By Jean Chatzky, www.JeanChatzky.com
I started planning my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah party – which went beautifully, despite a storm that downed trees, closed streets and took out the power – with a budget in mind. And like all good budgets, it had many line items. There was one for decorations. Another for food. Yet another for party favors. And another for entertainment.
Months passed as we planned, and we managed to stick fairly close to those numbers. When the thank-you notes from the stationer where we ordered invitations seemed too pricey, we found look-alike substitutes from a different company.
When it became clear that we were going to spend more than expected on a balloon arch for the entryway, we replaced the pricey lamb chops with an Asian station.
And then one day, a couple of weeks ago, I capitulated. On lighting. Washing the walls pink and turning the ceiling into a starry night was going to cost more than I planned on, but I became convinced that we needed to do it to make the party. And then it was as if the floodgates had been opened.
Read the rest of this feature on Jean’s blog here.
Now that Jean has successfully lived through a Bar Mitzvah celebration for her son, and a Bat Mitzvah celebration for her daughter, we asked her to share some Mom-to-Mom expert advice. Here’s what she would like to share with our Mitzvah Market readers:
“Casual is okay. Particularly by the end of the season, it’s nice for people not to have to dress to the nines and to be able to kick back a bit. We did a boardwalk-themed party in the backyard under a tent and used nice paper plates and colorful napkins rather than rentals. Much cheaper, and the food was so good no one even noticed.”
