Last Saturday, I ventured out to the highly anticipated fifth annual Hamptons Interactive Brunch which is always hosted by East End Taste publisher Vanessa Gordon. This event always benefits amazing charities and this year’s beneficiary was Francesco’s Foundation, an anti-teen suicide charity and when Francisco’s mother spoke from the back deck of the private Water Mill home where the event took place, there were tears in a lot of onlooking guests’ eyes.
This year, Vanessa had a vivacious co-host, actress Deborah Cox who made the effort to mix and mingle with all the party guests and encourage people to place bids in the incredible live and silent auctions. She was really charming and humorous, to say the least! Here she is holding a bottle of Kazaisu Rose, which she is a spokesperson for.
Pictured above is Francesco’s mom Diana Cochran speaking to the 300 plus person crowd with co-hosts Vanessa Gordon and Deborah Gordon by her side. Vanessa and Deborah added in their thoughts about the issue at hand and what it means to them, then it was time for Jean Shafiroff to come to the podium. There was a booth of lovely Francesco Foundation’s merchandise featuring amazing ice sculptures of the foundation’s logo for guests to visit afterwards.
The photo above is just a spattering of the great silent auction items! I spent a half hour in the dining room looking at the dozens of silent auction items available from a trip to the Caribbean on Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady to a $500 gift card for your choice of hats from legendary milliner Eugenia Kim. There were also numerous beauty treatments, pieces of artwork, home decor consultations and gym memberships. I was most impressed by the travel and designer clothing and accessories gift cards up for grabs! Sadly, I did not wind up being the winner of any. Well, there is always a chance next year!
Besides enjoying the great eats that included lobster rolls that were passed, I enjoyed taking in the incredible jewelry, beauty and health brand booths. There were some unique spirit booths that offered sampling as well! The gorgeous booth you see in my photo above was sponsored by Hamptons event planner The Vintage Gatherings.
One of the best parts of the Hamptons Interactive Brunch was when guests put their legs in the pool about two hours into the event. (It was 94 degrees out!) All in all, it was a great event that dazzled all the guests and made way for some new friendships. I suggest that you follow @hamptonsinteractivebrunch on Instagram to check out more photos of this always fun event and to get the 411 about when the 2025 brunch will be happening!
