Have Hat, Will Party

(Top Left: Candice Klapman and Jessica Slater at Party in the Park; Top Right: Mark Volpe, Ursula Liff and Mayor Marty Walsh at Party in the Park; Bottom Left: Jonathan Soroff and Erica Corsano at Party in the Park; Bottom Right: Daniela Winston and Laura Baldini at Party in the Park)

The grande dame of all ladies’ luncheons, Party in the Park never fails to amaze in terms of fashion (specifically hats), food (bold choice, serving veal) and drama (but what do you expect when the champagne starts flowing at 11 am?).

A fundraiser for the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the party was held at Pinebank Promontory overlooking Jamaica Pond, and the fiercely social crowd included the likes of event founder Wendy Shattuck, co-chairs Cackie Austin, Lynn Dale, Kim Furnald, Holly Safford and Camille Valentine, the flawless Julie Hume Gordon and Connecticut squire Krystian von Speidel, Gardner head honcha Anne Hawley, blond beauty Willa Bodman, the stunning Eve Rounds, fashionista Yolanda Cellucci, lovebirds Nick and Amy Penna, dangerous mother-daughter duo Linda Waintrup and Samantha Hanman, honoree Mark Volpe of the BSO, über-philanthropist Don Rodman, iconoclastic Brahmin Sylvia Pope, Beacon Hill beauty Tess Atkinson, blond cutie pie Ellie Chu, fashion goddesses Laura Baldini and Ashley Bernon, Cambridge doyenne RoAnn Costin, the statuesque Jennifer Iovino, redheaded beauty Lauren Beckham Falcone, the always fabulous Diana Rockefeller and New York Fashion Week doyenne Fern Mallis, who deemed Boston’s ladies chic in the extreme, despite their reputation for being otherwise.

The welcome tent filled up rapidly and threatened to get steamy, and trays of bubbly were quickly replenished. Then everyone was ushered into the lushly landscaped luncheon with a trumpet fanfare that prompted one guest to mutter, “What? Is Kate Middleton coming?”

Assorted speeches, awards, auction, asks and raffle prizes later, everyone was feeling no pain, and it became apparent that Frederick Law Olmsted’s greatest accomplishment was still in safe keeping.

The afternoon’s best remark: Upon being complimented on his cuff links, one man said, “I inherited them from my grandfather—the broke baron, not the no-account count.”

Paging Molly Ringwald!

(Top Left: Bobby and Alma Wahlberg at the Hot Pink Party; Top Right: Sinesia Karol, Bryan Rafanelli and Linda Pizzuti Henry at the Hot Pink Party; Bottom Left: Linda and Dan Waintrup at the Hot Pink Party; Bottom Middle: Peter Lynch and Tommy Hilfiger at the Hot Pink Party; Bottom Right:Tiffany and J.B. Dowd at the Hot Pink Party)

You know that an event is high-profile when you’re asked to sign a release form upon entering, and with celebrity guests that included latter-day Helen of Troy Elizabeth Hurley, fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger and his handbag designer wife, Dee, news anchor Amy Robach and her actor husband, Andrew Shue, and Tony Award winner Megan Hilty, it was understandable at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Hot Pink Party, held at the Seaport World Trade Center.

However, the real reason for the waivers turned out to be Alma and Bobby Wahlberg, whose camera crew was filming an episode of their reality TV show, which turned out to be only a small part of a spectacle that included guys in skin-tight bubble-gum-colored spandex pants on stilts and post-modern go-go dancers.

Joining the aforementioned were other bold-faced names, including Super Bowl champ Bill Belichick and the gorgeous Linda Holliday, Hillary Clinton operative Bryan Rafanelli, the alarmingly beautiful Linda Pizzuti Henry and her husband, John, investment legend Peter Lynch and his other half, Carolyn, the achingly lovely Jen Herman with the absurdly handsome Mark, Herald scribe Erica Corsano, blond bombshell Kristen Kuliga, the infectiously upbeat Erin Duggan Lynch, fashion avatar Kimmy Strauss, mom-to-be Kelley Tuthill, style guru Elisha Daniels, blond pixie Alyssa Romano, Duxbury mack daddy Frank Wisneski and one woman who greeted a friend by saying, “I can’t believe we’re in the same time zone!”

One guest decided to forgo a pink outfit in favor of wearing pink sapphires, which prompted yours truly to ask another guest who was wearing some impressive jewelry, “Are those pink sapphires?” To which the answer was “Sort of. They’re called rubies.”

Elizabeth Hurley was surprisingly gregarious for a celebrity, while Megan Hilty brought the house down, and the Hilfigers were as gracious as could be. Meanwhile, the release form had more than a few tongues wagging, especially because it asked for personal information, which prompted the following exchange:

“Did you print your real birth date?”

“Yes. But I wrote it really messy.”