the Daily Mail, after it came to light that Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton failed to confirm his attendance, Peltz text her planners: “Lewis Hamilton did NOT RSVP.
“So explain why his name’s on the list please. We spoke to him.
“He can’t come so explain why you said he RSVPd yes?”
It is alleged that as Grijalba attempted to explain, Peltz responded: “That’s not true.
“He didn’t RSVP AT ALL ... I’m tired of catching mistakes on this RSVP list honestly.
Court documents also reveal choosing the entertainment didn’t go without disagreements.
Nicola said that “her friend”, magician David Blaine, had offered to entertain guests free of charge at a dinner the day prior to the wedding.
However, when it came down to the band the planners had chosen, Peltz called them “very cheesy”, insisting she only wanted the lead singer with “no other back-up singers, they’re way too much.”
It is also alleged that she insisted the performers wear “plain chic tuxes” and demanded they only play music that resembled “early 2000s hip-hop”, rejecting the traditional wedding songs that had been picked out.
While it appears her husband-to-be mostly remained silent over group texts, the social media chef seemed keen to have a say on the food.
Guests were offered wedding meals from a Wendy’s food truck, which included a “Nicola and Brooklyn Combo” and a “Bag It Like Beckham” on the menu.
Brooklyn suggested: “We should do a brooklyn burger.
“Like double or single burger and a nicola burger witch is no bun and it’s lettuce instead of Bun and meat for the girls [sic].”
When Grijalba voiced that a “single” burger wouldn’t go down well with the guests, the groo appeared to agree, replying: “Oh s**t hahahaha”.
Meanwhile Peltz was allegedly concerned about the “embarrassing” names of the wedding meals. One of the planners tried to sway her opinion, saying: “After all the formality, fun is good and for some people would be like wow!
“Why did they do that? And the answer is: because you can.”
Peltz is said to have responded: “I don’t love it. I like personalised but not that,” ending her message with a vomiting emoji.
The lawsuit papers additionally claim Peltz demanded staff hired with the previous planner be “cut off”.
She wrote in the group chat with the new planners: “I hate them” and “can we fire them yet”.
And an alleged comment on one of the workers read: “He doesn’t work weekends and when the sun’s down he won’t work.
“Ya honestly he kinda sucks, truth be told.”
Her mother, meanwhile, is said to have revealed her frustration regarding the “extra” cost of employing brand new wedding planners just a few weeks before the big day.
She wrote in a text: “This is certainly not what I expected at this point!!!”
However, court documents claim that there were very big bills that both the bride and her mother kept secret from Peltz.
“It is believed that Nelson Peltz paid more than $100,000 plus travel expenses for Nicola’s hair and make-up services for the wedding,” the papers revealed.
“Claudia mentioned to Braghin that Nelson could not know the cost or he would ‘kill her and be so mad’.”
In response to the claims, Peltz’s father’s spokesperson said Braghin and Grijalba’s complaints are “replete with inaccuracies and their claims have no merit”.
