The Salonniere Names America’s 100 Best Party Hosts
The country’s best party hosts have been crowned.
Entertaining web site The Salonniere has named the 100 best party hosts in the U.S., with names like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Solange Knowles, Lela Rose and more earning honors. Witherspoon and Knowles are among the new class of honorees, joining Heidi Klum, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Amy Virginia Buchanan, Patrick Janelle and Kiyomi Buker, social secretary to the Ambassador of Japan, on the first timers list.
The annual list highlights 100 honorees from 34 cities and 28 states who “share one common trait: an exceptional ability to leverage the power of parties to enhance the lives of others,” the site says.
“We love putting together the Salonniere 100 list every year,” says Carla McDonald, the site’s founder and editor in chief. “It’s a time-intensive, nationwide selection process, but it represents our collective sense of purpose and passion. For 2018, we spent six months talking to more than 1,000 local contacts and authorities whom we’ve come to know as in-the-know experts, including journalists, philanthropists, not-for-profit fundraisers, social luminaries, as well as cultural and business leaders.”
“The Salonniere 100 honors those who really enjoy getting people together and harnessing the power of parties to enhance other people’s lives — and to add value to the community while they’re doing it,” McDonald continues. “That doesn’t mean we’re looking for people who throw the most parties or the biggest or most expensive parties — although some on the list do host grand events that raise a lot of money for important local and national charities. But the list also celebrates honorees who throw intimate, informal dinner parties to encourage meaningful conversation and gather people together to meet outside their usual social circles. At the end of the day, it’s all about the 100 best party-givers in America, the 100 men and women who have an unparalleled ability to use social gatherings to support causes, advance ideas, and bring fun and joy to others.”
The full list is as below, by city:
Aspen, Colo.
Melissa and Marc Ganzi, Amy Phelan
Atlanta
James Farmer, Annette Joseph, Danielle Rollins
Austin, Tex.
Mónica Peraza, Nina Seeley
Boston
Alli Achtmeyer, Jean and Christopher Egan
Charleston, S.C.
Patricia Altschul, Lee Manigault, Ann Merck, Carolyne Roehm
Charlotte, N.C.
Felicia and Herb Gray, Danialle and Pete Karmanos
Chicago
Alessandra Branca, Ikram Goldman
Cincinnati
Ryan Messer and Jimmy Musuraca
Dallas
Brooke and Blake Davenport, Cindy Rachofsky, Nancy and Richard Rogers, Kimberly Schlegel Whitman
Denver
Tammy Abramovitz, Christie Isenberg, Christine Vazquez
Detroit
Chuck Bennett, Jessie Elliott and Ed Welburn, Danialle and Pete Karmanos, Diane and Tom Schoenith, Mona and Matt Simoncini
Great Falls, Minn.
Sydne George
Hartford, Conn.
Bunny Williams
Houston
Paige Fertitta, Lucinda Loya, Becca Cason Thrash, Phoebe Tudor, Sheridan Williams, Lynn Wyatt
Lexington, Ky.
Jon Carloftis and Dale Fisher
Little Rock, Ark.
Tobi Wells Fairley
Louisville, Ky.
Priscilla Barnstable and Patricia Barnstable- Brown, Tammy York Day and Tonya York Dees
Los Angeles
Barbara Broccoli, Christine Chiu, Eva Chow, Timothy Corrigan, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber ,Crystal Lourd, Lisa McRee, Irena and Mike Medavoy, Reese Witherspoon
Macon, Ga.
Carey Pickard and Christopher Howard
Miami
Trudy Cejas, Sarah Harrelson, Craig Robbins
Nashville
Janet and Jim Ayers, Fletcher Foster and Dennis Johnson
New Orleans
Mary Clare and Danny Conwill, Sara Ruffin Costello, Dawn DeDeaux, Jane Scott Hodges, Allison Kendrick, Solange Knowles, Julia Reed
New York
Dennis Basso, Daniel Benedict and Andrew Saffir, Deeda Blair, Amy Virginia Buchanan and Patrick Janelle, Michael Devine, Cathy Graham, Dayssi de Kanavos, Heidi Klum, Ashley McDermott, Stephanie Nass, Lela Rose
Newport, R.I.
Bettie Bearden Pardee
Orlando, Fla.
Dana Marie Roquemore
Palm Beach, Fla.
Annie Falk, Terry Allen, Kramer Kit Pannill, Pauline Pitt, Steven Stolman, Kathryn Vecellio
Philadelphia
Natanya DiBona
Phoenix
Renee and Bob Parsons, Jordan and Jason Rose
San Diego
Joan and Irwin Jacob
San Francisco
Susan MacTavish Best, Ken Fulk, Vanessa Getty, Monelle Totah and Gary McNatton, Alexis and Trevor Traina
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Oprah Winfrey
Savannah, Ga.
Alexandra Trujillo de Taylor
Tampa, Fla.
Carmen and Harry Barkett, Sara and David Scher
Washington, D.C.
Katherine and David Bradley, Kiyomi Buker, Buffy Cafritz, Hilary Geary Ross
Related stories
Jessica Diehl to Depart Vanity Fair
Solange Knowles to be Honored by Parsons
Facebook Exec Addresses Reports of Data Misuse by Cambridge Analytica
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
