Spotlight: Keep on Dancing

Jessica says her daughter, Sydney, could dance before she could walk, a trait she picked up from Jessica herself. For Jessica’s own Bat Mitzvah, ceramic pointe shoe centerpieces showcased her beloved hobby and party theme, ballet. So when Sydney chose “Keep on Dancing” as a theme for her own Bat Mitzvah party, Jessica already knew where to start.

The June 4th party at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, Massachusetts was everything that Sydney had hoped for- intimate, rustic, and sentimental. Having attended camp and many events at the farm, it was the perfect venue for Sydney to mark her journey into adulthood. Moreover, it played well into one of the focal points of the party- sustainability. At the end of the party, guests took home potted plants and herbs, and beautiful peonies straight from Sydney’s grandmother’s garden served as decoration. Wherever possible, paper, bamboo and compostable goods were used over plastic, and reusable elements were integral in the design and décor.

Even Sydney’s ballet shoe centerpieces, an idea lifted from her mother’s own Bat Mitzvah, were made of real pointe shoes, many that Sydney and her aunt had worn over the years. With help from a florist friend and her experience in planning her son’s Bar Mitzvah a few years prior, Jessica achieved most of the décor elements on her own.

“Starting with your child’s own interests is the best way to plan a great party,” Jessica revealed. Signed pointe shoes from some of her daughter’s favorite professional dancers married the sentimentality and uniqueness of the theme together. Even Sydney’s mitzvah project was dance themed, raising over $1,000 to be used as a scholarship fund for new dancers at her lifelong dance studio.

The way party favors were handled took Sydney’s best interests into account, too. Knowing that not everyone from school could be in attendance, she opted to not hand out the classic sweatshirt or T-shirt at the end of her party in order to ensure that no one at school felt left out. Instead, her mother designed just one personalized sweatshirt for Sydney to have, another unique and sentimental element of the party. Sydney picked out retro wood style Bluetooth speakers to hand out to guests so they could dance even after the party was over.

As for Jessica’s advice to other party planning parents, she says “Be careful not to take on too much. Things that seem like they may be simple (like invites, programs, a website, or a doughnut wall, for example) may take a lot longer than you think . Ask your friends for help, and be a good delegator.” Having a team work together means everyone can keep on dancing all night long.