• 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
  • 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

    Real Weddings

    Dallas couple eyes the site of their first date for a Gatsby-inspired wedding

    Nicole Jordan
    Sep 7, 2018 | 9:44 am

    It was an Uptown romance for Alex LoCasto and Andrew Mack. LoCasto was at Sfuzzi — may it rest in peace — celebrating the end of another semester in law school, when Mack showed up to meet a mutual friend.

    LoCasto immediately caught his eye, but she had a long-distance beau at the time. So Mack did what any twentysomething would do and looked her up on Facebook.

    “I found out when she was hanging out with our mutual friend, so I could conveniently be around when she was,” says Mack. “I was respectful [of her relationship] until I heard they broke up, and then I really put on the full-court press.”

    His patience paid off. The couple commemorated their first date with dinner at Sfuzzi, where they’d first met, and drinks at The Joule hotel’s basement bar.

    Some time later — more time than LoCasto “would have liked,” says Mack — the couple got engaged during a getaway to Los Cabos, Mexico.

    “When I got down on my knee she was already smiling, knowing what was coming,” remembers Mack. “We ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Flora Farms, and the rest is history.”

    Feeling his heavy lifting was done, Mack turned the planning over to his bride-to-be — with one exception: the location. The couple agreed that The Joule, the site of their first date and a spot they’d frequented in the years since, would be the perfect location for their September 23, 2017 wedding.

    With the location set, LoCasto worked with event planner Brady McElroy, owner of Copper & Birch, to bring her vision of a glitzy, glamorous, “Gatsby-esque” event to life.

    “I knew I wanted to have a huge party with all of our favorite people,” says LaCasto. “I wanted it to be chic, fun and memorable.”

    And was it ever. From a towering cake to show-stopping floral arrangements, every detail could have come straight out of a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. High-energy music from Hi Fidelity Band kept the dance floor full and the party going well into the night.

    “The Joule was my dream wedding spot,” says LaCosto. “I couldn’t imagine anywhere more beautiful than the terrace, and it meant so much to us to get married at a place we went on our first date six years before.”

    Planner: Brady McElroy, Copper & Birch

    Bridal gown:Made with Love

    Bridal shoes: Jimmy Choo

    Groom's tux and shoes:Armani

    Florals:Copper & Birch

    Photography: Greer Inez

    Videography:Green Light Media Services

    Photo booth: Green Light Media Services

    Band:Hi Fidelity Band

    Strings:Dallas Asian Strings

    Venue:The Joule

    Catering and cake:The Joule

    Rentals:DFW Dance Floors

    Invitations:Minted

    Calligraphy and chalk rentals: By His Grace

    Linens:BBJ Linen

    ---

    To submit a wedding for publishing consideration, email stephanie@culturemap.com. Weddings must have taken place in or around Dallas since July 1, 2017.

    LoCasto and Mack enjoy the Downtown Dallas skyline — and each other.

    Mack Wedding
      
    Photo by Greer Inez
    LoCasto and Mack enjoy the Downtown Dallas skyline — and each other.
    weddingshotelsuptown
    news/society
    series/real-weddings-dallas
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.

    Dallas Cowboys to the Rescue

    Dallas heroes strut the runway at record-breaking Children's Cancer Fund gala

    Lindsey Wilson
    Apr 18, 2025 | 11:55 am
    Children's Cancer Fund gala 2025
    Photo by Tiffany Sage
    Nancy Rogers, Nicky Hilton, Meredith Land, Stacey Bendet, Lori Jones, Laura Kim, Tina Craig, Olivia Abbott Rogers

    Heroes both big and small, fictional and real, assembled at the Hilton Anatole on Friday, April 11 for the sold-out Children’s Cancer Fund gala.

    The event, celebrating its 35th year, raises millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research and Child Life services. This year's gala proved especially successful, breaking records with a whopping $3 million raised.

    Patrons got to browse photos, drawings, testimonials, news clippings, and other memorabilia from years past during the cocktail hour, as well as check out the well-stocked silent auction. Guests could also slip behind the wheel of a gleaming Aston Martin DB12 Volante — which was for sale, if anyone felt so inclined.

    Children's Cancer Fund gala 2025Gala chairs Meredith Land, Lori Jones.Photo by Tiffany Sage

    Children's Cancer Fund gala 2025
      

    Photo by Tiffany Sage

    Nancy Rogers, Nicky Hilton, Meredith Land, Stacey Bendet, Lori Jones, Laura Kim, Tina Craig, Olivia Abbott Rogers

    Inside the ballroom, emcee Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, gala chairs Lori Jones and Meredith Land, and CCF chief executive officer Jennifer Arthur welcomed supporters before everyone tucked into an elegant dinner.

    Sarah Yanniello, a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse at Children’s Health, received the TeamIzzy Healthcare Award, first awarded in 2024 in honor of Izzy Martin, who passed away shortly after participating in 2022's gala.

    Then the main event could really begin.

    Honorary chairs Troy Aikman, in his 26th year of support, and Dak Prescott, marking his third year of involvement, led a fashion show featuring 20 pediatric cancer patients, ages 6-16, all glammed up in outfits provided by Dillard's.

    These runway stars included:

    • 11-year-old Rufo Abbajifar of McKinney
    • 6-year-old Skylar Adams of Frisco
    • 6-year-old Darius Alexander of Dallas
    • 6-year-old Octavia Castillo of Richardson
    • 6-year-old Wells Denison of Dallas
    • 8-year-old Mikensie Duncan of Euless
    • 16-year-old Kyndall Frederick of Longview
    • 12-year-old Lauren Gutierrez of Coppell
    • 10-year-old Kira Handrale of Lewisville
    • 13-year-old Matthew Haynes of Terrell
    • 6-year-old August Johansen of McKinney
    • 7-year-old Isabela Lam of Plano
    • 14-year-old Lennox Lannon of Dallas
    • 6-year-old Clayton Moorse of Dallas
    • 11-year-old Matthew Norris of Celina
    • 7-year-old Lorenza Ruiz of Plano
    • 7-year-old Mateo Badillo Soto of Dallas
    • 13-year-old Erin Savage of North Richland Hills
    • 6-year-old Lincoln Schoessow of Celina
    • 16-year-old Dylan Williams of Bedford

    Children's Cancer Fund gala 2025Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Octavia Castillo.Photo by Tamytha Cameron

    The children were escorted by a wide variety of celebrities:

    • Spider-Man, Queen Elsa, and the larger-than-life transformer Bumblebee (who later lit up the dance floor — literally)
    • Alice + Olivia founder Stacey Bendet, U Beauty founder Tina Craig, influencer sisters Maddy and Sophie McGuire, and fashion icons Nicky and Kathy Hilton
    • Aikman, Prescott, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Cowboys mascot Rowdy, and four members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (including fan favorite Reece Weaver)
    • members of Highland Park's fire department, Dallas SWAT, and even some of the patients' own doctors

    Aikman and Prescott continued the “Quarterbacks for a Cure” legacy established by Cowboys legend Roger Staubach in representing Children’s Cancer Fund. Staubach served as a Children’s Cancer Fund gala chair from the fundraiser’s inception until passing the torch to Prescott in 2022.

    “The joy these kids bring, knowing everything they’re going through and the resilience it takes just to be here, is what brings me back year after year,” says Prescott. “Being part of a night that gives them spirit, love, hope, and support — while recognizing the obstacles they face every day — means the world to me. My mission is to help decrease the number of diagnoses and increase the number of survivors. It takes all of us, and playing even a small role is something I cherish.”

    Arthur and Brent Christopher, president of Children's Medical Center Foundation, announced the building of a new pediatric campus. This partnership between Children's Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center, set to open in 2031, will replace the current Children's Medical Center Dallas.

    “It was incredibly special to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished over the past 35 years with our friends and partners,” Arthur said. “At the same time, the night was about looking ahead to the future of pediatric health care in North Texas. We were proud to share news of our partnership with Children's Health and UT Southwestern as they build a new pediatric campus — an exciting milestone for Dallas and the entire region."

    Children's Cancer Fund gala 2025Sophie McGuire, Maddy McGuire, Natalie McGuire, Mike McGuirePhoto by Tamytha Cameron

    A live auction led by Wendy Lambert raised big bucks, with the winners bound to enjoy a Porsche racing experience in Atlanta, a NorthPark Center shopping spree, a suite experience for a Dallas Cowboys game, a Jet Linx private membership, a custom Alice + Olivia design, a meal for 40 at The Charles, a stay at a private villa in Cabo San Lucas, and a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" package in New York City.

    Guests — and superheroes — danced long into the night at the after-party, celebrating the event’s extraordinary fundraising total and all the children and their families it will soon help.

    Children’s Cancer Fund was founded in 1982 by a coalition of parents whose children were receiving cancer therapy at Children’s Health. CCF raises millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research and Child Life services each year and has created 10 endowments that support pediatric cancer patients at Children's Health and UT Southwestern. CCF is one of the nation’s leading fundraising groups supporting local research toward treatment and prevention of childhood cancers.

    For more information or to donate, visit www.ChildrensCancerFund.com.

    celebritieschildhood cancerchildrens cancer funddak prescottdallas cowboysdallas cowboys cheeleadersdccfundrasiershealthkidssportstony romotroy aikmanvideogalas
    news/society
    series/real-weddings-dallas
    Loading...