If you’ve ever had to plan a wedding, then you know how stressful it can be: They cost a lot of money, you have to make 7,000 decisions and there’s a 98% chance that something will go wrong, like, say, an NFL team booking the hotel room that you wanted to stay in with your bridal party on the day of your wedding.
That exact situation happened to one woman recently and she decided to try and fix the problem by sending a desperate email to the team. This is the tale of how an NFL owner in Arizona ended up helping a bride all the way across the country in New Jersey.
How the problem came up
Olivia Coppeletti is getting married on Oct. 4 in New Jersey and the night before her wedding, she was hoping to stay in the presidential suite at a local hotel. The only problem is that the hotel room she was hoping to stay in wasn’t available. This specific hotel is commonly used for the visiting team when they’re facing the Giants or Jets at MetLife Stadium and the hotel staff told her that it was “contractually obligated” to reserve several rooms, including the presidential suite, for those visiting teams.
Coppeletti hunted down an NFL schedule and noticed that the Giants were playing a home game against the Cardinals on the weekend of her wedding. At that point, she decided to throw a Hail Mary by shooting off an email to the team to see: A) if was was staying in the hotel, and B) if the Cardinals were, would they be willing to let her use the suite.
Coppeletti figured the head coach would be getting the presidential suite, so she addressed the email to Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur/To whomever might see this letter.
Here’s a small sample of what she wrote:
“I realize there is approximately a 99.9% chance this email never reaches you, and an even smaller chance that if it does, you have any ability (or desire) to help me,” Coppeletti wrote. “But as a bride who has exhausted all conventional options, I have decided to take my chances.”
The bride then went on to explain that she was hoping to book the presidential suite because she was hoping to have a room where she could prep on her wedding day with her bridesmaids and family along with her hair and makeup team.
She then politely asked if LaFleur would be willing to give up his presidential suite.
“I have been told that the presidential suite is often reserved for the visiting team’s coaching staff (or someone on the team),” Coppelletti wrote. “Therefore, I’m respectfully submitting what may be the most ridiculous request you receive all season: If you are not planning to use that suite on Oct. 4, would you consider letting a desperate bride have a chance to book it?”
She then ended things by telling the Cards that she’ll be cheering for them on Oct. 4 no matter what.
“If the answer is no, I understand and will still be rooting for the Cardinals to beat the Giants (My fiance said something about ‘Let’s go Trey McBride,’ I don’t know who he is, but I’m rooting for him),” Coppelletti wrote.
After shooting her shot, Coppelletti probably wasn’t expecting a response, but the Cardinals actually got back to her.
How the Cardinals responded to the request
After sending the email, Coppelletti eventually got a response from Mark Dalton, the Cardinals senior vice president of media relations. Coppelletti thought that LaFleur would be staying in the presidential suite, but as it turns out, Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill was the one who was booked into the room.
Dalton informed Bidwill of the situation and the Cardinals owner ended up responding to Coppelletti with a video.
“Hi Olivia, I’m Michael Bidwill with the Arizona Cardinals,” the owner said. “Your email, which I absolutely loved, made its way to me. I looked into it. The situation is a little complicated, the suite you requested wasn’t reserved for the coach of the Cardinals, but rather the owner of the Cardinals. The good news is that’s me and I’m happy to give it up to you and your bridesmaids to use during your wedding weekend. Congrats and enjoy your special day.”
That’s right, this story has a happy ending: Bidwill decided to give up his suite and let Coppelletti have it.
Coppelletti shared the entire story on TikTok, including Bidwill’s video, and you can see all of that below.
The moral of the story is that if an NFL team has already booked the room you were hoping to stay in for your wedding, just fire off a friendly and somewhat humorous email, and the team might actually respond.
The Cardinals-Giants game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET and the wedding starts at 5 p.m. ET, so who knows, maybe Bidwill will actually make an appearance at the wedding.
