I had just about the most fabulous Saturday one can have at The Stoneleigh with my friend Rodney this afternoon! This was my first time at The Stoneleigh Rosé Garden Party, formerly called the Pink Party, and it did not disappoint. For my non-Dallas readers: the historic Stoneleigh hotel is located in the very chic uptown neighborhood of Dallas and is one of the most elegant hotels in Dallas-Fort Worth. The rosé was flowing, the pool was cool, and the guests were dressed in their garden best!

First of all: the rosé. If you haven’t had Moet and Chandon rosé, put it on your summer to do list. It’s divine. The Stoneleigh also served frosé, which was a welcome sight after half an hour in the Dallas heat, as well as pink sangria.

I wore a new Chen Burkett dress (technically a skirt and top) that I spotted at a garden party last year (read about it here). It was love at first sight with me and this dress. I locked eyes with this dress across the room and raced over to ask the woman where she got it. I worried that it was too bare to wear for a busty gal like myself to wear outside of the Caribbean but decided it was the most fabulous garden party outfit I had and why the hell the not?

I wish I had taken more photos of the guests. It actually looks kind of empty in a lot of my photos, because I purposely waited until a section cleared out to take pictures. The Stoneleigh courtyard is beautiful: a sparkling blue pool with a spray of fountains lined with a wall of glamorous cabanas (loved the florals, by the way!) and a spacious astroturf with cozy couches. The event had a wonderful flow to it and the seating areas were nice and spaced out with shade umbrellas added in the afternoon. We spent a lot of time drinking frosé in our cabana by the pool, enjoying the great dance playlist (by Djayo) as tray after tray of light bites came our way.

The savory bites were by Perle on Maple by Chef Wade Burch, named one of ten “Best Chefs of DFW” at the 2019 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. My favorite bite of the day was hands down the salmon mousse on endive. I love serving appetizers on endive but stores never seem to have it in stock when I need it! The balsamic watermelon bite was a refreshing poolside treat and the beet juice deviled eggs were almost too pretty to eat (but I managed).

I was so happy to see my beloved Henry’s Ice Cream. I look forward to Henry’s every year at the Dallas Arboretum Food & Wine Festival. It’s unbelievably creamy and the flavors are so intense. We had cute sample sizes of pink vanilla and lavender ice cream.

One thing I wasn’t expecting was the painting portion of the event. It was optional for guests who wanted to partake and ended up being such a blast! The Stoneleigh team very sweetly brought umbrellas out to save us from the blazing summer sun. The folks at 7ART Mobile Paint Parties were wonderful at explaining how to paint and they chose a chic, easy design appropriate for a rosé party: a martini glass on a blush background.

Bocci ball and giant backgammon were set up on the lawn and a surprising amount of people enjoyed the pool. We grabbed some more rosé and headed to the festive photo booth, which was one of the best event photo booths I’ve seen in Dallas.

It was another golden afternoon in Wonderland. I will definitely be back to the Stoneleigh! Thank you to the wonderful staff for taking such good care of us.

Thank you to The Stoneleigh for hosting me at this event!