By Chloe Cornell
I’m a 8th grader and live in Westchester, NY. I love tennis, soul cycle, fashion, hanging with my friends, and traveling around the world. Camp Vega is my summer home and my favorite place on earth! I founded the company #Kindnessistherealcool for my Mitzvah Project, and invite everyone to visit us on Instagram @kindnessistherealcool and join the movement. I celebrated my Bat Mitzvah in March, 2015.
Daryn’s Bat Mitzvah: Traveling the World!
Recently, I attended my best friend, Daryn’s Bat Mitzvah. Her theme was traveling the world. Since she and her family moved from New York to London this year, they have had the opportunity to visit many different countries, and it translated into an amazing Bat Mitzvah theme! Everything about the party reflected her theme from the invitations to the party favors.
The invitation set the tone and got everyone excited for the event. The envelope mimicked airmail with silver and hot pink stripes instead of the traditional red and blue border. The inside of the envelope and the back of the invitation had a silver passport stamp design, and the details for the party were in passport-like booklets.
Daryn’s invitation ensemble
Upon arrival at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center in New York City, there was a beautiful display of giant luggage trunks with flowers.
The entrance to the Rainbow Room
After you went up the elevator, there was a wall of clocks (like you would find in an airport) displaying the time in different cities around the world, including Daryn’s favorite places such as London, Paris, and Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, where she goes to camp!
Daryn in front of the wall of clocks
In the kids’ cocktail room, there were many fun games and activities. There was a photo booth with a green screen and you could select different “tourist postcard” backdrops for your picture. I thought this was a clever tie-in to her theme. Below is a photo of the different backdrops on display.
Different backgrounds for the photo booth postcards
They also had a casino table where you could win an iWatch, a jewelry station where you could design bracelets and necklaces, and a unique basketball/ping pong station where you could bounce the ping pong ball and try to get it into the miniature basketball hoop. This game, (photographed below), was a big hit with the boys and also a very clever and original idea.
Unique basketball/ping pong station
After cocktail hour was over, we were led into the main room of the Bat Mitzvah. It was absolutely beautiful. The centerpieces on the tables were pink flowers designed to make a globe. The dance floor moved in a circle like a globe! The tablecloths were decorated with a passport stamp design. Postcards from around the world were on the tables and each guest received a mini suitcase with globe chocolate balls inside.
Pictures of the main room:
For Daryn’s entrance, she was carried into the room on a “throne.” The men carrying her were dressed in London Guard costumes and they were playing “God Save the Queen.” It was hilarious!
Daryn’s grand entrance
Over the course of the night, many gifts were given out on the dance floor. There were silver trucker hats, bucket hats, sunglasses, lax pinnies, glow sticks, t-shirts, neck pillows, and sleeping masks. There were various logo designs on all of the giveaways. Some featured Daryn’s initials in the Pan Am logo design. Others had a line of planes. Some hats featured the abbreviated names of the places Daryn has lived including “LNDON” (photograph below) and “NYC.”
Some of the “swag” from Daryn’s celebration
Some additional details included a live band along with the DJ which brought a lot of energy into the room. Daryn’s montage featured her narrating over video and photos of her travels around the world which was entertaining and special.
Later in the evening, they handed out grilled cheese and doughnuts on the dance floor. Kids had an ice cream sundae station, and my favorite, a cookie shot station, which is a chocolate chip cookie shaped as a small cup filled with milk. YUM!
The kids’ party favors were black duffle bags for the boys with the airplane logo, and girls received woven beach bags (pictured below) with sequins smiley faces and DD for the eyes – Daryn’s initials. Daryn designed these bags herself and they are great! We also received sweatshirts with the map of the world printed on the back.
Favor for the boys
Favor for the girls
On the way out of the building, we passed by those giant trunks from the beginning of the night. They were opened and filled with candy, tins of popcorn, and cupcakes for people to take home.
Daryn’s theme was completely tailored to her and every detail was perfect. I had the best night and I know that everyone else did too. Mazel Tov Daryn!
Me with my friend Daryn
The following vendors helped to make Daryn’s celebration special:
Venue, The Rainbow Room; Event planner (games, entrance decor, candy station): Victoria Dubin Events; Event designer/floral: Lewis Miller Designs; Music Entertainment: More than Music; Band: Element Music; Photography: Michael Jurick Photography; Montage and Videographer: Jacklight Productions
Read more of Chloe’s blog posts:
Blog #1 here
Blog #2 here
Blog #3 here
Blog #4 here
Blog #5 here
Blog #6 here
