July 1st, 2012
As a Mitzvah Mom or Dad who has been through the planning process, I’m sure you have lots of wisdom to share with other families.
Mitzvah Market will be publishing a magazine this October and we would love to include your helpful advice. Please send us your thoughts to info@MitzvahMarket.com.
Here are some ideas to help you get started:
* What is the best thing you did during the planning process that helped the most?
* How did you make it a spiritual experience for your family?
* If there are younger siblings, what did you do to include them in the process?
* Is there something you did, ordered, bought that you could have lived without?
* Was there something you did special for out of town guests?
We will need your name, hometown and advice by August 1, 2012.
Thank you!
July 1st, 2012
Jordan Gladstone celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on September 24, 2011 with a reception at the Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison, New York.
When your Mom is a graphic designer and your aunt is one of the premier event planners in Westchester, New York, you know your party is going to be creative and unique!
Jordan’s theme revolved around his last name “Gladstone” and included touches of green and navy.
Check it out – you will be GLAD you did!
Pictured left (L-R): Mom Paula, Brother Spencer, Bar Mitzvah boy Jordan and Dad Douglas
All party photography was provided by Deja VU Studios and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of this spotlight.
Original graphics were created for Jordan by his mother, Paula Gladstone. These custom designs were used on his Bar Mitzvah invitation as well as various mediums throughout the party.
Victoria Dubin, Jordan’s Aunt and owner of Victoria Dubin Events, a full service event company located in Westchester County wanted to create something unique for her nephew. With a play on their last name, taglines were used throughout the party. “Glad to Eat” on the menu card, “Glad Guests” on cocktail napkins and guest towels, “Glad for Family” and “Glad for Friends.”
The tagline “Good to Be Glad” was introduced to guests as they arrived to find their custom printed table cards, stating “Glad you are here”
Event planner/Aunt Victoria gave the kids lounge a really cool vibe. It was a combination of personalized light up tables with graphics, stools, custom pillows and white leather furniture.
The room looked elegant with high votive candles and apple green menus
White lounge furniture with green and navy accents created a cool look
Custom pillows were created in navy and green apple green
How about this personalized light up table with Jordan’s logo!
Total Entertainment provided the music with Vinny as the MC.
We think Jordan was GLAD to be in this picture with his Total Entertainment dancers wearing “Good to be Glad” tanks
Total Entertainment provided some fun games and activities for the kids to enjoy like a foosball table, 4 Xbox screens, virtual horse racing, blackjack, pop a shot and Atom the worlds fastest painter.
Air hockey for three players
Jordan looks happy to be in the middle of this picture!
Jordan surrounded by his friends
Mom and Dad surprised Jordan with entertainer Atom, known as the “Fastest Performance Artist with Spray Paint.” Jordan is a huge fan!
Incorporating Jordan’s initials and color scheme, LuLu’s of Scarsdale created a yummy and classic cake.
“Glad for Friends” was shown on the plasma screens during candle lighting
Jordan with his Aunt Victoria and her family
Some advice from Mom Paula:
“Just have fun and enjoy the process! Don’t forget the real reason you are having the event. It is a meaningful milestone that provides each Bar/Bat Mitzvah child with a great opportunity to display so many abilities and talents as well as enjoy the true feelings of pride and love their family and friends will extend towards them.”
Young guests received “Glad in the Hood” personalized sweatshirts with coordinating bags and labels. Mom Paula designed the logo and Favor It, a full service event company created them.
Jordan and his Mom worked together on Sundays in the fall working along with County Harvest to pick up donated food from Trader Joe’s and deliver it directly to a home for people with needs, whether it was financial or other.
Tobo Foods provided a truck that was standing by as guests left the reception. Mom Paula let us know she got this idea from Mitzvah Market!
Tobo Foods offered the Gladstone’s guests delicious bakery products and candy and featured a sign that said “Glad you were here”
The following vendors made Jordan’s party special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue/Caterer: Willow Ridge Country Club Harrison, NY
Party Planner and Design: Victoria Dubin Events 914-682-8647
Invitation: Glad for Graphics, gladforgraphics@gmail.com
Photographer/Videography: DeJaVU Studios 914-725-7700
Music Entertainment: Total Entertainment MC Vinny 201-894-0055
Games/Graffiti Lockers: Total Entertainment
Sign In Board: Glad for Graphics
Cake: LuLu’s of Scarsdale 914-722-8300
Favors: Robin Abtutyn, Favor It, 914-629-0620, Rye Brook
Food Truck: Tobo Foods 516-623-4624
Suits for family members: Lubins of Westchester 914-713-0300
Hair/makeup: Neiman Marcus
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.
