Live streaming Bar and Bat Mitzvah services has become the “new normal” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as families are finding creative ways to celebrate their child’s simcha. Recently a family from Southport, Connecticut worked with Jenn DelAngelo of Caramel Studios, to re-imagine their son Jonah’s montage into a special surprise with messages of congratulations from invited family and friends.
Pre-coronovirus, DelAngelo was hired to create a traditional Bar Mitzvah montage for the Hourihan family for their son’s March 28th affair. When the celebration was postponed, it was decided that the service would be live streamed on the intended day. The parents collaborated with DelAngelo to “create a fun, upbeat video with surprise messages and photos for Jonah so he could feel the love from the family and friends that should have been there to celebrate with him.”
DelAngelo provided her client with a set of simple, clear directions to share with guests and also offered suggestions and tips. “We kept it fun and light, so there was no pressure. The only goal was to shower the Bar Mitzvah boy with love!” she explains. Photos and videos were emailed directly to DelAngelo and the entire process took about two weeks but messages were being added up until the day of the Bar Mitzvah service.
After Jonah’s Bar Mitzvah service, his family surprised him with the montage filled with photo and video messages. DelAngelo says that Jonah loved the video and told his parents the day was even more special than he’d expected. Guests received a link to the video which was also posted on Facebook by Jonah’s mom. The family plans to share their original, traditional montage with guests at their rescheduled celebration in the fall.
Watch a sample of Jonah’s Surprise Mazel Tov video:
DelAngelo is currently working to re-create meaningful montages and video messages for postponed weddings, graduations and more. To learn more about Caramel Studios visit their profile page in our Vendor Directory.
Thousands of Bar and Bat Mitzvah families are sharing information and ideas about virtual Mitzvahs, re-booking their celebrations and more in Mitzvah Market’s 17 regional Facebook groups. Join here.
