Archive for January, 2013
January 21st, 2013
The Gendler family from Plantation, Florida celebrated their daughter Brittany’s Bat Mitzvah on November 3, 2012 at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, Florida. The evening reception was at a unique venue, Hangar 9 located within the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. There were so many special touches, created especially for Brittany’s special day by her Mom Linda, which tied in with her theme and were “first class!” We can’t wait to share them with you.
Pictured L-R: Dad Richard, Bat Mitzvah girl Brittany, Mom Linda and older Brother Justin.
All party photography was done by Barry Dryer of Affordable Affairs and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of the spotlight.
A close-up of the kippot basket made by Mom Linda
Along with the kippot basket, Mom Linda loved making the service programs and spice bags for the service as well
Their custom invitation, from Talento Designs featured the party’s destination and was a pop-up of Brittany as a flight attendant! Jet Brittany Airways introduced the theme of the Bat Mitzvah celebration
The clever wording on the RSVP card looked like an airline ticket
The theme was “Jet Brittany Airways,” and this was incorporated in every aspect of the party. Bat Mitzvah girl Brittany posing on the wing of a plane!
The spacious Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport was a big and open airplane hangar with small private airplanes parked right outside. With over 250 guests, it was the perfect venue with plenty of room
Mom Linda worked closely with Mitch Amsterdam of Silver Lining Productions who transformed the big open venue into “Jet Brittany Airways” with a vivid color palette of hot pink and turquoise. A custom step and repeat red carpet welcomed all the Gendler’s guests arriving at “Jet Brittany Airways”
The hot pink linens, turquoise seat cushions, napkins and silver chiavari chairs created a colorful look
Brittany shows off her custom floor logo
Each table featured a different gate number
“Jet Brittany Airways” signage was outside the venue as well
Brittany checking-in with her flight crew before take-off
Mom Linda and Dad Richard making their entrance
An unfinished chair was purchased from Wood You Furniture. Linda painted it and then stenciled Brittany’s name, date and Hebrew name on it. She also added a beautiful quote from the Torah on the front and decorated it with lots of big rhinestones. The horah chair is now in Brittany’s room
Brittany is up in the chair!
Mom Linda made the glitter sneakers for the guest of honor
This great DIY bathroom basket had all the important items
Mom Linda also loved making the gift baskets for the out of town guests
MC Ross of Rock With U Entertainment really got the crowd going with non-stop fun
The Rock With U Entertainment flight crew ready for take off!
Laser nails for the girls
The boys had video game fun!
Brittany and her crew
The candle lighting ceremony was beautiful with a sparkle table and alternating pink and turquoise votives
Organized in hot pink bins All the details of this event soared to new heights right down to the favors created by Squeegee Science.
The front of the shirt “Jet Brittany Airways”
The back included names of Brittany’s official flight crew rooster
As the guests headed onto their final approach, there was a pink and turquoise candy bar and boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts for each guest. Mom Linda designed and set up the candy cart with handmade gumball necklaces and coordinating glitter
Krispy Creme Donuts display
Some Advice from Mom Linda
“This was my second go-round. My son’s Bar Mitzvah was three years ago and the best advice I can give is to be organized. I had a 3” binder I used for planning that contained dividers for every vendor I worked with (i.e. venue, caterer, decorator, DJ, invitations, favors, entertainment, photographer, videographer, transportation, temple service, etc…). My binder (or “bible” as my friends called it) actually frightened some of my vendors when they saw it. One look at it and they knew I had done my homework and shopped around for all my price quotes. Anytime I needed information or phone numbers it was right there at my fingertips and easy to access just by flipping to the section I needed.”
Brittany’s Mitzvah Project
Brittany is a competitive gymnast and wanted to incorporate that into her Mitzvah Project. The owner of the gym she trains at donated use of the facility for a fundraiser for Can’t Stomach Cancer, The Foundation of Debbie’s Dream. Her teammates and coaches volunteered to work the fundraiser and they also got a DJ to donate his services.
Can’t Stomach Cancer (CSC) was created by Debbie Zelman, a close family friend with incurable stomach cancer. The entire Gendler Family has been involved with this charity. Brittany put together “Cartwheels For Cancer” an afternoon of food, fun and flipping at West Broward Gymnastics Academy. Her friends were invited to come and asked to bring a donation for CSC. The event was promoted on Facebook and Giveforward.com and donations came rolling in. Over 63 kids attended
“Cartwheels For Cancer” and over $1,200.00 was raised.
Vendor Directory
The following vendors helped to make Brittany’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com
Venue: Hangar 9 at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, 954-828-4955
Party Planner: Mom Linda
Décor/florist: Mitch Amsterdam, Silver Lining Event Production, 954-917-1020
Catering: In-Flight Catering, a division of Silver Lining Productions
Photographer/Videographer: Barry Dryer, Affordable Affairs, 954-241-7001
Invitation: Miriam Conceicao, Talento Designs Invitations, 561-347-8165
Music Entertainment: MC, Ross Bielejeski, Rock With U Entertainment, 954-531-7900
Favor person: Kids Tshirts, Brett Wilkin, Squeegee Science
Extra Entertanment: Sara, Krispy Kreme Donuts, 305-949-5171
Kids Candy Cart: Kirk, Sugarman Candy, 954-746-2773
Flip n Pics: Barry Dryer, 954-663-0464
Laser Nails: Ann P. Fernandez, 954-389-3987
Fun Photos: Affordable Affairs
Game Zones: James, Party Antics, 954-255-1100
Horah chair: Mom Linda
Mom’s suit for service: Nordstrom’s Boca Raton Towne Center, Mom’s evening dress Susan Rose Dresses
Bat Mitzvah girl Brittany’s dress for services: Lisa, Shop Pink & Blues, 954-452-7775
and evening dress: Michelle Mario Pucci Boca, 561-982-8382
Suits for family members: Sam Nassour, Men’s Wearhouse, 954-423-4124
Hair/makeup: Alicia Truc, Femme Fatale, 954-240-5794
Double Decker Bus: Crystal, Corporate Coaches
January 20th, 2013
Most Bar Bat Mitzvah celebrations have some form of a sign-in board. We have written about cool sign-in boards in the past.
At left is a painted bench, done by artist Austin Guerra for a sign in that now is in the Bat Mitzvah girl’s room.
Here are some great and unique ideas for your child’s sign-in.
For this basketball themed Bar Mitzvah, the Lapidus family created their own basketball floor using adhesive wood stripes from Home Depot glued to a piece of plywood. Total cost = $45.00
From Jesse Hernandez Photography, this Bar Mitzvah boy had his guests sign-in on his Guitar Hero!
A mirror sign-in from Dazzling Parties that now hangs in the Bat Mitzvah girl’s bedroom
This hockey themed Gorelkin Bar Mitzvah spotlight had a DIY sign-in made from plexi-glass with the guest of honor’s name and hockey number in graffiti. Markers were tied with yellow hockey laces for guests to sign
From Max Aureli Photography, this Bat Mitzvah girl has an interest in fashion and her sign-in featured ribbons hanging from a mannequin. Guests left personal messages on the different colored ribbons
This unique sign-in from Simon Elliot Events used the Michael Jordan Jumpman outline, filled in with photos of the Bar Mitzvah boy
From Wendy Robinson Photography, a beautifully decorated box with a slot to just drop in a heartfelt message
From Beautiful Blooms, a locker to sign for a sports themed Bar Mitzvah
This beautiful sign-in pillow is from The Pieced Palette
For a fashion themed Bat Mitzvah, this DIY family had guests sign-in on a mannequin bust
For a Bat Mitzvah girl who loves ice cream, her photography session was printed on aluminum tiles then joined as a mural from Sarah Frances Photography
This LED lit screen, also from Simon Elliot Events, features a customized board frame and is now hanging in the Bar Mitzvah boy’s room
From Munoz Photography, we love this “Grateful Dream” bus created for Drew’s Bat Mitzvah
Did you have a unique sign-in idea for your child’s Bar Bat Mitzvah? Let us know at info@mitzvahmarket.com.
January 15th, 2013
Casey Kamiel celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on October 20, 2012. He has an unusual, large family tree filled with parents, step-parents, siblings & step-siblings who love him madly.
All the pieces to his puzzle resulted in a party filled with warmth and happiness at The Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange, New Jersey. An intimate and moving Havdalah service was followed by Casey’s friends and family partying the night away at a 1940’s retro baseball style celebration.
Mom Dayna Platnick plans parties for a living…but planning her own child’s was a whole different ball game.
Pictured above L-R: Mom Dayna and Bar Mitzvah boy Casey.
The photographer was Jesse Hernandez Photography and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of the spotlight.
Mitzvah Service & Invitation
Mom Dayna & Stephanie Tarre of Stationery Stephanie created this custom invitation from Spotlight Designs.
The invitation was made of chocolate brown leather and cork, which set the tone for the 1940’s baseball theme
Casey draped in his Tallit, given to him on this special occasion by his Uncle Josh and Aunt Stefanie
Casey's siblings Sydney, Ben and Lexi wishing Casey a Mazel Tov!
Mitzvah Details
Baseball was the theme which is Bar Mitzvah boy Casey’s passion. This party was done with a vintage feel and his logo, “Casey@ the bat” was taken from the famous baseball poem, “Casey at the Bat” written by Ernest L. Thayer. Mitzvah Mom Dayna and Jersey Street Furniture hit a home run with the vintage baseball decor. With a palette of orange and chocolate brown they created the feeling of 1940’s baseball, a la the movie “The Natural.” The room was also draped and lit in amber lights. Where the Flowers Bloom created the beautiful centerpieces.
Mom Dayna, together with Sandy Hines of Jersey Street Furniture created "Casey's Starting Line Up" to help guests find their table assignments on clipboards. Lory Bernstein designed the guest lists that were placed alphabetically on the clipboards; a great alternative to place cards
The chain link fence, retro pennants and clipboards gave the feel of a ball park
Jersey Street Furniture created a cool kids' area with distressed leather couches, a light up logo bar and custom pillows
Debbie from 'Where Flowers Bloom' used 15 different vintage crates, one on each table, with mason jars, wheat grass, curly willow, tonal flowers and tons of candle lights for a spectacular effect
Jersey Street Furniture wrapped the dance floor in Casey's logo
Bar Mitzvah boy Casey came up with the "Mr October" custom napkins (a nod to Reggie Jackson) from Stationery Stephanie
Mom Dayna, painted Casey's logo on his closet door, brought it to the venue and everyone signed it so Casey could have a fun reminder of the evening right in his room without adding to the clutter!
Music & Entertainment
Shine Events provided the music entertainment.
Casey "made his entrance" by dancing in with the Shine Event dancers to "Gangham Style" as his guests went wild!
Opening ceremonies started as Casey threw out the first pitch to his Dad, Andy
…and Dad Andy makes the catch!
Jason Liebman Music entertained the adults during cocktails with the sounds of The Stones and Springsteen to create a cool atmosphere for drinking, dining and laughter. Casey and his friends got crazy with Emcee Mike, DJ Brian & the high energy party motivators from Shine Events
The girls rocked their baseball socks!
Casey in the thick of things
Casey's Grandma & Aunts had a blast dancing on the lighted stages wearing shades provided by Shine
Total Entertainment brought this photo wall, reminiscent of Casey's room at home, where guests posed for a picture that they got to take home in a frame
In the kids cocktail room, a March-Madness type tournament was center stage and Shine Events lined up loads of pop-a-shots and the kids loved vying for the title of Casey's Madness Champion!
The "Wolfpack" toasted the Bar Mitzvah Boy with a skit from "The Hangover" and shots of 7-up
And of course, the evening wouldn't be complete without the mother-son dance!
Mitzvah Favors & Exit Treats
Late in the evening, baseball-style-vendors offered “Casey @ the bat” t-shirts to the adults while kids received an awesome hoodie! Shine Events built Casey’s Corner and it was the place to be at midnight! Complete with magazines, bottled water and retro candies, kids and adults were thrilled with the late night treats.
T-shirts for the adults
The grey sweatshirt favor had Casey's logo. Check out those shoelace ties
Casey manning "Casey's Corner"
Water bottles with Casey's logo
Ice cream was served in these mini logo'd baseball hats
Mom to Mom
Advice from Mom Dayna, a party planner:
“Finding the right DJ, florist, photographer, etc. aren’t an easy task. After working with many vendors over the years, I chose an all-star cast to create “Casey @ the bat.” To me, the hard part was dealing with the emotional end of this event during the weeks leading up to it. True, the party was undeniably important to Casey & me, but ultimately I was wrestling with the fact that he was turning 13 and my baby is gone forever. On October 20th I was overwhelmed with sheer joy; beaming as my son read from the Torah, as he hugged & kissed his grandparents and as he rocked on the dance floor with his ‘Wolfpack.’ Best advice I can give? Just be in the moment; be present and feel every emotion because it’s over in a blink.”
Vendor Directory
Here is a list of the Mitzvah Vendors who helped make Casey’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you call any of them, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: The Wilshire Grand Hotel, 973-731-7007
Party Planner: Casey’s Mom, Dayna Platnick Events, dakamiel@aol.com
Music Entertainment: MC Mike, Shine Events
Cocktail Hour Guitarist: Jason Liebman Music
Favors: Alison Halper, ID Clothing, alisonhalper@aol.com
Extra Entertainment: Shine Events, March Madness Tourney, Air hockey & Airbrush Tattoo, Casey’s Corner newsstand
Photo Wall: Total Entertainment
Photographer: Jesse Hernandez Photography
Videography: Kristin O’Gorman Productions, kristen.ogorman@gmail.com
Invitation: Stationery Stephanie
Florists: Where Flowers Bloom
Computer Calligraphy: Lory Bernstein, loryrb@aol.com
Décor: Jersey Street Furniture
Day of Event Coordinator: Cynthia Pesce Events
Sign-In board: Casey’s closet door, painted by Mom
Mom’s Dress: Neiman Marcus
Suits for family members: Sam’s Fine Men’s Clothing
Hair/makeup: Rita Scrivo-Longo, My Cinderella’s Dream
Party security: Bar Mitzvah Bouncer
Socks: Epic Sports
January 15th, 2013
Mama’s Custom Cookies can create unique, fun, personalized, delicious custom cookies as place cards, candle lighting giveaways, logos and parting Mitzvah exit treats.
Here are some examples:
These Moustache cookies on a stick can be used as props for your photo booth and then enjoyed as a delicious treat
Have Mama’s create cookies to match your theme!
Monogrammed cookies are fun. Add a sticker or more frosting and you have a place card!
Initials
Any sports theme
Customize any app on a cookie!
For more information, visit their Website.
January 12th, 2013
Balloon Artistry, established in 1987, is a full service party design company famous for transforming parties into magical unforgettable memories.
They will make your party room feel fun, festive and youthful creating an environment for your party that will put a smile on your face and make your guests excited to celebrate with you and your family.
Recently, Balloon Artistry created the decor for a Bat Mitzvah girl who wanted her theme to revolve around all her favorite television shows. They used custom designed TV centerpieces for her celebration at Rockleigh in a color combination of black, gold and turqoise blue.
Emily’s “Emmy” theme!
Guests were greeted by a blow-up of Emily and seating cards
Each guest received a nominee place card
Table sparkle balloons add to the decor
Table numbers in the shape of a television
The black, turquoise blue and gold balloons looked beautiful on the ceiling
Emily loves The X Factor and for each centerpiece, she was included in the photo!
The Voice was represented
Glee is another favorite!
Here’s Emily starring in Modern Family
We thank Balloon Artistry for sharing this theme with our readers. For more information, visit their Website or Facebook page.
January 9th, 2013
100 Percent Fun Entertainment is your direct source for photo favors, flip books, virtual graffiti walls, photo booths, pop noggins, cell phone covers, air brushing, canvas art, table games, basketball games, interactive games, video game trusses, casino games, sign in boards, canvas art, karaoke & DJ setups, license plates, lounge setup and much more!!!
Just ask…they can package anything you’d like and can save you money.
Here’s some of what they offer:
New Bobbly Heads
Pop Noggins’
Airbrushing
Photobooth
Graffiti Wall
Fun game tables
For more information, visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.
Mention Mitzvah Market and save $100 off a package of $1,500 or more.
January 9th, 2013
By Molly Alexander
Hi! My name is Mölly. I’ve recently started going to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and I’m so excited to start writing about them. I love attending Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties because I feel like each celebration has a unique touch, and I love finding out what it is! I’m excited to bring my perspective to MitzvahMarket.com.
I hope you enjoy my first post:
I went to a Bat Mitzvah on January 5th, 2013. It was the celebration of my first friend, and we’ve known each other since we were kids. Her theme was New York City, and I loved everything about it. The unique thing I found at Chelsea’s Bat Mitzvah was her sign-in board. I loved it! It went perfectly with her theme, and it was super cool.
On the table, guests found two racks containing postcards. Some were of NYC that read, “Chelsea” and many others. The guest would select a postcard, fill it out with a sweet message for Chelsea and drop it in a plastic blue mailbox in between the two racks. It was so creative and well fit for her theme!
I was so excited to be celebrating Chelsea’s special day with her, and I know she had a fabulous time!
About Molly Alexander
I’m in 7th grade at Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua and I love to write. Every summer since 2010, I’ve been writing a summer column in my local newspaper. I also do Bat/Bar Mitzvah reports on Instagram. Follow me @mitzvahgirl!
I will mostly likely attend 60-80 Bat/Bar Mitzvah celebrations before I finish eighth grade. I am so excited to be writing for Mitzvah Market!
January 8th, 2013
Mitzvah Market brings you, our readers, the newest products and services for Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations.
We recently learned about Tablums and couldn’t wait to share this just released product with our readers.
The Tablum is an innovative and unique album that combines High Definition Video with a traditional photo album. They are available in many sizes and shapes and tablet choices.
Although they look like your usual photo album, it has a place for a tablet computer! On the above album, it’s in the center
Tablet choices are the iPAD 2, iPAD mini and the Blackberry Playbook. They all can be placed on the front cover, inside front cover (as shown above) or inside back cover depending on your preference
Pricing starts at $905. The Tablum enables the viewer to watch video of your event from start to finish or by segments of your event simply by touching a descriptive icon. You can also view photographs that haven’t been included in your photo album by using the photo icon on the tablet.
You provide the photos and video, they create your Tablum! For more information, visit www.Tablums.com.
January 8th, 2013
Hannah Geeser celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on May 26, 2012 at the MGM Grand Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Her celebration was themed “Hannah’s Sweet Shoppe,” and it was indeed an extra sweet party because it was not only her Bat Mitzvah, but also her 13th birthday!
All photography was provided by Kimberly Zatezalo of KZ Portraits and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom.
Pictured left, L-R: Dad Michael, Bat Mitzvah girl Hannah, Mom Jordana and Brother Noah
Tangible Color designed the fun invitations and the adorable stickers that acted as a seal for the envelope.
Sealed with a candy
The invitation included everything a guest needed to know, all neatly folded into one place
Hannah’s dress was from Patty’s Closet and her shoes were from JC Penny (with small alterations done by Mom!).
Purple and green are Hannah’s favorite colors
The original shoes had a fabric that didn’t match the dress, so Mom Jordana took fabric from Hannah’s shawl and re-threaded the sandals to match
Hannah’s Mom Jordana, was the party planner, and she used purple and green balloons to create a fun vibe for the party.
Hannah entered through this sign, with balloons from Balloon Utopia
Throughout the room were balloons that looked like lollipops to tie in the candy theme
The area also had 20 foot floor to ceiling windows that faced the MGM pool area — a beautiful backdrop once the sun set
Colorful letters spelled out Hannah’s name in purple and lime green
High Flyin’ Entertainment provided the music entertainment for Hannah’s event with Britni as the MC.
After the Horah, Hannah’s grandparents said the prayer over the challah and the wine
Hannah wasn’t scared to be lifted in the chair — she had a ball
At the conclusion of dinner, Hannah’s cake was wheeled onto the dance floor and everyone gathered to sing “Happy Birthday.”
The cake was decorated like candy dot paper in three layers, with a handmade swirl lollipop with Hannah’s picture on top
Jordana used Design A Mosaic to create Hannah’s sign-in board.
She used more than 600 photos of Hannah from birth to present, and tried to include everyone who was at the event in at least one photo
There was a twenty foot candy table with more than 25 different types of candy.
As a party planner herself, Mom Jordana has a lot of advice about organizing a stress-free event:
“My biggest piece of advice is plan ahead. I started planning for Hannah’s event the day we booked her Bat Mitzvah at our synagogue – over a year ahead of the date. I started searching the internet and Pinterest for ideas. Once we picked out the colors and the theme, I started making the centerpieces, investigating the right vendors, making a lot of lists. By planning early, I was able to find candy themed items after Christmas (found colored lights and decorations), Valentine’s Day (candy and decorations) and Easter (candy) at a discounted rate – some even 80% off. I even found a candy warehouse in Los Angeles that had candy at a huge discount. I had a trip planned ahead of time and brought back all the candy in our car. The candy warehouse (Jack’s Candy Warehouse) saved me over $300 in just the candy alone. By staying organized and having the time you can save money and be ready ahead of time which lets you have a better time at your child’s event with less stress!
Hannah with her parents
Hannah collected money by making duct tape wallets and purses to give to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She also started a team that walked in the annual walk-a-thon in Las Vegas. She collected over $800.
This is just one of many adorable designs Hannah created
The following vendors helped to make Hannah’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: Carlos Collado, Executive Director of Catering, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino – Convention Center, 702-891-1265
Party Planner: Mom Jordana Geeser, 702-480-2255
Music Entertainment: Mike Susara, High Flyin’ Entertainment, 702-354-3831
Favors (Mini Candy Dispensers): Beau Coup
Photobooth: Todd, Shutterbooth, 888-780-8837
Photographer: Kimberly Zatezalo, KZ Portraits, 702-463-2200
Invitations and Printing: Scott Wellington, Tangible Color, 702-948-8948
Stickers: Scott Wellington, Tangible Color, 702-948-8948
Life-sized banners: Scott Wellington, Tangible Color, 702-948-8948
Cake: Carlos Collado, Executive Director of Catering, MGM Grand Hotel, 702-891-1265
Balloons: Anthony Cooper, Balloon Utopia, 702-456-8688
Sign-In board: Design A Mosaic, Michaels Craft Store
Transportation: Belltrans, 702-739-7990
Videographer: Michael Geeser, Poppy Productions, 702-480-2256
