5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

Although this is not a wedding review, I wanted to write a review of my son’s Bar Mitzvah since I used lots of vendors from LIW and others that I wholeheartedly recommend and because they are seldom mentioned here. And since some of you may have children I thought it would be a good idea to have a review of a child’s party since I myself had a very hard time finding reviews of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and any other milestone celebrations for children on the web. They are virtually nonexistent!

I was never a frequent contributor or poster when I was planning my wedding in 2007, but I spent many a day (and night, LOL!) on LIW. I never did get to use any of the vendors for my wedding that are so highly recommended on this site only because I basically planned my wedding in 3 months and all the vendors and of course CLM were booked. Well, what could I expect since my wedding was on a Saturday night in June!

Since I had plenty of time to plan my son, Adam’s, Bar Mitzvah, I really had a lot of fun and was able to book every vendor that I wished I had 2 years before, LOL!

A little background. My son is from a prior marriage so I planned this Bar Mitzvah with my ex-husband. You can just imagine each time I researched a vendor, whether it be a photographer or a DJ, how comical it was that I would immediately send a Bride’s review link to my ex. He has since learned about the importance of LIW reviews! He even mentioned a few times during the planning to find a review “on that brides board” for a particular vendor he was looking into, LOL!

Okay, on to the review…

Vendors:

INVITATIONS:
www.lanyardsupply.com, www.paperandmore.com and www.LCIpaper.com and
Minuteman Press, Lynbrook, NY

We did not use typical bar mitzvah invitations. Not that anything is wrong with that, it is just not us. Anyone that knows us wouldn’t expect a typical formal invitation to arrive, LOL! Adam’s invitations were basically DIY. Since his theme was rock and roll we wanted to create invitations that kept within his theme. I thought creating a “backstage pass” would be perfect. I used www.lanyardsupply.com to create the clear plastic holders and customized lanyard (imprinted with my son’s initial and the date) with clip to hang it from. I bought all stock paper in silver and black from www.paperandmore.com and LCI Paper for the envelopes and response cards. All vendors were easy to deal with and the orders came within 2 weeks. I then used Minuteman Press to print and cut the invites of which there were 2 – the parent introduction invite which was placed inside the holder and then the temple invite attached to the back on the outside of the badge. They were a pain in the butt from conception to putting them together but they were a HUGE hit. Some of the kids actually wore them around their neck at the party. Sorry, no picture either! I will try to take one and post it.

TRANSPORTATION:
www.allstarlimo.com

We used All Star Limo to get the kids from the Temple in Merrick to CLM. We booked a shuttle bus. The kids all said it was cool as it was a “luxurious” bus, LOL! The driver was there on time and got them to CLM quickly. No complaints there.

CENTERPIECES:
www.partydecorationsbymarlyss.com and
www.party-rific.com

For our centerpieces I used an out of state party planner (talk about stress!). I loved her designs and she was so much less expensive than having them made here, even with the shipping. We had foam back guitars custom made with album covers as the table numbers. Even when I went back and forth and couldn’t make up my mind and had her create several samples and I’d change my mind again it was never an issue. She shipped when she said she’d ship and everything was perfect. I highly recommend her! I then used Grace of Partyrific in Seaford to add balloons to the centerpieces as well as had her float balloons into the ceiling (as she did for the last TWOTY at CLM). It looked beautiful! She also created the sign in board as well as the “all access” placecards.

FAVORS:
www.barmitzvahfavors.com and
www.jenniferscakedesigns.com

For favors for the kids, I had drawstring backpacks made and tie dyed t-shirts. I used barmitzvahfavors.com. Arnie is the owner and he was pleasant to deal with. I placed the order and received it in less than 2 weeks. For the younger children, I purchased from a local dollar store sand molds, activity books, stickers, inflatable beach balls and kalidescopes and put them in the draw string bags.

I kind of felt that I wanted to add a little something else beside the bags and t-shirts. So I started getting quotes for customized cookies. I received quotes from many of the local bakeries and many that advertize on LIF. I was quite shocked at the prices I was being quoted. Basically anywhere from $3.75 to $7.00 per cookie and I needed 5 dozen. Since I’d already spent more on other things than I’d budgeted for I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on cookies! I emailed the woman who created cupcakes for me for my RD back in 2007. I explained exactly what I wanted – blue iced guitar cookies with black icing as the “strings” with “Adam Rocks” written across in white icing. They were beautifully wrapped in clear cellophane and tied with black ribbon! Total cost? $57.00 for 5 dozen cookies. Jennifer does not get mentioned on this site at all! She is a treasure and has become my go to for any special occasion I have. She works from her home in Baldwin and is by appointment only.

CUSTOMIZED YARMULKES:
www.yarmulkes.com

For the temple service, I ordered black suede yarmulkes embossed with silver guitars. I placed the order on line and they were delivered within 2 weeks. Simple and easy. I found their prices very reasonable. I then purchased blue tissue paper and put it into a basket and then wrapped a lanyard from the invite around the handle and placed the yarmulkes inside. They were such a hit that when the service was over I went to get the basket and noticed not one yarmulke was left! Several of my guests told me that the other boy’s family, who shared his service with my son, had taken them! I guess they didn’t like the blue satin ones that were for his side, LOL!

PHOTOGRAPHER:
www.photographyinstyle.com

My ex-husband was a professional independent commercial photographer (anyone remember the Benson & Hedges bent cigarette ads?) so choosing a photographer is very difficult when dealing with my ex. He found fault with every single photographer I wanted to book. Neither one of us wanted “typical” bar mitzvah photos. I’ve seen enough to know that they are all basically the same. What we wanted seemed so easy but was very difficult to get the “bar mitzvah” type photographers to understand. So of course, we interviewed many of the recommended photographers on this site. It is not easy to find a photographer other than a wedding photographer who can create that candid look for an occasion other than a wedding, which is what we wanted. Then we stumbled upon John Davydov from Photography in Style. John has worked with Dominic at Twelfth Night. We were in love. We loved his style and he is so easy and down to earth! I gave him a list of all family members and friends that I wanted photos of/with and he was spot on the entire day. Not once the entire day did I have to ask him to take a photo of what I wanted! I think it was the first time ever that ex-husband didn’t have to go up to the photographer and micromanage what he was doing. I knew we chose well. He was wonderful with the kids and was able to round them up to get some great shots. Highly, highly recommend John! And his assistant Roman is a sweetheart as well.

VIDEOGRAPHER:
www.orangefilmsny.com

Quite honestly, I really didn’t see the need for a videographer, but ex-husband kept pushing it. Of course, it fell into my lap to find one, LOL! From reading one bride’s review (sorry, I can’t remember who!) I went to check out Edward from Orange Films NY. I was completely blown away! I just loved his editing! Ex-husband was immediately sold. We met with Edward approximately 2 weeks before the affair. I had come up with the brilliant idea of having Edward shoot a spoof video of Adam to show at the affair prior to his entrance. When Edward showed up at my house, I told him to forget about the spoof as I didn’t have the time or the imagination to come up with an idea. Now, Edward primarily shoots weddings so this was his first foray into bar mitzvahdom. He loved the idea of also filming the video to show at the affair. What can I say about Edward? His work of course is amazing but he was just so good with working with my son. He is a special guy! I don’t have the trailer or any video of the day of yet, but I do have the “rock video” he created to show at CLM. http://www.vimeo.com/4504374.

DJ:
www.fmdjs.com

We had Frank of FM Entertainment. He rocked!! The dance floor was packed all day. We booked three dancers in addition to having Frank MC. We also had Guitar Hero with an extra plasma in the back of the room by the bar no less (LOL!) for the kids to play on. The kids were having a great time. There were a few glitches and Frank did not play anything that I had on my play list (and I only requested 3 songs). Of course only I knew that and since everyone was dancing and having a great time, it was really no big deal.

Chateau La Mer. What can I say that has not been already been said by all the brides that have had their reception here? The best place to throw any type of affair!! People are still telling me how much they enjoyed themselves and how great the food was. I think I want to have my husband throw my next milestone birthday party here (but not for another 3 years thank God!).

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Re: 5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

Darn! The pix are too small. Sorry I don't know how to resize!!

They are in my album if you want to see.

Thanks!

Re: 5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

Great Review.....Glad your son had such a great party!

Re: 5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

This is such a nice idea to write a review! This is just as helpful because its all the same vendors! Thanks! Looks like you gave him some great memories!

Re: 5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

Nice Review!!! I am using John for my wedding and he is an amazing photographer!!!

Re: 5/9/09 REVIEW: CLM, FM ENTERTAINMENT, PHOTOGRAPHY IN STYLE, ORGANGE FILMS AND OTHERS

Thank you very much, ladies! futureMrsJSL, you are in great hands with John, nothing to worry about! I am lucky, I still have to do the formal shots, so I get to use him again, LOL!

I wish all of you the best on your upcoming wedding days!