April 20th, 2014
The Hack family from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, celebrated daughter Morgan’s Bat Mitzvah at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Her theme was Morgan’s TV Land and it was a stylish sitcom soiree.
Pictured L-R: Dad Craig, Bat Mitzvah girl Morgan and Mom Alison.
Flash Photo and Video was the photographer and the rest of the vendor information is listed at the end of the spotlight.
Rachel Kurland Ink in New York, created the Lucite invitation in pink and lime green
Morgan at her beautiful temple
Picture perfect in pink
Dalsimer Atlas Florists created the decor around the TV Land logo in a hot pink and green apple color palette. Each table centerpiece was created around TV Land’s popular shows with a special guest inserted into the posters. A great idea for the seating chart
Morgan and her parents at the entrance to the kids’ lounge
Morgan’s face was superimposed on each centerpiece like this one for “Punky Brewster”
Morgan as “Doogie Howser, M.D.”
Guests had the opportunity to write a note to Morgan in a customized photo sign-in book done by Flash Photo and Video
In a very creative video, Morgan appears in her favorite shows aligning with the TV Land theme. The story line of the video was Morgan watching TV and then she climbed into the TV and appeared on each of the shows that she had as corresponding tables at her party. All the kids and adults love “Full House”
Here is Morgan’s dad in a scene where he is pulling her out of the TV
Morgan up in the chair!
Everyone danced the Horah
There was lots of great music and dancing and interactive games for Morgan and her guests
Cocktail Hour Entertainment provided the fun including air brush pillows, flip books and wax hands which doubled as favors
Morgan and her dad in front of the custom pink and green Step and Repeat
Guests got to have fun with word blurbs while taking pictures
The chocolate covered dark and milk chocolate pretzels were packaged beautifully to be enjoyed on the way home. Exit treats were customized logo on the bags
Mitzvah Project
Morgan does many social action projects with her Mom. Family Promise is an organization that houses homeless people in their temple four times per year for a week. Morgan is very involved in Family Promise as well as Rosh Hodesh.
Some Mom Advice from Alison:
“Preparation!!! Do as many things ahead as you can and demand your vendors do the same as to not trouble you the week of with things they could have solidified months ago.”
Vendor Directory
The following vendors helped to make Morgan’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: BallenIsles Country Club, 561-622-0220
Decor/Florist: Dalsimer Atlas Florist, 800-423-2622
Photography and Videography/Sign-in book: Flash Photo & Video, 561-640-7753
Extra Entertainment/Favors: Air brushing, flip books, wax hands, Cocktail Hour Entertainment, 954-612-7431
Entrance video: TRIdent Artistry, 561-972-1236
Invitation: Rachel Kurland Ink, rkink@optonline.net, 845-323-4948
Logo: PS Designs, Karen Philip and Carolyn Snider, 508-358-0287
Morgan’s Service Dress: All Dressed Up, 914-690-1593
Morgan’s Party Dress: So Sweet Boutique, 407-260-0708
Dad’s suit: Brooks Brothers
Mom’s party dress/service dress: Mario Pucci Boca/Saks Fifth Avenue
Makeup: Palm Beach Makeup, 561-348-0618
Hair: Tricia Green, The Spot Salon, 561-355-8825
April 13th, 2014
Interactive Entertainment Group is a nationwide direct source and full service event production company.
They produce unforgettable events for their clients including the following elements: DJs, MCs, photo favors, lighting, cocktail hour entertainment, light-up lounges, specialty acts, interactive games, montages, entrance videos, fun food carts, and a variety of craft, party favors and party endings.
Interactive Entertainment Group recently launched three exciting new products perfect for Bar Bat Mitzvah celebrations.
1. InstaCam Photo Booth & Print Station
The InstaCam photo booth provides an event experience like no other. You get the traditional photo booth experience on a print that looks exactly like an Instagram post that can be customized, with the ability to take photos and print from any Smart Phone in the room.
Step 1 – Guests take a photo with Instagram from their Smart Phone or directly at the Kiosk.
Step 2 – Use Custom Hashtag when posting your picture to Instagram.
Step 3 – Photos instantly print at the Instagram Kiosk.
Social Events
At any social event, this will create a photo booth experience that truly embodies the best of yesterday and today. Photos post to Instagram and can stream to Facebook, Twitter, Smug Mug, Emailed or SMS Texted.
2. Urban Hoops
Urban Hoops is an inner city park inspired basketball game gone hi-tech. The game is enclosed with authentic chain link fencing. The backboard is made to look like the side of a brick apartment building. Our hi-tech LED flatscreen scoreboard is built into the backboard. The vinyl ball return is printed asphalt with court chalk lines. All graphics on the scoreboard can be customized including the background image and two places for logos or photos. Music is queued to play themed tunes.
The software for the scoreboard has two modes:
Tournament Mode: Four players face off to see who advances in the final four tournament. Each player has their name entered into the computer interface and their names show up on the LED scoreboard. Also, you can customize the name of the shot clock timer. They have 60 seconds. Their score will advance digitally with the authentic looking scorebaord. They’ll get 3 points when there is 15 seconds left. At the end of the game the buzzer goes off and a winner is declared on the scoreboard, if they are in the top 10 scores of the night they will go on the top ten list that displays between games and on a separate monitor constantly.
Carnival Mode: Urban Hoops takes two proven favorites: Basketball and race type games where you complete against other players, such as roll-a-ball horse race and balloon races. Our carnival mode combines the two. An attendant checks players into the computer interface so their basket is activated. Five second countdown and buzzers sound off. On LED screens built into the backboard each player has his own animated avatar basketball player dribbling a basketball (that can be changed for logos) that is advancing toward their on screen basket, every time a players basket is scored. When their Avatar reaches a basket, he stuffs the ball in and that numbered player will be declared a winner for a prize. The amount of baskets to win is adjustable in the interface but generally it is the first to score 10 to 15 baskets.
3. Virtual Graffiti Wall
How it works: Instead of paint, when the cap is pressed the can ‘sprays’ light. The digital paint appears wherever the can is sprayed, just like spraying paint on a real wall. As well as its wide palette of paint colors, new features such as animated stars, swirls, drip effect paint and a variety of stencils are now available, and we can even custom make further spray patterns and stencils to reflect your event or client. The wall can be used in all event settings. The virtual interactive digital graffiti wall excites guests and gives them the ability to express their own artist creations on a larger then life canvas. Any image can be loaded as a background so guests can easily paint like a coloring page, or allows for custom branding with logos or themes. Guests use a realistic spray paint can. After the guests create their art they can print a copy onsite or save it to a computer or website. Now with Green Screen and Social Media upload capabilities.
Guests love the Virtual Graffiti Wall!
To learn more about Interactive Entertainment Group, please visit their extended profile page in our Vendor Directory.
Mention promo code Mitzvah Market and receive $100 off. Offer good until June 1, 2014. New customers only please.
April 12th, 2014
Can you sell advertising?
Our sister company NYMetroParents, publisher of LI Parent, Brooklyn and Bergen/Rockland Parent is looking for advertising salespeople who are energetic, smart, personable to sell print, digital and event media.
* Established markets with existing accounts.
* Base salary
* Large commissions
* Full benefits
* Full time and part time opportunities.
Apply to dmgsales@davlermedia.com.
Join our fun and talented team. If you aren’t interested, share with a friend who is looking for a job.
April 6th, 2014
By Zoe Gelman
I’m excited to share my first blog post with MitzvahMarket.com. I hope everyone likes these ideas as much as I did.
Over all, my friend Hannah’s Bat Mitzvah was so exciting. It took place at the Zumba Studio in Norwalk, Connecticut.
There was so much energy, dancing, and much more. The music entertainment was provided by Starlight Express and Waldo was the MC. The motivators were really good and helpful too. Their job was to get everyone dancing and play lots of games with many prizes and much more.
Her theme was Instagram and she had a photo booth that was connected to Instagram so any photo you posted to Instagram would also come up on the photo booth. Her guests could edit them, and then print. I have never seen anything like this before. On the couches, she had purple fuzzy pillows with the Instagram logo that read, #hannahgram.
Another thing I really liked was the bows that the motivators threw out into the crowd. No one in my town has had them and kids went crazy over them! They were definitely a big hit! The whole room lit up from the bows and it made the party so much better!
Many of Hannah’s close friends gave speeches at her service (she only invited family and close friends) and her best friend (me) gave a speech at the party. She did it this way so people would not get bored listening to so many memories and inside jokes of other people!
She had a make your own chocolate bar which was really fun. You got your chocolate at the end of the party. The only problem with the chocolate bar was it was very crowded and took people away from dancing. Luckily the motivators were really on top of it and fixed the problem by dancing with them and playing games.
About Zoe Gelman
I’m excited to go to all of my friend’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs this year, but can’t wait for mine. It will be the last of all my friends. When I’m not with my friends, I’m cheering, all the time. I cheer competitively for an all star team and travel around the country with my team.
March 30th, 2014
March 26th, 2014
Balloon Artistry, established in 1987 by Jeff Fruman, is a full-service party decorating company, specializing in creating custom balloon and centerpiece decorations. They are known for transforming parties into magical, unforgettable memories.
Their handcrafted masterpieces will have your guests talking about your special day for years to come. Balloon Artistry’s legendary balloon creations, personalized themes and breathtaking centerpieces capture the exact mood you desire.
If you are looking for creativity, quality and individualized service, Balloon Artistry is the place to call. They are located in Chestnut Ridge, New York, about 30 miles north of New York City, but can service the entire New York Metropolitan area.
We spoke to their graphic artist Shaina Fine to learn more about what they can do.
Here are just a few of their specialties:
MAGNIFICENT ROOMS
“Let us make your Bar Bat Mitzvah celebration shine with our magnificent floor to ceiling decor.”
Beach Themed Bat Mitzvah with Alternating Pink & Lime Balloons at Florentine Gardens, NJ
Horse Themed Bat Mitzvah with Balloon Wrap Canopy at Pearl River Hilton, NY
Rock ‘n’ Roll Themed Bar Mitzvah with Guitar Balloon Sculptures at The Rockleigh, NJ
Hawaiin Tropical Themed Bat Mitzvah with Palm Tree Centerpieces at Alpine Country Club, NJ
Bar Mitzvah with Navy Balloons & Star Canopy over Dance Floor at Pearl River Hilton, NY
Purple & Turquoise Bat Mitzvah with Alternating Solid Balloon Centerpieces at Royal Manor, Garfield, NJ
LOGO DESIGN
“Designing a logo for your party is an important first step since that often leads the way with the rest of the décor. Whether you are having a themed event or just want to focus on colors and making the room beautiful a custom logo can really personalize your event.”
CENTERPIECES
“We can work with you whether you have a theme or not. Our feather palm trees, aqua gem centerpieces and balloon centerpieces are great for Sweet 16s, Quinceañeras or other non-themed events. Whether you are trying to tell a story or just beautify a room, our centerpieces are guaranteed to be a hit.”
Rock & Roll Music Centerpiece with Photo Cutouts & Album Covers
Left Photo: Pink Hollywood Feather Centerpiece with LED Lights & Hanging Crystals
Right Photo: Custom Chandelier Centerpiece with Aqua Gems & Lights
NYC Central Park Centerpiece
Photo Cube Centerpiece on Platform with LED Lights & Custom Table Sign
Silver Trees with Alternating Blue & Purple Flowers, Hanging Crystals & LED Lights
Photo Left: Beach Themed Photo Cube Centerpiece with Logo & Photos
Photo Right: Movie Themed Centerpiece with Cutout Photos & Clapboards
Yankee Stadium Baseball Centerpiece with Yankee Players
LED High Top Centerpiece with Custom Logo Sign Toppers and purple gems
Great for high top tables and cocktail hour centerpieces
DANCE FLOOR DECOR
“Our spectacular ceiling and dance floor décor are created to transform your room instantly. If you’re looking for a way to make a huge statement at your event, framing out your dance floor or draping your ceiling is sure to do that. Loose balloons on the ceiling with shimmer ribbon and lights sparkling beneath them is another great way to make your party truly magical.”
Neon Balloon Canopy Wrap over Dance Floor
White Organza Ceiling Draping with Lights at Winter Themed Bat Mitzvah
BACKDROPS
“Our custom themed backdrops are hand cut, painted and sparkled to illustrate the room’s theme. They can either be hung from a ceiling or stand on poles and are framed with chaser lights.”
Custom Yankees Scoreboard Backdrop with Chaser Lights
Tiffany Themed Bat Mitzvah Backdrop
CANDLE LIGHTING DISPLAY
“For a unique candle lighting experience, try one of our custom candle lighting displays. Our standard displays have a custom cutout name and theme standing on a base in front of a thoughtful arrangement of candles. Our water-filled vases are arranged around your cake with crystal chips, lights and floating candles to glow in a dimly lit party room.”
Yankees Baseball Themed Bar Mitzvah Candle Lighting Centerpiece
Glass Vases with Crystal Chips, LED Lights & Floating Candles Display
Horse Themed Candle Lighting Display with Cutout Photos & Pink Feather Trim
PLACE CARDS
“Our seating cards are all custom designed for each event. Using your themed artwork and photos we design our fold over place cards to be unique and memorable. Other great place card ideas include magnets, key rings, mint boxes, custom chocolate and more.”
Snow Globe Place Cards with Winter Theme
Candy Themed Seating Card Display with Lollipop Place Cards
Hockey Themed Sports Ticket Place Cards
Winter Snowflake Fold Over Place Cards with Light-up Snowflake Body Lights
Custom Fold-Over Place Cards with Logo & Large Blowup Photo Seating Card Display
LOUNGES
“Rent our beautiful lounge setups to give your guests a place to relax at your party. We color coordinate each piece of furniture from the fabric to the pillows and meticulously arrange them to perfectly fit your space. Adding custom pillows with the theme printed on them is a great way to give your lounge a personalized touch.”
Tropical Island Themed Lounge with Custom Backdrop & Palm Tree Balloon Sculptures
Sports Themed Lounge Decor with Custom Backdrop & Sports Ball Balloon Sculptures Background
To learn more about Balloon Artistry, call 845-352-2828 or visit their extended profile page in the Vendor Directory.
March 23rd, 2014
Remember when you spent money on disposable cameras, hoping to get everyone’s amazing candid photos? Then, when you developed the film, you had maybe 20 “good quality” photos?
Forget the days of expensive disposable cameras. We want to introduce you to something new!
Eversnap helps you collect all your Bar Bat Mitzvah guests’ photos taken at your child’s celebration in one online album and then project them on a screen as they’re being taken. And yes, they can be moderated to make sure your slideshow stays appropriate.
Your guests love seeing their photos show up on the screen and you’ll love having all the photos/videos in one place at the end of the night, (instead of begging for them 6 months later).
How does it work?
1. Guests download the Eversnap app for iPhone or Android
2. They enter your custom album code you’ll create: (ie. SamMitzvah14)
3. All photos & videos guests take will be instantly collected in one online album and show up live on a screen.
The Eversnap team will even remotely moderate your slideshow for up to 6 hours to make sure all photos are appropriate.
You will receive 200 custom instruction cards to let your guests know about your album. Send them out with the invites or pass them out at your child’s Bar Bat Mitzvah party.
It’s so simple.
No smartphone? No problem.
For guests with digital cameras, they can add photos & videos from the Eversnap Website.
Just last year, Eversnap was used at more than 10,000 events in over 1,000 US Cities and 40+ Countries.
To learn more, visit Eversnap.
March 23rd, 2014
As a story teller, Todd Shapera Photography captures a child’s inner beauty and close family connections with relaxed, lifestyle images, and beautiful lighting. He is a calm, unobtrusive artist.
He was the photographer for this Yankees-themed Bar Mitzvah.
We spoke to Mom Jen to get more information about Ryan’s celebration. She told Mitzvah Market, “We are a crazy Yankees family. We have season tickets and the boys have gone to literally hundreds of games in their lifetimes and met a lot of players. Ryan has been a Derek Jeter fan since he was about 3 years old and there was not even a question that his Bar Mitzvah was going to be all Yankees, all baseball. That is just Ryan to a tee. So that’s why we went a bit crazy with the outfits and the detailed decorations.”
You will see below what Jen is talking about!
Ryan celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in October 2013 at the Scarsdale Synagogue Temple Tremont Emanu-El and an evening party at the Scarsdale Golf Club in Hartsdale, New York
Notice Jen’s Yankees logo shoes which her husband found on Etsy!
Ryan and his brother Gavin wore suits designed by their Dad Rich. He works for a company that manufactures men’s tailored clothing. He also went online and found all the patches he wanted to use. Gavin’s patch was the 2003 World Series (the year he was born) and the 97 on his back is because that is the number he wears in baseball
Of course baseball themed centerpieces were around the room. Jen also tells us, “If the Yankees actually made it to the World Series I think we would have needed TVs on all the tables at the party! Sadly, they were already out of the series by the night of the party, which did make things easier!”
Sherrie Goldstein of Logos and More created Ryan’s logo that was used throughout his celebration and she also created the place card “tickets” that the adults picked up at the door when they arrived, as well as the VIP passes the kids wore around their necks
Double G Productions provided the music entertainment with Flip as their MC. Both boys have a large collection of Yankees bobble heads so when Richie was able to borrow these large bobble heads to place near the photo booth area, it was perfect!
Ryan’s favorite player is Derek Jeter so his suit had the number two on the back, and on his sleeve was the patch when the Yankees won the 2000 World Series – the year Ryan was born
Dad Rich’s suit had the patch from Rivera’s last game and 42 was in honor of Rivera, who is a personal friend
This amazing cake was from Lulu’s in Scarsdale
The family brought them a photo of a cake they found online and they designed one just like it!
Ryan and his Mom share a special dance
The favors were ordered online and displayed for Ryan’s friends in his “souvenir shop.”
We thank Todd Shapera Photography and Ryan’s family for sharing this celebration with our readers!
March 22nd, 2014
Just when we thought we have seen it all, we found this amazing Mitzvah Inspire from Pastries By Vreeke.
This bakery created 13 sculpted dog cakes for a Bat Mitzvah girl named Melanie who had a dog theme for her celebration – and they are truly works of art!
A different dog was created for each table to act as the centerpieces. The family provided all the various dog breeds and names, and the Vreeke team got to work creating dog collars, noses, dog nails and everything else to make these dogs seem real! Check out these unbelievable photos below:
Patches the Dalmatian
Sam the Labrador
Fluffy the Sheepdog
Marshmallow the Wheaten Terrier
Keeping track of the various dog breed “noses!”
It took their staff of 5 three days of constant work to bake the cakes, sculpt the dogs and decorate them!
The family used these cookies as place cards
To see the other cakes created for this Bat Mitzvah, read their blog.
March 22nd, 2014
Like the name suggests, Out of the Box Shop offers unique and imaginative ways to make your Bar Bat Mitzvah a memorable event.
Whether you are searching for some fresh ideas to make your event stand out from the rest or just need a little help bringing your own creative ideas to life, Out of the Box is there to help.
Owner Jessica Garmise specializes in designing inspiring event décor such as original sign-in boards, place cards/seating charts, custom logos and much more.
Tree of Life Sign-In Board: A beautiful assortment of hand-cut leaves greet your guests when they arrive at the reception. Each guest is invited to fill out a leaf with a message for the Bar Bat Mitzvah child. Following the event, Out of the Box assembles the leaves into a beautiful handmade three-dimensional tree which is framed in a shadowbox. The shadowbox can then be hung in your home to create a lasting family keepsake
The Sign-In Box: The sky is the limit with this fun alternative to a traditional sign-in board. Based on your theme, Out of the Box will create an assortment of sign-in cards which guests can sign at the event. Messages are then left in a decorated box with your child’s name or initials. Following the event, the cards can be kept in the box or preserved in a variety of other creative ways
Framed graphic print: A fun and modern poster print can make a great sign-in board that the Bar Bat Mitzvah will want to frame and hang in his or her room following the event. Out of the Box has many unique templates or let us design a custom poster for your child
Once your event is over, Out of the Box can also turn your Bar Bat Mitzvah memories into lasting keepsakes by using your invitation to create a stunning shadowbox or decorative clock. They also design affordable photo books and photo collages to commemorate your event.
To learn more, visit their Website.
