You've Picked a Date, Now What? Planning a Mitzvah for your son or daughter doesn't have to be complicated, full of stress or expensive. If you get organized, plan based on budget and consider your child's interests, you'll be on your way to throwing a successful Bar or Bat Mitzvah party. There are a number of tools that will help you plan, find just the right Bar Mitzvah invitation, follow a timeline, build a Bat Mitzvah website, generate ideas for the Bar Mitzvah centerpieces and choose a dj.
SYNAGOGUES Need to find a synagogue for your mitzvah? Here is a comprehensive listing in the metro Detroit area and beyond. Going up north? You can attend Shabbat or hold your simcha away from home. Check out the listing and best of luck.
BAT MITZVAH JUNGLE THEME
Girls rule the jungle with this out of this world Jungle theme. Get creative and explore her wild side.
Candle Lighting Poems, custom-designed for You by Poemstogo.tv!
Planning a bar/bat mitzvah? Mazel Tov
to you and your children.
During a bar or bat mitzvah, the
candle lighting ceremony plays a major part in the festivities. Many of
the aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, friends and family come up to light a
candle in honor of the bat mitzvah girl or bar mitzvah boy.
SPORTS THEMES FOR BAR MITZVAH PARTIES
Play Ball with Jason (fill in your son's name): Tiger Baseball Bar Mitzvah theme Table Decor: Each table is a different MLB (major league baseball) team Room Decor: Create signage with colors and theme of party; balloons in matching colors add to the festivity Centerpieces: Can use team shirts, pennants, team colors, mitts, baseballs, caps Charity overlay: Use sports equipment in centerpieces and then donate to your favorite area charity Giveaways: wearables (t-shirts, sports shorts, caps) silk screened or embroidered with party logo, mini bats with logo imprinted, baseballs Dance floor giveaways: Keep the theme and give away Tiger baseball jerseys, caps and other Tiger "stuff" Place cards and party invitations: Theme graphically to look like a game ticket (service invitation should be more formal and not themed to party) Treats: scatter Cracker Jacks boxes and peanuts on the tables Food: If you really want to maintain the theme (especially for the kids) have different "ball park" type food stations set up such as hot dog vendor, drink station, treats (Cracker Jacks, cookies, ice cream sundaes)
Compliments of Artful Chameleon
Mitzvah Project Idea List The list of charities, community non-profit organizations and ways to help as part of your child's Bar/Bat Mitzvah, is endless. Here are some ideas to get you started; if you have any thoughts that are not on our list (but should be), just let us know and we will be glad to add them in. Drop us a note, we'd love to hear from you.
Lower Bar, Bat Mitzvah Budgets continued from Home page Angela Gala, partner in Rogers & Gala Creative Partners in Charlotte, N.C., says her bar and bat mitzvah budgets this year are on average about 30 percent below last year. She compensates by turning to more lighting, but using it on less expensive materials. At an upcoming event, for example, she will seat children on the floor on big round pillows, which will also serve as the party's giveaways. For more cheap chic, the tables will be supported by wrapped glass racks, Gala says, and the tabletops will be wrapped in colored mylar.
"We've also become a lot more creative with the food," Gala notes. "Adults love the kids' food, so we've been inviting the adults to relive their childhood, and it has been a great way to save on costs and up the fun."
Gwen Helbush, head of Newark, Calif.-based Where to Start Events, got the jump on soft mitzvah budgets this year. Her budgets are down about 20 percent, she says, but by her own design. "I have encouraged my clients to spend less, then to take the difference and put it in the child's college fund," she says. She adds, however, "Most of my clients have been saving for this party so the economy didn’t really affect them for this one event." PUT THE CLIENT TO WORK
To save money, Helbush brings the client into the party with the "do-it-yourself" approach. For example, "We did pre-party set-up days with family and friends," she explains. "My team set up the big stuff and then the client et al. set the tables and made the decor--arts and crafts projects we designed in advance to match the theme." She cautions, "Client DYI is risky; you have to be sure your clients have the skills, and it requires a lot of the planner’s time and patience. But if you do it right, it can be great."
Los Angeles-based Paula Gild, head of Gilded Events, says her budgets are down about 20 percent this year on average, but the mitzvah celebration is still "a priority in parents' lives."
She adds that her own creativity has been key to keeping clients. "People are still hiring me as I offer more bang for the buck and creative ways to make their money go farther," she explains.
Denver-based Syd Sexton, partner in Gourmet Fine Catering, has spent much of this year producing "shoestring" mitzvahs where menus feature sure-fire favorites—mini burgers and hot dogs, chicken skewers, mac and cheese, and pizza, followed by cookies in a cup baked on-site. The menu is gently tweaked to suit the specific event theme, and beverages are limited to mini milkshakes for kids, beer and wine for the adults. "Their tummies will be full of delicious comfort food, and many of the guests will call the following week to tell my clients what a great celebration it was," Sexton says. "And the client will have done it all for under $5,000."
Sexton is getting the jump on 2010 events by roughing out a budget in her initial conversation with the client. "Before I started this process, I would meet with mitzvah clients for a couple of hours and then go back and design a fabulous menu, only to find out that we were not even close on the budget," she explains. But with clients still resisting spending in 2010, she now develops a cost spreadsheet—which may include venue rental, decor and entertainment or just catering and rentals—during the initial phone call. "By the time we finish our phone call, I have e-mailed the client the sheet so that they have time to digest and accept the budget before we move forward." WHERE TO CUT …
Veteran mitzvah planners have plenty of ideas on what can and cannot be cut from the party's budget. Cuts that won't be too obvious:
Gala: "You can cut down on some of the printed pieces such as the menus, in-room itineraries and guest amenities. For one mitzvah we delivered a box of specialty cupcakes to each room and the itinerary was all on one card; the overall cost was $12 each."
Helbush: "Lowering the guest count is the simplest and least obvious, but rarely flies with the clients. My favorite: Eliminate alcohol for the adults; that can really save you."
Gild: Look at cutting down on "favors and games before the DJ starts during cocktails." Also try kids-only parties. BUT MAKE SURE TO KEEP …
Gala: "Don't cut entertainment. The DJ makes these events. People remember who much fun they have, and the right entertainment/emcee is crucial."
Sexton: "A great DJ is important and the food has to be good, but not over-the-top, for two important reasons: 1. The price, and 2. The perception that their adult guests will receive. Many want the kids and the adults to enjoy the same fare"--a big departure from days when many mitzvahs featured separate menus for children and adults. WHAT'S NEXT
When will mitzvah budgets free up again? No one is sure.
Helbush notes that the sour economy "will be an issue for some time." But she adds that planners have an opportunity if they are wise enough to capitalize on it. "People will celebrate the important things in their lives with or without us," she says, "so it's up to us to help them feel comfortable doing it with us, and that has very little to do with money and more to do with trust."
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health, well-being and academic performance of at-risk school-aged
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