Hadassah – The Women’s Zionist Organization of America

The Singer Bat Mitzvah Family Spotlight

The Singer family of Tenafly, New Jersey, celebrated daughter Billie’s Bat Mitzvah on October 12, 2013, at Lubavitch on the Palisades in Tenafly, New Jersey and reception at the 201 Club, an event venue in Englewood, New Jersey.

Billie is a huge music fan and has been playing the guitar since she was 9 years old. She wanted her Bat Mitzvah to reflect her love of playing and listening to rock ‘n’ roll music, so the party was set up to feel like a Rock concert.

Pictured L-R: Mom Dena, Bat Mitzvah girl Billie, Little sister Goldie and Dad Garrett.

The photographer was Jesse Hernandez and the rest of the vendor information is at the end of the spotlight.

 

It was clear when guests received Billie’s invitation that they were invited to a Rock ‘n’ Roll party. The custom design by LetterBoxInk by Laura Nehls was a beautifully wrapped record album with all the party details.

The invitation suite

The RSVP card was designed to mimic a concert ticket stub and guests especially enjoyed the song request card 

Billie’s mom and dad created the “Rock On” hand logo in the Led Zeppelin font.

It was displayed on multiple TV and movie screens and shown throughout the evening

This is a creative family and mom and dad own an architecture and design firm, Garrett Singer Architecture & Design, so they couldn’t wait to use their talents and resources for their daughter’s party. Most of the decor and favors were designed by them. The dark red lounge environment of the 201 Club was the perfect venue to recreate a rock hangout.  

The seating areas were decorated with custom pillows made from vintage concert T-shirts created by mom Dena

Mom Dena’s handiwork rocks!

The walls were plastered with “Billie” concert flyers and posters also made by mom Dena

Different colors added to the concert vibe

Balloons filled the ceiling adding to the festivities and Billie’s name displayed on screens made for a great party atmosphere

Guitars for Parties created the card box made to look like an amplifier

To create a rocker vibe, the room was decorated with glowing red vases and red mercury glass candles

Guitars for Parties created the sign-in which had a big glittered heart and two solid black guitars that could be signed with silver markers.

 Kids and adults rocked out all night with MC AG and his crew from Geo Events. Current hits, old-school rock and hip hop from Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Run DMC, got everyone on the dance floor.

Billie enjoyed the Horah in her high-tops

MC AG had the crowd going all night long

MC AG in the middle of the action

There was non-stop dancing for both kids and parents

Billie’s friends took a quick time-out from dancing for a photo op

Billie started off the night in beautiful silver heels, but quickly changed into red Converse sneakers. She gave her friends Converse-style socks to do the same

 In addition to a fun photo booth with props, they had a tattoo artist who had made stencils of Billie’s logo and used it as a tattoo option.

Billie’s red velvet cake and cupcake tower from Miller’s Bakeshop perfectly reflected the rock ‘n’ roll theme.

Complete with a red guitar cake topper and rock star cupcakes

Love the cake topper!

 Distressed vintage style concert t-shirts were given out at the end of the night. Girls got gray and black raglans and boys received black tees.

Each bag had Billie’s custom logo

The front of the girls (left) and the boys (right)

The back, “NJ Tour 2013”

Billie started her own foundation called “Look Good, Feel Good.” She was able to raise $2500 to make bags filled with lip gloss, fuzzy socks, hand lotions, nail stickers to give out to teenage girls in the hospital. Her hope was that if the girls could spend some time making themselves feel good by acting like regular teenage girls, it would lift their spirits and help them feel better too. She dropped off about 100 bags to Tomorrows Children’s Fund at Hackensack Hospital and Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, New York.

Billie packed up everything she collected

Some of the colorful lip gloss, fuzzy socks, hand lotions and nail stickers that were donated

 Some advice from Mom Dena:
“Having the right feel to your party makes a huge impact! Whether its use of color, décor, themes, etc. there are so many cool (many simple and inexpensive!) ideas out there that can set your event apart from the pack. I recommend doing a lot of online research, which really helped us formulate our design direction for the party- from the invitations to the cake to the logo. Once we picked our theme, we spent a lot of time looking on Google, Pinterest, Etsy, etc to see what unique and fresh ideas we could come up with based on our rock and roll concept. If you want to do something that will make a lasting impression, finding the right inspiration and ideas are everything!! 

 The following vendors helped to make Billie’s Bat Mitzvah special. If you call any of them, please let them know you read about them on MitzvahMarket.com. 

Temple: Lubavitch on the Palisades, 201-871-1152
Venue: 201 Club,  201-541-0101
Party Planner: Mom Dena Singer
Photographer: Jesse Hernandez Photography, 732-781-5935
Music Entertainment: MC AG, Geo Events, 212-572-8323
Florist: Town and Country Florist, 914-747-4777
Custom guitar centerpieces/sign in/cardbox: Marylss and Stacey Guitars for Parties, 248-669-3622
Custom Pillows: Mom Dena
Logo: Created by Garrett and Dena Singer
Favors: T-shirts printed by Inksoft, 914- 664-3450
Party entertainment: Photo Booth/Tattoo Artist: Geo Events, 212-572-8323
Invitation: LetterBoxInk by Laura Nehls, lauranehlsdesign@gmail.com
Cake/Cupcakes: Miller’s Bakery, 201-871-4449
Custom Rock Posters: Mom Dena
Custom movie screen animations: Designed by Garrett Singer, produced by Geo Events
Mom Dena’s dress: The Engle Shop, 201-568-1331
Billie and Goldie’s dresses: Bobbi’s Golden Hanger, 201-768-7770
Suits for Dad Garrett: Hugo Boss Suit, Shirt and Tie from Vero Uomo, 201-894-1424
Hair: Hair by Bruno Gulkan at Gloss Salon, 201-541-7272
Makeup: Makeup by Khuraira, 201-227-1135

The Joshua Cohen Bar Mitzvah Family Spotlight

The Cohen family from Ardsley, New York, celebrated son Joshua’s Bar Mitzvah on October 19, 2013, with a Havdalah service at Shaarei Tikvah in Scarsdale, New York, and a reception following.

Family and friends got to share in a creative themed “Throw Back Sports Players” party.

Pictured L-R: Dad Jonathan, Bar Mitzvah boy Joshua, Sister Samantha and Mom Eileen.

The photographer was Fantasy Flash Photography and the rest of the of the vendor information is listed at the end of the spotlight.

There was a beautiful Havdalah service at Shaarei Tikvah.

Josh proudly held the torah

The yarmulke basket was accented with New York Giants logo’d ribbon

 
The color palette for the party was All-American red, white and navy and started with the invitation by Marcie Nobel.

This family looked great. Sister Samantha sparkled in her gown from All Dressed Up. Mom Eileen’s glamorous look was from Neiman Marcus. Bar Mitzvah boy Josh and Dad Jonathan looked great in their navy suits from Lubin’s Boys Clothing, and Rothmans, located within the same store.

Brian Williams Events created the decor using the All-American red, white and blue color palette. Josh’s friends had a great time in the kids lounge and the adults enjoyed a sit-down dinner.

The place cards were ticket stubs featuring famous New York athletes

 
The kids lounge area was decorated with LED coffee tables and high tops

Player cut-outs attached to balloons were used as centerpieces. Table linens were alternating red, white and navy with coordinating napkins

A Yankee logo on “turf” added a fun touch to the buffet

This was a very special gift for Josh. His “Nana” made the sign-in book for him.

The sign-in book cover

 
Inside Josh’s guests left him funny and heartfelt messages 

MC Alex Lampert and the team from Jimmy Dee had the guests on the dance floor all night long.

Josh was all smiles in the chair for the Horah

Everyone danced with MC Alex

The Cohen family took the stage

Jimmy Dee Entertainment also provided games during the cocktail hour and reception.

 The kids enjoyed Foosball

  Josh on stage with MC Alex trying to stump the guests

 Custom napkins and dancing socks were some of the details that were part of this celebration.

Red, white and navy cocktail napkins

Colorful socks were provided for the girls

 The cake put everyone in a “New York State of Mind.”

Josh’s candle lighting was a family affair.

 
The Cohen family

It was also filled with lots of good friends

The whole gang posed for a picture

 
The sweatshirt for Josh’s friends was created by DeeJDesign.

Favor bags were packed and labeled for Josh’s friends

The front of the sweatshirt

 The back with all the sports Josh plays

 The candy buffet was a yummy selection of candy and treats.

Josh worked through the temple and once-a-month helped with elderly people, special needs kids and he made sandwiches for the homeless.

Some advice from Mom Eileen:
“If you did your research and hired all the right vendors you finally need to let go the day/night of your party and put your trust in them.”

 The following vendors helped to make Josh’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com. 

Venue: Shaarei Tikvah, 914-472-2013
Party Planner: Mom Eileen Cohen
Music Entertainment: Jimmy Dee Entertainment, MC Alex Lampert, 914-428-9231
Photographer/Videographer:  Fantasy Flash Photography & Video,  914-428-9231
Décor/florist: Billy, Brian William Event Decorators, 845-628-0614
Favor: Deborah J. Wiskind, DeeJDesign, 914-330-5765
Party Entertainment games and photo booth: Jimmy Dee Entertainment
Invitation: Marcie Nobel, allthewayhome@msn.com, 917-601-3949
Sign-In book: Created by Josh’s Nana
Napkins: Memorable Moments, 954-973-1144
Socks: Modell’s
Sister Samantha’s dress: All Dressed Up, 914-690-1593
Mom Eileen’s dress: Neiman Marcus
Suit for Dad Jonathan: Rothmans, 914-713-0300
Suit for Bar Mitzvah boy Josh: Lubin’s Boys Clothing, 914-713-0300
Hair/makeup: Jessica Perez, 914-539-1542

Tips For Your Family Casual Photo Shoot From Impressions Photo & Video

Impressions Photo & Video offers a seamless blend of traditional, casual and contemporary photography. They have been photographing Weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and special occasions for over twenty years.

Although they have covered almost two thousand events, they still know that every event is unique and approach each assignment with freshness, drive and passion.

At Impressions, it’s not just the camera, it’s the personality behind the camera. It’s about making a connection with their clients and creating images that are as unique as they are.

We spoke with Jeff from Impressions to learn more about their casual photo shoots with Bar Bat Mitzvah families and to share some helpful tips. See below:

MM: What questions do you ask the family before the shoot?
Jeff: It’s important to know more about the Bar Bat Mitzvah child so the session can be tailored to fit their personality. What sport do they play, are they into art, music, video games? What type of vibe are they looking for? This way we can suggest an appropriate location for the shoot. If the family is at a loss, we can suggest a comfortable setting where we can capture relaxed images of them.

You feel this Goalie’s intensity

Keansburg Amusement Park was the perfect backdrop to go with this arcade themed party

Body language and expression say it all here

Clients have strong emotional ties to images created at their home

Die hard “Gamer”

A NY Yankee fan…

MM: What clothing do you recommend for the families to wear?
Jeff: We suggest that everyone is coordinated with both their style of clothing and color selection. Dressy khakis are popular as are denim with white or black shirts. If it’s a beach session, obviously they can be more casual with bare feet. The most important thing is for everyone to feel comfortable wearing something that makes them feel great.

Pets are family too!

Same family above and below

We went to the beach for the oldest son’s session, then 2 years later, we worked at Deep Cut Gardens for his younger sister! They grow up so fast!

MM: Is there a certain time of day that works best?
Jeff: Yes, the best time for “sweet light” is 90 minutes before sunset for an outside shoot.

Asbury Park is a great place to capture more of an “Urban” feel

 Showing love in Asbury Park

MM: We understand you are able to create sign-in books/posters from these shoots creating a special keepsake for the families.
Jeff: We get such a terrific selection of photos as a result of these casual shoots that not only can the family use these shots for their party decor, but also for their sign-in boards and posters.

 This 30 x 40 Signature Board was hand designed from some favorite images captured at her Casual Session

We traveled to Yankee Stadium for this one!
 

As an option, your display board doesn’t have to be signed

 To learn more about Impressions Photo & Video, please visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.

Mitzvah Find: Keep Calm & Eat Falafel!

Taiim Falafel Shack located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, can now serve their delicious falafel’s at your Bar Bat Mitzvah celebration using their cart that is named, “Sa-Ba-Ba-d’ Wheels.”

“Sababa” means awesome in Hebrew and this mobile food cart is dedicated to making one item, an awesome falafel!

Bring the taste of Israel to your Bar Bat Mitzvah party and as they say at Taiim Falafel Shack, “Keep Calm & Eat Falafel.”

This mobile food cart is available for your event

One awesome falafel with all the fixings!

For more infomation, contact Taiim Falafel Shack at 914-478-0006.

The Alexis Goldstein Bat Mitzvah Family Spotlight

The Goldstein family from Katonah, New York, celebrated their daughter Alexis’ Bat Mitzvah on November 30, 2013, at Temple Beth Am in Yorktown Heights, New York. A reception immediately followed at Brynwood Country Club in Armonk, New York.

Since Alexis dances 4-5 times a week, a dance theme was the obvious choice. This theme was cleverly used on the party elements including the creative centerpiece idea from Mom Sherrie.

Pictured L-R: Dad Steve, Brother Mikey, Bat Mitzvah girl Alexis and Mom Sherrie.

The photographer was Liz Hartzman of Liz Photo and the rest of the vendor information is listed at the end of the spotlight.

The service was held at Temple Beth Am.

  Alexis posed holding the Torah

Alexis did a great job leading the service

The Goldstein family worked with Fine Lines of Katonah on this elegant invitation which had a sparkle and turquoise border with a tulle shimmery bow across the top.

  The turquoise crystal dotting the “i” in Alexis was an elegant touch

The decor was created by Mom Sherrie who owns Logos and More. The place cards were mini duffel bag key chains just like the kind of bags you’d bring to your dance class. Inside each duffel bag key chain were personalized M&M’s in Hanukkah colors.

 The place cards featured her logo, a silhouette of a dancer with Alexis’ initials

The tables had clever Dance-themed names. This one says, “Hip Hop”

The ballroom looked amazing all dressed up

 
The centerpieces were made using old costumes from Alexis’ dance recitals

Each centerpiece featured a matching photo of Alexis wearing the displayed costume

Alexis posed with all of the creative centerpieces

 Instead of a traditional sign-in book or board, friends and family left their messages on this cool pink locker  which is now in Alexis’ bedroom and is a great reminder of her special day.

Mom Sherrie decorated the locker with magnets representing Alexis’ favs such as her school, dance studio and their town 

 Alexis had fun being escorted into the ballroom.

There was great energy in the room thanks to MC Chris Vernia and his team from Double Image Event Productions.

 It’s Horah time! 

 
Everyone got into the action

Alexis, the center of attention

 Double Image Event Productions provided fun cocktail hour games.

Alexis and her friends really loved Twister

The Flip Book from The Main Event was a big hit and each one had the logo on the cover

Brynwood Country Club provided the beautiful cake.

The Goldstein family

My QTees created the sweatshirt favors for the girls and boys in different colors.

Pink hooded sweatshirts for the girls
 

  The back had a female dancer silhouette

 The boys’ version

Since this Bat Mitzvah celebration took place during the week of Hanukkah, the family handed out gelt to each guest. Mom Sherrie packaged them up in organza bags and turquoise ribbons from Michaels. They also served jelly donuts as a departure treat.

Alexis collected money and food for local food banks including The Putnam Food Bank. She and a good friend set up a table with homemade posters and asked people entering the grocery store to consider helping out. They were overwhelmed with the generous response from the community.

 One of the colorful posters

Alexis on the left and her friend Christine Cahill felt good to know they were helping families put food on their Thanksgiving table

Some advice from Mom Sherrie:
“You probably won’t accomplish everything you want for the big day. It won’t be the big things—it will be the small things (i.e. ordering extra balloons, the flavor of the cake, the shoes you’ll wear, etc.) You will simply run out of time and it will be ok. The big and important stuff will get done and everything will just fall into place.”

The following vendors helped to make Alexis’ celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com

Venue/Cake: Brynwood Country Club, 914-273-9300
Party Planner: Mom Sherrie Goldstein, Logos and More, 914-424-3268
Photographer: Liz Hartzman, Liz Photo.com, 914-636-7618
Music Entertainment/MC­: Double Image Event Productions, 914-773-1950
Centerpieces/Place cards: Sherrie Goldstein, Logos and More, 914-424-3268
Favor person: Jon Deutsch, jpdeutsch3@gmail.com
Videographer: Double Image Event Productions, 914-773-1950
FlipBooks/ photo station: The Main Event, 800-839-0918
Invitation: Fine Lines of Katonah, 914-232-4856
Sign-In Locker: Bizchair, 800-924-2472
Gelt: Go Candy, 800-946-2263
Bat Mitzvah Girl Alexis dress: A Step Ahead, 203-329-2959
Dress for Mom Sherrie: Vintage, 914-242-9846
Dad Steve and brother Mikey’s suits: Rothman’s/Lubin’s Boys Clothing, Westchester location, 914-713-0300
Hair: Gloss Hair Salon, 914-232-0765
Make-up: KD StudioNY, 914-301-5798
Transportation: Chappaqua Transportation, 914-238-4404
Party security: Brynwood Country Club

EK Productions and The New York Giants Rock A Bar Mitzvah

EK Productions is a professional group of entertainers founded in 1986. Their company has grown from a successful DJ operation to a full scale event planning unit, specializing in videos, dancers, automated lighting and special effects, games, percussionists, MCs and other exciting entertainment for Bar Bat Mitzvah celebrations. 

Recently Evan from EK Productions was the MC for the Rovner family at their sons AJ’s Bar Mitzvah at Oceanside Jewish Center in Oceanside, New York.

 
 
AJ received a HUGE surprise from his Dad! With the help of Thuzio.com, eight New York Giants football players arrived at this already-in-progress rockin’ celebration!

Pictures above are AJ, his Dad, the EK dancers and New York Giants Ottis Anderson, Michael Cox, Stephen Baker,
Henry Hynoski, Prince Amukamara, Jaquain Williams, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Walter Thurmond III

As you can imagine, the guests at this celebration went wild. The players did the “Wobble” and “Apache” with MC Evan and AJ. Additionally, they danced with everyone and took pictures with guests. A night everyone will not soon forget!

The excitement continued as many press outlets picked up on this story:

Watch Prince Amukamara on TMZ here.

Read about it in the Washington Post here.

The Bleacher Report calls this a “wild” Bar Mitzvah party! Read it here.

We thank the Rovner family and EK Productions for sharing this special celebration with our readers.

To learn more about EK Productions, visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.

A Great Year For Gotham T-Shirts

Gotham T-shirts is a full service screen printer who uses award-winning artists to create logos and designs for all Bar Bat Mitzvah needs. They proudly offer personalized custom screen printing, embroidery, art and theme designs for your Bar Bat Mitzvah. Their fashion designs look best on hooded and zipper sweatshirts, T-shirts, flannel PJ sweatpants and nylon draw string back packs. 

They moved to a new location in 2013 and are now located at 211 Glen Cove Avenue in Sea Cliff.

They recently expanded to a new location with a larger showroom featuring new state-of-the-art screen printing/embroidery equipment bringing their customers even better quality

They print over 130,000 hooded sweatshirts and t-shirts a year!
During the month of March, they are printing 35 Bar Bat Mitzvah jobs!

With their newly designed website, you can read up-to-the-minute news on their Facebook with their new scrolling feed. They post how-to videos and photos of all of their cool stuff! 

Check out their Bar Bat Mitzvah samples here

For more information and to see many samples of their work, visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory. 

Mitzvah Project: Flip For A Cure

We are excited to share a great Mitzvah Project from Morgan Rubin and the Rubin family from South Florida who honored a dear friend, Molli Serrano, who passed away from Pancreatic Cancer.

When Morgan received her Bat Mitzvah date she knew that she would also be responsible for an official “Mitzvah Project.” Both Morgan’s and Molli’s love for being active was a natural springboard for her Mitzvah Project!

Morgan is an avid gymnast and wanted to honor her family friend so “Flip for a Cure” was born.

MM: Why did you decide to take on this particular project?
MR: When a very good friend of our family, Molli Serrano, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer she was just 38 years old, a married mother of twins and was in amazing physical shape. She had completed several Ironman Triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) and was in training for another. Molli’s diagnosis came as a complete shock to all who knew her. From that moment on our family rallied around Molli and became extremely interested in Pancreatic Cancer. What we learned about Pancreatic Cancer was truly astonishing:

• Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over nearly 40 years.

• Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

• Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. 94% of pancreatic cancer patients will die within five years of diagnosis only 6% will survive more than five years. 74% of patients die within the first year of diagnosis.

• The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is just three to six months.

Molli was determined to fight this horrible disease and did so for 25 months. She was considered “lucky” to be able to fight that long. Unfortunately, she passed away on July 15, 2013, just 1 month after her 40th Birthday. Molli was a real life super-hero!

MM: Can you give us details of your Mitzvah Project?
MR: During the time Molli was battling her illness we performed many “mini-mitzvahs. We made dinner for her family, visited often, participated in several Pancreatic Cancer walks, runs and bike rides. We wore purple (the color of Pancreatic Cancer) often and always keep Molli and her family in close contact. We never really considered them “mitzvahs,” they were just what we did to help out a friend and family in need.

We contacted Park Avenue Gymnastics in Cooper City, Florida, and they graciously donated two hours of “Open Gym” plus all the staff for our event. We decided to charge $10 per participant to come into the gym and take advantage of all Park Avenue had to offer. There were trampolines, tumble tracks, ball pits, mats, bars, spring floor and all sorts of active fun.

Morgan and her friend ready to check-in the participants

MM: How did you spread the word?
MR: We advertised our event everywhere! We posted it on Facebook, put up flyers at the Temple, contacted our friends and sent many emails. Our goal was to have 50 kids. We also asked many local businesses to make donations. We were very lucky to receive many food items such as purple and white cookies, purple iced donuts, ice cream, chips and salsa, water, juice, trail mix and many more fun snacks! We even had one vendor donate purple ribbon glitter tattoos and an attendant to put them on during the event.  We received incredible support from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan) that provided us with PanCan tablecloths, purple ribbons, purple bracelets and tablecloths for our event.

 We had some fun purple items such as sunglasses, bubbles, mustaches, necklaces and lots of other purple items to help “paint the gym purple”

MM: Anything else we need to know about your Mitzvah Project?
MR: Our event was held on Saturday, May 3^rd. It was absolutely amazing! We had about 100 children from ages 8 months to 13 years old participate. We also had over 100 adults come and support the event. We raised $3,100 for Pancreatic Cancer to advance research, support patients and create hope. While our friend Molli was not there in person, we knew she was there in spirit. Her children and family participated in our event as well. Long after my Bat Mitzvah has passed, we will continue the fight against Pancreatic Cancer and will forever be proud members of Team Molli.

All the great participants

We thank Morgan Rubin and her family for sharing this very inspiring and wonderful Bat Mitzvah project with
Mitzvah Market. To read more about Pancreatic Cancer Action Network please click here.

Sports Fantasy Bar Mitzvah Theme

Matthew Menis celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at B’nai Israel in Oakdale, New York. The reception was held at Giorgio’s at Fox Hill in Baiting Hollow, New York. Matthew’s “Big Apple” Sports Fantasy theme featured the 8 major New York sports teams and the beautiful New York City skyline. This theme was also incorporated into the decor, cake and favors.

Pictured L-R: Dad Stuart, Mom Beth and Bar Mitzvah boy Matthew.

Photography by Neal Bloom was the photographer and the rest of the vendor information is at the end of the spotlight.

 Bar Mitzvah boy Matthew at the Bimah with his parents

Vendor Directory

The following vendors helped to make Matthew’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.