• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark 2016
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

White Hot

Young Dallas professionals party at sizzling South Beach-inspired soiree

Lindsey Wilson
Jun 14, 2018 | 11:58 am

The gardens of Marie Gabrielle Restaurant glowed as partiers clad all in white showed up for the sixth annual White Party. The Young Friends of the Wilkinson Center's biggest fundraiser of the year turned the Harwood District hot spot into a South Beach-inspired soiree, complete with chic lounge areas and VIP enclaves for bottle service.

Host chair Jenna Owens, of The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show, and her fellow committee members OJ De Souza, Meredith Diers, Alex Flores, Marty Martinez, Jessica Serna, and Amanda Tumey, with the help of Gro Designs and CodeBlue Sound & Entertainment, built a dazzling celebration that rivaled any Miami dance club.

Glamorous guests — including J-Si Chavez, Kinsey Chavez, Claudia McGlovkin, Sheila Cardenas, Ana Martinez, Areli Gonzalez, Mercedes Fowler, Natalie Westbrook, Jesselyn Hayes, Meridith Zidell, Jeremey Zidell, Omar Aridi, Kathryn Dunn, Jasmine Alley, and Mary Galbraith — grabbed cocktails from the cash bar before hitting the shiny white dance floor, where DJ Souljah was spinning the tunes. Fountains of sparklers erupted throughout the night, illuminating the floor and playing with the lasers that cast colorful shadows on the crowd. Canary-yellow paper fans, courtesy of sponsor Bumble, helped keep everyone cool while they danced up a storm.

When attendees needed a breather, they could purchase raffle tickets for packages that included a diamond necklace, Harwood District restaurant gift cards, an array of clothes from activewear brand Fitish, jewelry gift cards, and a stay at any Omni hotel in the U.S., with American Airlines miles to help get them there.

Now in its sixth year, the White Party helps raise funds for the Wilkinson Center, a leading poverty rescue and prevention agency serving over 10,000 people annually, mainly in east and southeast Dallas. They help transform the lives of Dallas families by providing pathways to self-sufficiency with dignity and respect, tackling food insecurity, unemployment and underemployment, economic instability, and lack of education.

Sheila Cardenas, Ana Martinez, Areli Gonzalez, Mercedes Fowler

Sheila Cardenas, Ana Martinez, Areli Gonzalez, Mercedes Fowler, White Party 2018
Photo by Lisa Means
Sheila Cardenas, Ana Martinez, Areli Gonzalez, Mercedes Fowler
charity galas fundraisers charity-guide young-professionals
news/society

Hottest Headlines of 2025

Dallas readers RSVP'd 'yes' to the top 10 society stories of 2025

Lindsey Wilson
Dec 23, 2025 | 2:15 pm
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Marissa Phillips, Braden Leschber wedding, Tuscany
Photo by Kseniya Palchi via Facebook/Marissa Phillips and People magazine.
Marissa Phillips and Braden Leschber wed on June 3, 2025 in Italy.

Editor's note: As we look back at the most-read society stories of 2025, we see that the love for America's Sweethearts — and their weddings — has not wained. Readers delighted in knowing all the details about two Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' nuptials, as well as the myriad events surrounding the debut of the newest Dallas debutantes. Of course, all the celebrities who showed their support for worthy causes at glamorous gala after lavish luncheon were a big hit, too.

Here are the 10 hottest society stories of 2025 in Dallas:

1. Dallas opening of NY Mediterranean restaurant Avra draws society set. An unusually high-wattage crowd of more than 500 turned out on September 18 for the VIP opening of Avra Estiatorio, a Mediterranean restaurant concept founded in New York by restaurateurs Nick Tsoulos and Nick Pashalis, who were inspired by seaside tavernas across Greece.

2. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders star marries sweetheart on New Year's Eve. A Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders alum whose proposal was featured on the Netflix series America's Sweethearts married her own sweetheart on New Year's Eve: Kelcey Wetterberg wed Nate Crnkovich in a dreamy, two-day affair on December 30 and 31, 2024, in their hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Kelcey Wetterberg, Nate Crnkovich, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders wedding Kelcey Wetterberg and Nate Crnkovich were married in a two-day extravaganza, December 30 and 31, 2024. Photo by DGass Photography via People magazine.

3. 42 new Dallas Symphony debutantes begin 2026 Presentation Ball prep. The end of the school year brought the beginning of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League debutante year for 42 local young women. Just a few months after last year's DSOL debs "Texas dipped" into society (and raised big bucks for the symphony), the organization introduced a new class during Announcement Weekend festivities in Dallas.

4. Christie Brinkley helps bid farewell to beloved Dallas awards luncheon. After nearly three decades of honoring extraordinary leaders and uplifting survivors, The Family Place brought the curtain down on the Texas Trailblazer Awards Luncheon October 10 at The Fairmont Dallas. Keynote speaker Christie Brinkley proved that resilience and charm never go out of style.

The Family Place Texas Trailblazer Awards 2025 Christie Brinkley, Gloria Campos. Photo by Tamytha Cameron

5. Dallas Cowboys cheerleader ties the knot in dreamy wedding in Tuscany. Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Marissa Phillips married her college sweetheart, Braden Leschber, in a picture-perfect wedding under the Tuscan sun of Italy on June 3, 2025.

6. Ultimate guide to Dallas' best black-tie balls and bashes of fall 2025. Dallas was in for a star-studded social season this fall. Music legends, Broadway luminaries, and A-list actors all walked red carpets, presented awards, and delivered keynote addresses at the city's most glamorous galas and lavish luncheons.

7. Dallas Cattle Baron’s Ball '25 fires on all cylinders with Post Malone. A weekend deluge tried its best to bring the 2025 Dallas Cattle Baron’s Ball to a screeching halt. But co-chairs Nina Sachse, Courtney Derderian, and their pit crew of hundreds had been working with the theme “All Cylinders” for over a year. Rain didn't dare slow them down.

Post Malone, Cattle Baron's Ball 2025 Post Malone performed at Cattle Baron's Ball. Photo by Adam Degross

8. Charitable chefs orchestrate fundraising feast for Dallas nonprofit KidLinks. Dallas music therapy nonprofit KidLinks annually composes a foodie-fundraiser unlike any other: Symphony of Chefs sees an impressive ensemble of Dallas chefs prepare a multi-course meal, tableside, for guests. The 15th annual edition took place at the new Astoria Event Venue on Monday, February 24.

9. Dallas Crystal Charity Ball 2025 takes elegant expedition to South of France. Attendees of the 2025 Crystal Charity Ball were promised an Expedition d’ Elegance, and indeed, Dallas’ grand dame gala delivered a night of globe-trotting glamour. Doormen in white tie and top hats greeted 1,540 guests as they strolled into the Hilton Anatole on Saturday, December 6.

Crystal Charity Ball 2025 Laura Pierson (in Lela Rose), Francis Harrison (in St. John) Julianne Santarosa (in Terry John), Bailey Harrison (in Sue Gragg), Sharon Lee Clark (in Ese Azenabor), Caroline Harrison (in Sue Gragg) Photo by Ashley Gongora

10. Dreamy DIFFA Dallas gala invites glammed-up guests into surreal soiree. We're always in favor of a gala where you can turn up wearing pajamas, but when that gala is House of DIFFA, those PJs had better be glam. The 2025 theme combined the eerie with the ethereal: Dreamstate, which DIFFA described as "a surreal realm where the power of dreams fuels transformation and fantasy gives way to fearless impact."

top stories 2025 most read dallas cowboys america's sweethearts post malone christie brinkley diffa dallas crystal charity ball cattle barons ball dallas debutantes dcc dallas cowboys cheerleaders most popular stories
news/society
CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
Get Dallas intel delivered daily.
Loading...