Alyssa Pettinato was in Zoom meetings this week when one of her bridal clients started calling. And calling.
In the Zoom, another client mentioned they wanted to book a room at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan to get ready for their September wedding. On the phone, a bride with a May date on the books was texting her a link to an article about imminent renovation work at the storied hotel that would force it to close for about four years.
“She was like, ‘It’s closing, I’m so upset,’” said Pettinato, who plans luxury weddings and owns Alinato Events.
The Plaza, which opened in 1907 a bouquet’s throw from Central Park, announced on Wednesday its plan to close the hotel for an extended period to repair and restore its historic stone-and-marble facade. Because of the intricacy of the restoration project, the Plaza said it was more prudent to fully shutter the property and its facilities, including such event spaces as the Grand Ballroom.
“Due to the complexity of this undertaking and significant intrusion to operations, the Plaza Hotel will be closing for at least four years commencing January 2027 while the work is underway,” the hotel said in a statement.
The out-of-town couple working with Pettinato had secured the hotel earlier this year with a deposit and already locked down a photographer, band, floral provider, hotel blocks and more.
“It was their only location; they didn’t want to see anything else,” Pettinato said.
She said Friday that the venue still had not sent a notification, but that she is working to find a new venue for the May wedding.
“Somebody needs to have a direction, a course of action, some type of plan — and it still hasn’t manifested yet,” she said.
Esther Lee, editorial director at the Knot, the wedding-planning website, said couples seeking highly desirable luxury venues like the Plaza should start their search a year to 18 months in advance — or earlier if they want a specific date or season. Hotel representatives did not answer questions about how many weddings were booked or canceled between January and 2031.
The hotel is an aspirational venue for couples, as memorialized in the 2009 movie “Bride Wars,” in which two best-friend brides battle over a double-booked wedding date. (The movie was filmed mostly at its sister property in Boston because of renovations.)
“It’s always booked. It’s like iconic,” Pettinato said. “Everybody wants to get married there.”
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Whether people can afford it is another question. She described the hotel as “a six-figure wedding venue — deep six figures.”
For decades, the Plaza has been the swank wedding venue of choice for socialites, celebrities and power players — or a mix and match of the above. Notable betrothed include John F. Kennedy’s sister Patricia and British actor Peter Lawford; Richard M. Nixon’s daughter Julie and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandson David; and actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.
Lauren Ladouceur, who describes herself as a bridal industry insider and wedding content creator, said she attended multiple appointments inside the Plaza during New York Bridal Fashion Week this week without mention of the upcoming closure.
People in the wedding and events industry have been shocked, she said.
“I think I got 32 text messages from different people,” said Ladouceur, who shoots and creates short-form videos for couples. She said she’s been to Plaza Hotel weddings and called them “unreal” with budgets that can start at a quarter million dollars and soar to well over a million.
Cristina Verger, founder of Cristina Verger Event Planning and Production, based in New York City and Rome, said the hotel appeals to multiple generations and, for some couples, marrying in its opulent ballroom is a family tradition, passed down from grandparents to parents to children.
“It’s irreplaceable in a lot of aspects — the history, grandeur, location, hospitality and infrastructure,” she said. “It’s classic New York City. It takes you back to another time.”
Elizabeth Berecin, 31, an attorney who is getting married in June, was checking social media on Thursday when she saw an Instagram video saying that the hotel was closing in January.
She looked for another source — “You can’t believe everything you see on the internet,” she said — and found a local news story for confirmation.
Berecin had reserved a room for more than $2,000 within the past couple of weeks for herself, bridesmaids and family members to use as they got ready for the wedding, which will be at a church in the Upper East Side. She wanted a place that matched her “old New York” wedding vibes for photos.
“I haven’t really had too much time to process and think about what I’m doing next. I just know I need to find somewhere else,” she said. “I’d love for this to be a practical joke. I know it’s not.”
While Berecin said it is inconvenient to add another item to her bridal to-do list, she said at least she’s only searching for a replacement room that meets her needs.
“I feel bad for the people who had actual weddings planned there,” she said.
Verger is fully aware of the challenges of finding a venue of comparable size and stature, especially in a city with limited ballroom space. In 1993, she was working as the director of catering at Windows on the World when a terrorist bombed the World Trade Center, forcing the restaurant perched 1,300 feet above Manhattan to close. For six months, she scoured the island for new locations that could accommodate the establishment’s busy social calendar.
Despite the disappointment, Verger urges couples to not lose sight of their one true love, which is not the Plaza.
“Personally, I think the most important thing is the marriage, not the wedding day,” she said. “So try to hold onto that feeling and you will find another beautiful place.”
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