Community Corner
Celebrity Wedding Planner Lends Star Power to Church Gala
Port Chester native David Tutera visits and decorates fundraiser for Corpus Christi Church.
When his hometown church decided to host its first gala fundraiser and needed a little help, a nationally-renowned wedding planner with Port Chester roots stepped in to lend a hand.
Many folks don’t know David Tutera, the same star behind WE tv's My Fair Wedding and designer to celebrities like Barbara Walters, is the same Westchester-bred kid who calls long-time establishments like Marianacci’s one of his all-time favorites.
So when the Corpus Christi Holy Rosary School decided to host its first annual Father Peter M. Rinaldi Awards Dinner to help less fortunate children, Tutera decided to put his design expertise to work in converting the school’s gymnasium into a display of white roses and dripping crystals.
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“I think it's what a person can do emotionally rather than financially is what is most important,” he said.
Tutera was baptized and confirmed in the parish. He remembers attending after-school religious instruction classes at Corpus Christi-Holy Rosary School and sitting in the pews at the church during several important family occasions.
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“Anything important in our family happened here [at Corpus Christi]—I haven’t been in this gym in about 20 years,” he said.
Like Tutera, many attendees had a personal connection to the church.
“I was born here, I knew [Fr. Rinaldi] as a role model, and it’s important to recognize what [the school] has done for Port Chester,” said Andrea Ianello.
Every table of the benefit was filled with different members of the tight-knit community, each donating a bit of their time and money as they enjoyed the live and silent auction, sit-down dinner and cocktail hour.
Honorees during the awards presentation included Sister Frances Gumino, who served as a teacher at CCHRS; Eugene and Mary Fox and their daughter, Margaret Fox Diaz; and their granddaughter, Christina Diaz.
As a thank you for donating, participants in a raffle had the chance to win a Gucci purse, Vizio television set, or iPad 2.
The benefit showed the strength of the bond between friends, family and neighbors—including those who had never left and others, like Tutera, who came back to honor their roots.
“I didn’t realize how big of a deal [helping out] would be for my parents,” he said. “I really like how they feel about it.”
