Alison Kenworthy, Rebecca Gardner, and Blue Carreon Headline A Writer’s Garden

On a recent crisp November morning, a joyful, sold-out crowd of nearly 300 guests (half of whom were first-time attendees!) arrived at Rosine Hall in their festive fall floral finery for A Writer’s Garden, a literary symposium and luncheon benefiting the Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden (WCDABG). It may have been 9:30 am, but that didn’t stop the fashionable crowd from donning their minks. (It dipped below 70 degrees, after all.) Everyone arrived dressed to the nines and ready to party. The theme? “A Celebration of Houses, Parties, & Gardens.”

Cultivate Your Garden

Guests entered through a lattice pergola, which was covered in collected baskets and blooming hydrangeas. Inside Rosine Hall, beautiful Ginori 1735 chargers (in their iconic “Oriente Italiano” pattern) adorned the tables. Two rattan baskets in the shapes of houses served as centerpieces, filled with more lush hydrangeas from Central Market. As the charming topper at each place setting, event co-chairs Christy Doramus and PaperCity‘s own Melissa Smrekar placed party crackers, which were crafted from striped linen napkins and tied with velvet ribbons.

The sartorial spin on A Writer’s Garden was very ODLR-coded, which made sense. Who loves a floral print more than Oscar? The night before, Oscar de la Renta hosted the fabulous Sponsor Party as their final soirée before moving into their next permanent location at Highland Park Village, adjacent to the theater. Throughout the night, and in between shopping for a holiday ball gown, guests won door prizes (“must be present to win!”) that included everything from tea at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek to a mahjong set from The Mahjong Line.

Back to A Writer’s Garden. Since the event coincided with Veterans Day, an electric string duo from Emily Burak Music kicked things off with a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful” before WCDABG President-Elect (and retired deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force) Rose Gault led a prayer honoring our country’s veterans. Current WCDABG President Paige Elliott welcomed guests and told them more about the Women’s Council and their important work in sustaining A Woman’s Garden. 

This summer, Doramus and Smrekar announced the theme and the distinguished speakers for this year’s A Writer’s Garden. Alison Kenworthy, the founder of media network Homeworthy, served as the mistress of ceremonies and gave a charming introduction that detailed how the Dallas Homeworthy tours remain some of the most popular home tours she’s ever done. (Kenworthy even gave a shoutout to Javier Burkle, who was in attendance, and the room in his house devoted to his collection of Stubbs and Wootton smoking slippers!) Then, Kenworthy welcomed the first keynote speaker to the stage, Rebecca Gardner.

‘A Screaming Blast’

Gardner is the founder and creative director of Houses & Parties, a full-service events, interior design, and retail collective based in Savannah, Georgia, and New York City. Named a top event designer by both VOGUE and Harper’s Bazaar, she’s basically the tastemaker that tastemakers hire.

A native Texan (she’s from Corpus Christi), Gardner gave a laser-sharp talk in celebration of the recent release of her first book, A Screaming Blast, that had the audience entranced (and in stitches) from top to tail. She laced references to her Texas heritage throughout, but the audience particularly loved Gardner’s list of influences and favorite things, which included “pink Cadillacs and frosted lipstick” to “hot rolled hair sprayed with Aquanet and a whiff of cigarette smoke,” and, finally, “the glamour of valet parking at Neiman Marcus.” A few favorite tidbits:

• Gardner will always make an opportunity for a singalong, something she “learned at Hill Country camp.”
• The hostess likes to shake it up with a surprising change of locations. Gardner detailed hosting in her Greenwich Village pied-a-terre that she famously told Elle Decor was “the size of a nipple.”
• For one of her parties in Cincinnati, Gardner bribed college friends to rent a pontoon boat, act like pirates, and attack her unsuspecting clients’ party. She gave them a stipend at Bass Pro Shop for their river rat costumes and ordered mullet wigs on Amazon.

Our favorite piece of advice about venues, though? “Entertaining at a restaurant should be Timex or Rolex…stay clear of the middle,” Gardner summarized succinctly. 

Peeking Behind the Hedges

During an intermission, guests merrily popped open their party crackers to reveal paper crowns, costume jewelry, candy, and even a few lucky tickets. (One charmed lady took home a $2,000 ODLR shopping spree!) Wine from HALL Wines flowed, as partygoers noshed on a decadent cream cheese-filled warm scone. Thoroughly rejuvenated, the party continued.

Kenworthy then took the stage for a moderated discussion with the delightful Blue Carreon, a former international fashion editor and photographer who recently authored The Gardens of The Hamptons. Kenworthy and Carreon, who was visiting Texas for the first time, started their chat with something of high interest to everyone in attendance — their experiences visiting Liz Lange’s Grey Gardens! With a slideshow showcasing the iconic images that he captured, Carreon walked through visiting so many legendary homes and gardens in The Hamptons. (Many of the homeowners simply left him a key and gave him free rein!)

The enraptured audience enjoyed every word, story, and anecdote that Carreon shared with Kenworthy. The morning turned into the afternoon, and guests ended with a delightful lunch, followed by tours of A Woman’s Garden.

We have a feeling that everyone left that day wanting to either redecorate their house, throw a party, or completely redo their landscaping. Maybe all three! Mission accomplished.

PC Seen: Catalina Gonzalez Jorba, Courtney Petit, Jacquelin Sewell Atkinson, Annika Cail, Bebe Clement, Caitlin Wilson, Natalie Steen, Caroline Turnipseed, Lindsey Doramus, Lele Sadoughi, Sally Pretorius Hodge, Elizabeth Pollock, Maria Quiroz, Laura Price, Andrea Cheek, Maria Malonoski, Erika Burton, and Dr. Courtney Derderian.