Since January 2011, our Mitzvah Diaries: Eat Pray Save blogger Cindy Silvert has been giving us a fresh, funny perspective on the challenges when planning her son Ben’s Bar Mitzvah.
The Silverts celebration happened on June 20, 2011 in Medford, New Jersey and we are happy to share with you their Mitzvah Family Spotlight story below.
They decided to have a very casual outdoor celebration which took place the week before day camp began at the JCC Camps. Their entire service and celebration took place in one location with full use of the camp’s fantastic facilities including swimming, boating, volleyball, water trampoline & other fun floating activities. The JCC also has great rain options with lots of closed buildings and covered pavilions which thankfully they didn’t need.
All photography by Silver Image Photography.
Pictured above L-R: Sister Eden, Dad Dan, Brother Jakob, Mom Cindy & Bar Mitzvah boy Ben
Ben’s service took place on the camp grounds.
The event took place on a Monday, so there was no issue with music, driving, photos, etc., as there would have been for this family on a Saturday
Guests enjoyed many of the fun activities available at the camp.
The beautiful woodsy camp grounds gave it a relaxed and fun feel
Guests enjoyed boating…
…and trampolines
Frisbees with Ben’s logo were from Gimmees
The food was provided by Howie Goldstein from Prestige Caterers.
A delicious summer salad
They had lighter breakfast fare for kids (waffles, French toast, croissants & eggs), and a classier menu for adults (fish, Portobello burgers etc., with both menus open to all)
The Klez Dispensers provided the music.
They played a combination of Jewish, Klezmer, Israeli and Jazz music. Everyone loved them and some guests even ordered CD’s
Mitzvah Mom Cindy has some advice for our readers: “Start early, prioritize, delegate as much as you can. Get advice from other moms. Try to stay focused on what’s important. Don’t let too many chefs in the kitchen regarding unimportant decisions such as door prize or menu.”
For their sign-in: “We made a book of Ben and his friends and cousins at Shutterfly.com for people to look at and sign-in with a message for Ben. We did this instead of a slide show/montage. The quality of the book was excellent.”
For his Mitzvah Project, Ben raised money and collected hundreds of books for a non-profit organization called, Book Mates.
BookMates is a literacy program that reaches out to at-risk children in South Jersey. BookMates includes hundreds of reading volunteers and donates thousands of books each year to kids with limited access to books. They aim at promoting literacy and instilling a love and appreciation of reading.
The following vendors helped to make Ben’s celebration special. If you give any a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Caterer: Howie Goldstein, Prestige Caterers 718-464-8400
Music: The Klez Dispensers 917-647-4374
Venue: JCC Camps at Medford, NJ 856-424-4444
Favor/Logo’ed Aviator Sunglasses: Branders 877-630-7913
Favor/Logo’ed Frisbees: Gimmees.com, 888-926-6385
Transportation: Alberts Limos, 856-429-9600
Photographer: Silver Image Photography, 856-616-0094
