How To Do It On Your Own: It Can Be Done!
By: Eden Siegler, Vernon Hills, IL
Photos by: Tell Draper Productions Inc.
If you have a small budget like I did for my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, realize that the Internet is your key. I used Websites like mitzvahmarket.com to get great ideas and then went to the craft store to do it all myself (with help from my friends).
I saved thousands of dollars making our own invitations, centerpieces, montage, sign in board, DJ sign, and candle lighting candleabra. Everything was personalized with my daughter’s style and colors and everyone in the family got to help create items, including our 10 year old daughter.
For the invitations, I went all around the scrapbooking stores and brought home different papers to mix and match. We decided on glittery silver and glittery pink cardstock. My house was full of glitter! When looking online for creative ideas, my husband decided to showcase my daughter’s beautiful singing abilities and make a CD for the invitation. He recorded her singing various pop and Broadway songs and I created an invitation online. We got that printed locally and I glued it all together for a beautiful CD invitation. The RSVP’s were all done online so no cost for a reply card or stamp.
We were able to use Hobby Lobby to get all the things we needed and incorporated music into it also by making our own music notes out of Styrofoam
I changed the lyrics to current pop songs to express our connection to the guests we called up to light a candle. My daughter sang each 3-4 line song and the DJ followed it with the original version, sometimes including a music video. The crowd especially appreciated Barney and Red Solo Cup videos!
We made gift bags for the out of towners staying at the hotel also with a note thanking them for joining us and the schedule for the weekend.
We wanted the room to be dark like a nightclub and have glowing pieces around the room. We got our vases donated to us by someone who just had their child’s Bat Mitzvah weeks before us. We have since “Paid It Forward” and have given them to another friend for their upcoming event. We ordered gel beads and fiber optic lights online, and got flashlights from Home Depot. Walmart printed our table seating assignments and sign in board poster size and we mounted them ourselves.
I even made our own dessert table with the help of my niece as it has always been a family tradition from my own Bat Mitzvah to my wedding. My grandmother was a caterer and my mom grew up in the business. So we have always made everything ourselves. Unfortunately my mom passed away only a couple of months ago so this was partially a tribute to her. It was so nice to include this part of my traditions and pass them on to Alexa and honor my mom at the same time.
The final part of making everything ourselves occurred after the Bat Mitzvah when we got over 900 pictures back and everyone wanted an album. I got to post many of the photos online but even better was using an online company to make a photo album to remember all of the amazing parts of this beautiful day. Even better was seeing my husband’s face at the event when he realized I was able to stay within his ridiculously low budget (well, almost!)
The best part of the event was seeing it all come together and getting compliments from everyone about how “professional” all of it looked!
