Springtime Splendor

Fashion, fun, and funds soar at Houston's $1 million+ Bayou Bend weekend

Houston's stylish convened for a three-day cultural escape as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston hosted the 2025 Bayou Bend Weekend from March 28 to March 30. With its lush gardens and historic charm, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens set the stage for a memorable weekend of fashion, family fun, and twilight revelry.

Photo by Wilson Parish

Bruce Padilla, Stuart Winston, Kari Dagley, Josh Gaynor, and Moti Ferder.

The festivities launched Friday afternoon with the eighth Bayou Bend Fashion Show and Luncheon, chaired by Gillian Sarofim. Beneath a sweeping garden tent dressed in olive greens and coral-pink blooms by The Events Company, 200 guests feasted on a City Kitchen-catered menu.

The real treat? Texas-born designer Lela Rose wowed the crowd with 37 radiant looks, her Neiman Marcus-presented runway show earning nods from oohing fashionistas and seasoned museum patrons alike.

Saturday's scene shifted into full whimsy for the annual Children's Party, where more than 250 guests wandered into The Secret Garden, a wonderland imagined by chairs Carrie Compton and Jill Wright. Activities like Mary's Magic Bubbles, Face Paint Petals, and The Enchanted Workshop turned the day into a colorful dreamscape for little ones and their grown-up companions.

Sunday evening’s record-breaking Bayou Bend Garden Party was partly thanks to Lugano’s support as principal underwriter, ushering 325 guests to mingle at twilight under a tent blooming in lavender and spring green hues. Cocktail hour was extra nostalgic as guests sipped Fish House Punch, a concoction dear to Ima Hogg herself, its 293-year-old recipe charmingly printed on custom napkins. Jazz Revisited set a mellow groove before Manhattan amped up the night for dancing under the stars.

Thanks to generous support, the weekend soared past expectations, raising more than $1,275,000 for Bayou Bend's operating budget.

Among those spotted in the chic garden crowd—and it’s quite a list—were Irma Castor, Ashlee Schneider, Ann Bookout, Lilly and Thurmon Andress, Kathy Leigh, Kari Dagley, Tiffany McCauley, Susanne and Bill Pritchard, Clayton Erikson, Polly and Murry Bowden, Denise Monteleone, Meredith and Mason Barker, Alanna Flores, Morgan Allen Neal, Kendall Allen Strait, Logan Dresser, Lisa Dodd, Lilly Cullen, Anne Chao, Carolyn Sabat, Rose Cullen, Anne Duncan, Shelli and Steve Lindley, Nancy and Butch Abendshein, Frances Lummis, Eleanor Lummis, Tye Leon, Betsy Goodman, Lauren Gray, Lauren Reckling, Randa McConn, Christiana Reckling, Barbara Gamson, Sima Ladjevardian, Cherie Lindley, Whitney and Jim Crane, Phoebe Tudor, Liz McIngvale-Mackey, Moti Ferder, Josh Gaynor, Stuart Winston, Leslie Duncan, Nancy and Rich Kinder, Will Mathis, Cherie and Jim Flores, Lynne and Joe Hudson, Franci Neely, Karl and Ann Stern, Lisa and Downing Mears, Kate and Steve Gibson, Diane and David Modesett, Kelly and Bill Montgomery, Laura and Keefer Lehner, Janie and Daniel Zilkha, Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Sara Dodd-Denton and Will Denton, Isabel and Ransom Lummis, and Aliyya and Herman Stude.

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Gallery of Wonder

Children’s Museum Houston luncheon celebrates playful learning

Photo by Wilson Parish

Jennifer Miller, Stephanie Braun, Lauren Zwart, and Lakshmi Picoli.

Cheerful energy usually reserved for playgrounds at a luncheon? Considering the cause at hand, we’d say it was quite fitting.

Photo by Wilson Parish

Jennifer Miller, Stephanie Braun, Lauren Zwart, and Lakshmi Picoli.

More than 400 supporters gathered at the River Oaks Country Club for Children’s Museum Houston’s 2026 Friends and Families Luncheon, a midday event celebrating curiosity and childhood. Co-chaired by Lexi Sakowitz Marek and Natasha Stolte, the affair welcomed a vibrant crowd of parents, educators, and advocates who share a belief that playful learning can shape young minds.

Guiding the afternoon’s program was emcee Katherine Whaley, who kept the room engaged as guests settled into a polished menu courtesy of River Oaks Country Club. The afternoon’s keynote speaker, Spencer Russell, founder of Toddlers Can Read, encouraged parents and caregivers to help children tackle difficult challenges by breaking them into manageable steps. Russell emphasized that perseverance builds confidence.

During the program, Children’s Museum Houston also unveiled plans for its newest addition, the Gallery of Wonder, a space designed for infants through age five. The expansive gallery will feature five interconnected exhibits scaled for little bodies and curious minds, along with early childhood educators who will guide families through nearly two dozen programs focused on early brain development, critical thinking, and cognitive growth. Once open, the gallery is expected to welcome more than 350,000 visitors annually.

The luncheon raised a record-breaking $237,000, making it the most successful Friends and Families Luncheon in the museum’s history. Proceeds support Children’s Museum Houston’s mission to improve the trajectories of children across Greater Houston through innovative, child-centered learning experiences.

Gathering in support of the mission were Katie Arnoldy, Meredith Barker, Lauren Barrett, Kathryn Boeker, Bethany Buchanan, Alex Butt, Skye Chao, Allison Chavez, Julie Chen, Lauren Cox, Adrienne Crane, Narguess Fazel, Annabel Florescu, Devorah Krieger, Whitney Kuhn Lawson, Lacey Marek, Hayden Lasher, Amanda Pickering, Kat Pressly, Monica Radoff, Ashley Sloan, and Mary Morgan Stevens, among many others.

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