Honorees Maggie Malone, Megan McGoey, Erin Tolar, Emily Hardie, Lucie Lanier and Lillie Kuhn are pictured at the party thrown in their honor by their parents at the Audubon Tea Room on June 15, 2018. The theme was “They All Asked for You.”
Some of the honorees and their mothers danced on stage with the band, Big Bling and the Funk Machine from Atlanta. The honorees wore outfits in various shades of pink, coral and red, inspired by the color of the flamingoes at the zoo, and the one featured on the invitation. Guests included family, friends and classmates from each of the girls’ colleges.
The décor of the event had a Palm Beach feel, complete with pink-and-green table linens and tropical floral arrangements by Meade Wenzel. A “Fizzy Flamingo” was the signature drink. Luminous Events provided lighting in the tented courtyard outside and soft pink lighting inside.
Honorees Julia Plauché, Katherine Verlander, Madeleine Landry, Caroline Chunn, Chloe Pelitere, Elizabeth Toso, Shea Duckworth, Elizabeth Reed and Lauren Paysse are pictured at the party in their honor by their parents themed “Dancing In the Moonlight” on June 22, 2018 at The Mansion at Mardi Gras World. Honorees wore illuminated white floral wreaths on the dance floor as well as on stage with the band, The Bucktown Allstars. Guests received blinking rings and glow necklaces as festivities went on. The theme depicted on the invitation designed by Katie Rafferty (aunt of honoree Caroline Chunn), was carried through on souvenir party cups and Cookie Lady cookies, as well as in the GOBO projection on the night-sky ceiling of the Mansion at Mardi Gras World.
The thematic colors of silver, white and blue were highlighted by a large chandelier, string lights and large mercury glass lanterns at the entrance by Luminous Events. Huge luminous white balloons by NOLA Balloons with long silver streamers filled the foyer and entrance hall and lighted the way for guests as they passed black-and-white portraits of the honorees. Floral arrangements of white roses and hydrangeas decorated tables draped with silver linens throughout, and votive candles framed an expansive view of the Mississippi River from the Riverview Room.
12 Seasons Catering provided tuna tataki; grilled flat iron steak; Caprese skewers; fried popcorn shrimp; spinach and artichoke dip; crabmeat Maenza; Creole charcuterie; seasonal fruit; a gourmet lobster mac and cheese bar; cochon de lait grits bar; a Steamship Round carving station; late-night Angus beef sliders; and shoestring fries. For dessert, moonlight-themed cookies inspired from images on the invitation were created by Joan Farrell (aka The Cookie Lady), along with petit fours from Swiss Confectionery and bundtinis (mini bundt cakes) by Nothing Bundt Cakes. The event’s signature drink was a Moonlight Martini chilled on an ice luge carved in the shape of a crescent moon and stars by Juliette and John R. Albrecht Ice Sculptures.
Sam Joel, Matalin “Matty” Carville, Honoree Emerson Normand Carville, Mary Matalin and James Carville are pictured at a party honoring Emerson on December 15, 2018, thrown by her parents, based on a theme of the town of Carville, Louisiana.
The “butterfly ladies” – Emerson loves butterflies – were part of the décor created by Angle Events, which also featured large manzanita branches to turn the columns of the New Orleans Museum of Art into trees, and blue-and-green marbleized linens to give a camouflaged feeling. Guests entered into a champagne wall made of reclaimed wood, with Spanish moss and monarch butterflies. The main hall was transformed with a custom 20-foot-tall cypress tree adorned with Spanish moss. A pine cabin with a tin roof perched on the platform of the center stairs embellished with light projection of the marsh at sunset. The stage and backdrop was also made of reclaimed wood, on which played the Zydeco band Pine Leaf Boys followed by Atlanta Party Band.
Cocktails and raw oysters on the half-shell were served outside out of a pirogue, along with a charcuterie station complete with hogs head cheese, duck pastrami, alligator sausage and a smoked redfish pate. Passed hors d’oeuvres included crispy fried softshell shrimp with spicy satsuma marmalade; boneless quail poppers dipped in Steen’s Creole mustard sauce; red bean and rice boulettes with Comeback Sauce; cornmeal dusted fried oysters with Tabasco blue cheese dipping sauce; and Louisiana crawfish pies. Louisiana-inspired desserts included pralines, grasshoppers and chocolates with Cajun Crawtator Zapp’s potato chips.