June 30th, 2012
Some find the task of shopping for that special dress for their child’s Bat Mitzvah easy and some find it impossible!
It helps if your daughter has some idea of what she’s looking for. What color, what length, what style?
Here’s some inspiration that we hope will help with the shopping process:
Samantha couldn’t decide between long or short, so she wore both! The short white dress was worn for her havdalah service and cocktail hour and then she “made her entrance” in the long gown
These pretty dresses are both from It’s Simply For You
Hannah looks great in her short Jovani dress from Zola Keller in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
From the Citron spotlight, Chloe’s white gown is from Outrageous Boutique
Mikaela is wearing a pale blue silk satin gown with rosettes of the same material with crystals inside them. The dress, designed by Kimberly Towers of Runway Couture also had a removable strap of rosettes
Jordan Dictrow looked beautiful in her gown from Diane & Co.
Kendall Gnat’s pretty sparkly dress was from Nordstroms
Emily’s long purple gown is from Princess Charming in West Orange, New Jersey
The Kaden family celebrated their daughter Sydney’s Bat Mitzvah on Fire Island. Her Laundry dress by Sheli Segal from Saks Fifth Avenue captured the beachy vibe
Jodi Backalar went with a tennis theme, comfortable footwear and a pretty yellow and lime green short dress with a basket weave top from Guys N Gals in Michigan
Rachel Brenner’s turquoise gown from Outrageous Boutique was the first dress she tried on
Tylar Trichon went with a dress that was short at the front and long from the back from Designing Dreams
Paige Sollender wore a pretty pale pink dress from Party Girl
From Wendy Robinson Photography, this Bat Mitzvah girl has a great soccer accessory around her waist!
Camryn is wearing a pink gown from It’s Simply For You
Beckett Morris jumps for joy…her mom got her dress on sale at Neiman Marcus!
Here’s a Faviana multi ball gown from Omnibus Fashions
The Newman family celebrated with a denim and diamonds party so Runway Couture designed Emma’s dress with a removable skirt. The purple sequin top was paired with white jeans for her celebration
After Emma “made her entrance” she switched from the full skirt to white jeans
If you would like to share your daughter’s Mitzvah dress with our readers, send a picture to us at info@MitzvahMarket.com. We will also “pin” it to our Mitzvah Dresses Pinterest.com boards.
June 23rd, 2012
The Event Of A Lifetime, Inc., is a full service event planning company serving the Greater Metro NYC area.
They strive to customize each party to suit their clients’ vision and budget and can help with as much or as little as you like.
They can handle every detail: helping to select a venue and vendors, keeping you organized, helping you create and execute your vision and perhaps most importantly, they worry about all of the details so you don’t have to!
On your child’s big day, they are there to make sure that everything gets delivered and set up the way you wanted and they stay at your event to make sure that everything goes as planned so you can enjoy yourself.
Take a look at some of their work below:
The theme of this Bat Mitzvah was “Everything Emma.” Each table accented one of Emma’s interests. The picture above is all about ballet with a painting of Emma in the background doing ballet. This was placed in an existing frame that was on the wall around a mirror
This creative duffle bag cake is a replica of what the Bat Mitzvah girl carries everyday! It’s filled with all of her prized possesions: iphone, violin and tennis racquet
“The A List” was the theme for Alexandra who is a performer and this was her version of the Academy Awards. During the candle lighting ceremony each guest that got called up to light a candle was given an Oscar statue
From the same “The A list” party, each guest’s name and table was written on a star at the end of their version of Hollywood’s walk of fame. Guests strutted down a “red carpet” with customized Hollywood stars and paparazzi
Extra entertainment is popular at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. This is just one of the many activities offered by The Event Of A Lifetime. It is a splatter shop where guests can splatter paint on the item of their choice
Some celebrations do not have a specific theme like the one above which used bright colors to tie party elements together
For this Bat Mitzvah, each table had a custom Purple gown similar to the guest of honor’s Bat Mitzvah dress
The photo above was from a ski themed Bar Mitzvah where the club was transformed into a ski lodge with rustic furniture and falling snow
The escort card display for this Bar Mitzvah was a baseball stadium. There was also a baseball jersey for each guest with their name and table
An inflatable slide may not be a likely choice for a formal party, but you’re never too old or too dressed up to have some good old fashion fun!
For more information, visit The Event Of A Lifetime or contact Melisa Imberman at 914-762-5770 or 212-251-0163.
Follow them on facebook here.
June 23rd, 2012
The Cortell family from Connecticut was looking forward to celebrating their son Sam’s Bar Mitzvah on October 29, 2011 at Space in Englewood, New Jersey.
Their day started as planned with a Temple service in the morning followed by a kiddush luncheon. The unexpected snow storm that hit that day forced them to cancel their evening celebration. They rescheduled with Space and celebrated on November 26, 2011 – almost 1 month later.
As you will see from their spotlight, it was worth the wait!
Party photography was by Adam Milt and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of the spotlight.
Pictured above L-R: Mom Doreen, sister Madi, Bar Mitzvah boy Sam, brother Blake and Dad Gary
Mom Doreen’s sister is Darlene Barzilay from Notes Etc. who created their invitations.
The metal square invitation with a foil stamped monogram liner and silver paper accessories featured navy ink
Although the Cortells live in Connecticut, their son fell in love with the venue Space so they decided to hire a bus and transport their young guests. Once their friends attended their celebration they understood why they came to New Jersey!
Elvira, the owner of Space received this note after the Cortells party:
“Three weeks have passed and we are still receiving calls, emails, letters….it just hasn’t stopped! The party was amazing. From our 1 year old guest to our 93 year old guest, from beginning to the end, the fun just never stopped. I have never seen anything like it nor did anyone that attended. Our son, had the time of his life and so did everyone else …we have all the pictures to prove it. Friends of ours have spent 10x the money and couldn’t touch what you put on for us! It was everything you said it would be and more. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
–Doreen and Gary Cortell
Space provides many services for any Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration including party planning and designing all the decor!
The first time we reported on this sign-in idea, it was in the Barzilay Mitzvah Family Spotlight! Darlene Barzilay is Sam’s aunt – we wonder where they got the idea?!
Using Sam’s closet door which was painted silver to match their invitation, guests used a sharpie and wrote special messages
Now the closet door is back in Sam’s room
Space also provided the music and MC!
Sam makes his entrance
Sam’s friends having fun!
Guests on the spacious dance floor
The MC works the crowd
Sam and his friends
What makes Space a unique venue is the built-in fun!
There’s a full array of games in their arcade
An aerial performer wowed guests during their celebration
Sam’s Dad Gary, a television producer, created his montage. They cleverly worked in the blizzard and cancellation of Sam’s first celebration by making Sam a reporter with SPC World News!
Watch it here
Sam loves legos and as a surprise, his parents commissioned his portrait done in lego which hung at the party.
Sam asked to add something to his spotlight story: “On October 29, it started snowing. When we got home from the service, it was snowing so heavily we were even stuck in the road from a tree that had fallen! People were already canceling. When my Mom and Dad told me the news, I couldn’t believe it. But, I understood because the snow was really bad. On November 26, I finally was able to experience my party, and it was worth the wait! I had the best time of my life, and it’s all thanks to my Mom and Dad. They put so much time and effort into planing and rescheduling this party. Love you guys!”
There were many special moments during Sam’s celebration.
Mom Doreen and Sam share a special dance
Sam’s sister Madi wanted to do something special for Sam’s Bar Mitzvah, so she choreographed a dance and performed it for him at the party
A cake featuring many of Sam’s favorite things was made by Rachel Martin.
Amerasport Inc. created the sweatshirt favors for the young guests and water bottles for everyone else. Guests were able to fill the bottles with candy from the candy table at the end of the night.
After being very disappointed on October 29th and having to cancel their celebration, Mom Doreen can look back and give us all some advice:
“Things always have a way of working themselves out! It’s a lot of work & planning but know that it all somehow comes together in the end. With all your planning have fun and never forget what it is really all about, your son or daughter and at the end of the day this will be their night and the ‘best night of their lives.'”
For Sam’s Mitzvah Project, he sold sea turtles with all the profits going to World Wildlife Foundation to help sea animals affected by dangerous oil spills.
The following vendors helped to make Sam’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue/Party Planner: Space Odyssey USA, 201-567-3810
Music Entertainment: Space Odyssey USA
Favors (sweatshirts/water bottles): Amerasport Inc.
Photographer: Adam Milt
Party entertainment: Aerialist provided by Space
Invitation: Darlene Barzilay, 516-681-4602, notesetc1@verizon.net
Cake: Rachel Martin, bakemeacake@optonline.net
Décor/florist: Space
Sign-In board: Sam’s closet door that Mom Doreen spray painted silver to match the invitation
Montage: Dad Gary
Gift: Sean Kenney, Lego portrait
Moms Dress: Vintage dress that was her Mom’s
Madison’s Dress: A Step Ahead, Stamford, Ct
Footwear: All three kids wore converse sneakers
June 20th, 2012
The Sands at Atlantic Beach offers a tradition of quality along with impeccable taste. Its innovative new lounge allows for you to throw a party that is unique along with memories that will last a lifetime.
Recently they held a grand opening party to showcase their new additions: The Wave Lounge, which offers incredible oceanfront views for parties of 20-50 guests and The Beach restaurant/bar/lounge offers infinite possibilities for any type of event.
With in-house lighting, state of the art sound system, and custom built furniture, The Beach provides your guests with an energetic club atmosphere, which will enhance your party.
They offer their guests customized menu concepts prepared from the finest quality fresh ingredients available, created by their European trained chefs and served by highly trained and personable wait staff.
The Sands at Atlantic Beach ensures beautiful memories that will last a lifetime, whether you have thirty guests or seven hundred guests. They pride themselves on making your special event memorable; their professional staff will take personal care to insure that every detail is just right.
For more information, visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.
June 20th, 2012
When it comes to Bar/Bat Mitzvah decor it’s important to “say what you mean and mean what you say.”
Either way you say it, we found some creative and unique words spelled out which add to any decor and become an important element of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration design.
Check out the below:
From Karen Ard Photography, these cousins want to make sure all their guests arrive at the correct place!
Guests who were fortunate enough to attend this Bat Mitzvah by event planners Levine Fox, were treated to a most “inspiring” event filled with meaningful words
For a “Nautical Natalie” themed Bat Mitzvah, a custom gobo was designed by Chrysis Entertainment
From Signs Now “Dude Where’s My Seat?”
This theme and Bar Mitzvah boy’s name is spelled out with balloons from Balloon Artistry
From Lewis Miller Designs, handwritten projections and graffiti instructed guests to DRINK!
and to DANCE! also from Lewis Miller Designs
Just Jayne Events instructed guests when to SCREAM!
Kristin Newman Designs created these menu signs
Exclusive Events captured the feeling of this Bat Mitzvah lit with the guest of honor’s name
“Think Pink with Hannah” is the theme of this party from Events By Karen
From Teri Bloom Photography for a B’nai Mitzvah, the guest of honors names were placed on the dance floor
Terminal 5, part of Bowery Events created the Bat Mitzvah banners hanging from the rafters
This urban themed Bar Mitzvah had a graffiti feel banner above the bar from Debbie’s Designs
Eventscapes Atlanta used the NYC theme to spell out which way the adults go and which way the kids go
Did you “spell it out” at your child’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration? Let us know at info@MitzvahMarket.com.
June 19th, 2012
Lisa Gaché from Beverly Hills Manners Inc. recently helped us with our Mitzvah Manners, we are once again turning to her for some help. A Mitzvah Mom wrote in with this sticky situation:
“My daughter’s Bat Mitzvah was a few weeks ago. I remember my husband and I getting lots and lots of gift envelopes as guests were leaving. It’s very possible that some were misplaced. Now that my daughter is starting to write thank you notes, we have noticed a few people who appear not to have given her a gift. We think it’s possible that those gifts could have been misplaced. How do I approach those guests and ask them if they forgot to bring a gift or if we lost it?”
Lisa tells us this is more common than you think and has the following suggestion on how to handle this solution:
As a gracious host, the most important thing you can do is to give every one of your guests the benefit of the doubt. When you have a big party or event, it is very plausible that several gifts may be accidentally lost or misplaced; however, before you make this general assumption you may also want to bear in mind that some guests treat a Bar/Bat Mitzvah similar to a wedding in the sense that they will take up to a month or so to send a gift.
Because we cannot be certain of our guests’ thought process and behavior, it is always best to send a thank you note to everyone in a timely manner regardless of whether they sent a gift. If there is no accompanying gift, you may concentrate on stating how happy and appreciative you are that your guests were able to attend and share in your celebration. Most people assume that if their gift is received the recipient will make mention of it in the thank you note.
If your guests are astute and they read the note carefully they will be able to deduce whether or not their gift was received. If there is any doubt on their part, they may want to initiate a conversation with you to double check if the gift was indeed accidentally lost or misplaced.
If you are really keen on doing the detective work yourself, I would suggest sending a thoughtful note thanking your guests for coming and very gently making mention of the potential lost gifts. However, if you do this, you must be extremely mindful of the personality of your guests so as not to offend. Perhaps they intended to bring a gift, but just haven’t found the time yet or they may have accidentally left the gift at home or in the car and then it inadvertently became lost in the shuffle.
If you wish to address the matter in your thank you note, you may want to say something like “We were so thrilled that you were able to be a part of our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah celebration. We realized during the course of the event that a few of the gifts might have been misplaced and we would feel terrible if we did not acknowledge the generosity of our guests. Although, your presence at the Bat Mitzvah was the greatest gift of all, kindly let us know if there may have been anything else that we overlooked.” This may at least alert them to a possible mishap. If not, maybe it will inspire them to high tail it out to the store for that AMEX gift card pronto.
Great advice! Thanks Lisa. To learn more about Lisa and Beverly Hills Manners Inc., visit their Website.
June 17th, 2012
Our readers have loved our Inviting Invitation story and Can’t Forget Invitations.
Recently we shared with all of you the clever “Jack In The Box” invitation that MM.com founder Sheri Lapidus received.
This wasn’t the first clever invitation the Matilsky family sent out! Below is their son Max’s “View Finder” invitation from 2011.
This box arrives, Live The Dream, January 8, 2011
Inside was another box
The View Finder was sitting on a baseball diamond
The information about the party and the RSVP were on the cards above. When you view the slide show in the view finder, there’s info about the service and party plus photos of Max at various ages
Did your child have a clever and unique Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitation that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know at info@MitzvahMarket.com.
To see a View Finder invitation from Proper Notice, click here.
June 17th, 2012
We don’t do this often, but we know there are families out there who might not be able to buy new centerpieces for their child’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration.
We hope to help “do a Mitzvah” and connect families who can help each other.
Below you will find “cruising” themed centerpieces from a Bar Mitzvah party that the family no longer needs. There are 9 centerpieces in total, plus 24 cocktail centerpieces in a variety of colors.
Good for travel or cruise theme
This one is for Greece
Cocktail centerpiece
If you are interested and need more information, please contact Leslye at 516-603-5032.
June 12th, 2012
Samantha Pearlstein and Joey Fradkin (pictured left) are 13 years old and best friends who met in Kindergarten. Although Joey’s Bat Mitzvah took place in March 2012 and Samantha’s in June 2012, they decided to work on their Mitzvah Project together.
They created Dress It Up, a project devoted to helping middle school girls from diverse backgrounds have a fun night which includes dancing and dinner. In addition, they will learn about good nutrition and healthy choices. All of the girls will also receive a fancy hairdo and a new dress, which they can wear to the dance and then take home with them afterwards.
How did they come up with this idea? Says Samantha, “We get a new dress for every single Bar/Bat Mitzvah we go to- they’re really nice dresses that we grow out of after only wearing them a few times.”
Joey adds, “We had all this great stuff that our parents provide for us,” and they decided to do the same for other girls who weren’t as fortunate and could not afford a new dress.
The first Dress It Up party was held on May 11, 2012 at a middle school in San Francisco. Samantha and Joey worked with a few of the girls from the school in planning the Mardi Gras themed event for approximately 100 students (boys and girls).
Samantha and Joey were able to collect approximately 80 dresses for the 50 girls to choose from. Their Website has a list of drop-off locations.
The dresses, including two Vera Wang donated dresses were displayed out on a table and organized by size. After the girls made their selection, they had their hair done.
The event was a huge success and although this started as a Mitzvah Project, they plan to continue donating dresses to the George Mark Children’s House, a hospice for children in San Leandro, and throw additional events a few times a year.
To learn more, visit their Website.
June 12th, 2012
Samantha and Eliza Paradise celebrated their B’not Mitzvah on March 10, 2012 with a service at Congregation Rodeph Sholom followed by an afternoon party at The Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Their theme was “Dubble Trubble” using an adorable logo that was a take off of “Dubble Bubble” gum.
As Mom Stacey explains, “We did as much as we could to make both girls feel special on their milestone day.”
JoVon Photography provided all the pictures and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of this spotlight.
This family is quite unusual due to second marriages by both Mom Stacey and Dad Steven. These lucky twin girls have 2 step siblings, 4 half siblings, a stepmother and a stepfather!
Pictured above L-R: Half brother Nate Kushlefsky, Stepfather Noah Kushlefsky, Mom Stacey, Bat Mitzvah girls Samantha and Eliza, stepsister Zoe Kushlefsky, Dad Steven, Stepmother Joslin and half sister Marielle Paradise
Mitzvah Invitation & B’not Mitzvah Service
Their Checkerboard invitation was created by Maria Pappas-McKenzie of Sealed with a Kiss.
Their Checkerboard invitation was created by Maria Pappas-McKenzie of Sealed with a Kiss
Their service took place at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City
All the siblings, both half and step, are pictured:
L-R: Nate (4), Jaden (13), Eliza, Zoe (15), Sophia (1) on her lap, Samantha, Caroline (2) and Marielle (5)
Yarmulkes were from www.mazeltops.com with an inscription that read, “I had double the fun at the B'not Mitzvah of Samantha and Eliza Paradise"
Mitzvah Style & Venue
The Edison Ballroom, with its art deco design and large dance floor provided the dance club atmosphere that this family was looking for.
The girls' matching dresses were from Nikki's Dressing Room in Huntington, New York. Samantha is in pink and Eliza is in blue
Their red carpet entrance
They used their "dubble trubble" logo throughout the party including two giant billboards on either side of the red carpet entrance
Mitzvah Details
Lighter Than Air created lamp shades with a hot pink background and the "dubble trubble" logo
They also provided giant feather centerpieces
Mom Stacey created their sign-in books using Shutterfly
The pages inside featured their school logos, their camp logos and pages that said “family” and “friends” etc., so guests could sign on the page that reflected their relationship with the girls
Music & Entertainment
Maximum Entertainment with owner/MC Joey M. and co-MCs Deano and Evan provided the music entertainment for their celebration.
Samantha and Eliza make their entrance!
The spacious dance floor allows all guests to have a great time
Everyone enjoying!
The Maximum Entertainment crew in their “Dubble Trubble” t-shirts
The girls singing with co-MC Evan
Trivia Expert Gene Jones of Gimme A Hint! wowed the guests
The Bumbys performed
Guests could make fun photo flipbooks...
...and photo candy boxes!
There were many special moments during this celebration, like Mom Stacey’s speech
Samantha and Eliza's friends gather around the cake for a group photo
All smiles as Mom Stacey and Stepfather Noah light a candle with Eliza and Samantha
Mitzvah Video
Mom Stacey found Carl Hartman from Green Cheese Media Group on Mitzvah Market. Their montage included many celebrity shout outs.
Watch the montage here
Mitzvah Cake & Favor
Their cake, complete with the “dubble trubble” logo was created by Jane Kantor. The girls’ Uncle, Marshall Goodman, president of Firehouse clothing, created the favor and their aunt, Sabra Waxman designed the logo.
The top and bottom layers of the cake matched the invitation and the middle layer featured their logo
The girls received white zip-up hooded sweatshirts with the logo on the back and the boys received dark grey hoodie pullovers with the logo
The sweatshirts were given out in these bright blue bags with lots of dubble bubble gum thrown in! Name tags with the Dubble Trubble logo were created on www.vistaprint.com saving lots of time and money!
Mom to Mom
Mom Stacey who was also the party planner has this advice:
“Organization is the key. Make file folders for each aspect of the party – a folder for dresses, for invitations, for DJ, for entertainment, for party favors, for décor, etc. Put all your notes, receipts, price quotes from vendors and so on in those separate folders. Excel spreadsheets are great for keeping track of RSVPs and adding up the number of people attending! Get a “support group” together of other Moms who have already planned a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or who are also in the process of planning one. At a certain point, your husband will tune out and will just refuse to tell you whether the candles should go on the cake or on the table around the cake! Lastly, a big glass of wine certainly helps!”
Mitzvah Project
Samantha did a drive for The Colored Pencil Project, a non-profit organization created to increase the access of art supplies to children in developing countries by distributing art supplies, specifically colored pencils and paper, and providing art curriculum to children in various orphanages, schools and rural villages in those developing countries.
Through the generous donations of family and friends, Samantha was able to donate dozens and dozens of pencil sharpeners and packages of pencils to The Colored Pencil Project.
Eliza participated in the Gift of Literacy Program, through the JCC in Manhattan, an early intervention program for struggling readers who are performing significantly below grade level. She tutors a 2nd grade student at an upper west side public school one after afternoon every week throughout the school year. The experience has been incredibly rewarding for her.
Vendor Directory
The following vendors helped to make Eliza and Samantha’s celebration special. If you give any a call, let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: Edison Ballroom, 212-201-7650
Party Planner: Mom, Stacey
Music Entertainment: Owner/MC Joey M, Maximum Entertainment, 516-826-8632
Invitations: Maria Pappas-McKenzie, Sealed with a Kiss, 631-697-998
Photographer: JoVon Photography, 516 922-3535
Party Entertainment: Trivia Expert, Gene Jones of Gimme A Hint!
Performance Artists: The Bumbys, vtantula@gmail.com
Flip Books: Richard Lincoln, Fun Flips, 508-786-2989
Photo Station: Maximum Entertainment, 516-826-8632
Montage: Carl Hartman, Green Cheese Media Group, 818-934-8990
Cake: Jane Kantor, 917-750-5903, jkantor@gmail.com
Décor: Richie, Lighter Than Air, 516-933-3210
Sign-In books: Shutterfly
Logo’d cocktail napkins and bathroom paper towels: www.foryourparty.com
Yarmulkes: www.mazeltops.com
Dresses for girls: Pat, Nikki’s Dressing Room, 631-659-3622
Make up: Brittney from Scott J. Aveda salon, Brittney@scottj.com
Videographer: Maximum Entertainment, 516-826-8632
