Society / Featured Parties

A Magical Night Under the Stars With Fairies and Champagne Potions in Fort Worth

Ariana Nolan's Debutante Party Is an Unforgettable Dreamscape

BY // 11.26.21
photography Sterling Steves for Sterling FX

Tis the season for white opera-length gloves and dashing, eligible bachelors. Girls (ahem, young women) are posed to do the Texas dip as they make their entrance into formal society. Yes, deb season has arrived. To commence, a picture-perfect (in today’s terms, Instagrammable) party was thrown by Shannon and Stephen Nolan for their wildly creative daughter, Ariana Nolan, at River Crest Country Club. A veritable who’s who of the Fort’s social set dusted off their white-tie tuxes and diaphanous frocks for a magical evening under the stars. Ariana is a 2020 Steeplechase Debutante and made her full Texas dip recently at the ball on October 30.

As guests entered through garden gates and trellises, garden nymphs offered up a dream-potion bottle of Veuve Clicquot that swirled with edible gold glitter. The always party-ready Olivia Kearney commented, “I didn’t recognize the place. It had been utterly transformed into an ethereal dreamscape. Trees wrapped in flowers with tables suspended from the branches, and garlands swaying in the summer winds. What a fabulous setting for our entire evening.”

Ariana Nolan and David Burton (Photo by Sterling Steves for Sterling FX)
Ariana Nolan and David Burton (Photo by Sterling Steves for Sterling FX)

Ariana, the girl of the hour, wore a Carolina Herrera floral gown, with baby’s breath woven into her flowing red locks and draped over her shoulders as a boa. She looked like a garden fairy emerging for one night of dancing and champagne, ready to climb onto one of the swings that seemed straight from a Rococo painting. The party epitomized the wistful lyrics of “Dream A Little Dream of Me”: “Stars shining bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper I love you.”

Chic event planner, Melanie Tatum of Melanie Tatum Events, who worked on the beyond-magical evening, shared that she was “absolutely over the moon to be given the opportunity to design with and for Ariana because she is a true artist and creative, and has the most dreamy imagination.”

In the crowd: Janis Brous, Letty and Mike Waltrip, Margaret and Stuart McDonald, Jennifer and Phillip Williamson, and Anne Marie Bratton.

Well, it seems as if deb season is off to more than an enchanting start. Stay hydrated (and we don’t mean with flutes of bubbles), since it’s a marathon of events. Steeplechase and Assembly have set a full schedule of parties through the fall and winter. Be sure to give us a wink when you’re doing your Texas dip.

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