Benjamin Cole Berliner celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on December 3, 2011 at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor, New York.
The theme was “It’s all about Ben,” with colors lime green and royal blue. Their clever logo, “ben.i.am” was on various signage and favors. This fun celebration was all about friends, family and of course Ben!
All event photography was by EJ The DJ.
Pictured L-R: Dad Mitch, Brother Dylan, Bar Mitzvah boy Ben and Mom Lisa
Fine Lines designed the invitation which included their decor colors of lime green and royal blue.
Brian William Event Decorators created the decor using centerpieces featuring all the things Ben loves.
The room at the Colonial Terrace
The spacious lounge area
Custom pillows and white lounge furniture
ben.i.am signage
Adult guests enjoyed the vodka ice slide
Some centerpieces have a clothing theme…
Some were sports…
And skiing, all of Ben’s favorites
The place cards were chinese food containers with custom fortune cookies inside. Guests knew where they were sitting based on the sticker on the outside of the container which matched their tables centerpiece.
Their custom fortune cookies were from myluckyfortune.com. The cookies were royal blue and the fortune said, “Thank you for sharing my special day!” on one side and the other side said, “Your lucky numbers…12-3-11” (Ben’s party date).
EJ The DJ provided the music entertainment with Hakim as the MC.
Ben with MC Hakim
Ben’s friends having fun
Ben with the girls
Ben’s closet door from home was brought to the venue and used as his sign-in board. It was airbrushed on site by The Main Event.
His closet door was used as the sign-in board
Colonial Terrace provided the cake for Ben’s candle lighting ceremony.
Rockwood Promotions created the gray sweatshirt favors for the young guests.
Lisa learned a lot while planning Ben’s celebration and has some Mom to Mom advice for all of us!:
“We all want our children’s event to be special and different. My son Ben is one of the youngest kids in his grade and the last of his friends to have a Bar Mitzvah. I was so stressed out about the kids having been to at least 12 parties before his, what could our theme be, what could we do that would be “different.” The more I read, the more parties I saw on Mitzvah Market, the more stressed I became. Then it just came to me…THIS IS ALL ABOUT BEN! If this party is about Ben, everyone will have a great time. About one year before the party, I started reading Mitzvah Market. I went to the Celebrate! Party Showcase and met some vendors, got magazines and flyers. I kept a folder with all my information from the vendors, magazines and a Bar Mitzvah file on my laptop with items and ideas that I would find. Then when it came time I referred back to all those great ideas.”
“Just keep in mind that you don’t really have to go crazy. I am a control freak and planner. If you do all your “research” up front and gather ideas, it will be much easier when you get to the point when you have to actually get it all done. MOST IMPORTANT: When your event rolls around you need to feel secure about the trust you put in the vendors you hired so you can enjoy your party. It goes so fast, don’t blow it by trying to control the details. Relax, enjoy and let the event happen.”
“One more thing I wish I had been told before Ben’s party. Be sure to get cash before the party for all the tips and put them in envelopes BEFORE you go to the event. Bring some extra cash in case anyone does an extra amazing job and you want to give them more money. Otherwise after a “few trips to the vodka slide”…I had no idea what I was doing at the very end of the party or who I was giving what to.”
Ben was very taken by the devastation that occurred in Haiti. He saw the benefit that George Clooney and other celebrities put together and wanted to find a way to help. At the time, the yellow LIVESTRONG rubber bracelets were very popular. He went online and found a supplier, 24HourWristbands.com that would custom make the bracelets.
He chose orange and turquoise as the two colors he would offer and decided he wanted the bracelets to say “HELP FOR HAITI.” He ordered 200 bracelets and sold all of them. He sold them at school to teachers and friends, he also sold them at Hebrew School and to family members near and far. Ben wanted to be sure that 100% of that money got to the people of Haiti, so together we did the research and found George Clooney’s organization that said 100% of the donations would go to Haiti. Ben sent them a check for $600. An article was written in the local paper about Ben’s “Mitzvah” and President Clinton even sent him a letter of congratulations for his good deed!
Since Ben’s celebration, Mom Lisa did something with his centerpieces that she wanted to share. “I dismantled all of Ben’s centerpieces and created two giant collages out of them. They look really cool and are a great way to remember an awesome night.”
The following vendors helped to make Ben’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: Leon Drogy, Colonial Terrace, 914-737-0400
Music Entertainment: MC, Hakim, EJ The DJ, 631-348-7848
Favors: Amy Fein, Rockwood Promotions, 203-246-4659
Photo booth & airbrush artists: Alison, The Main Event, 800-839-0918
Invitations: Laura, Fine Lines, 914-232-4856
Cake: Colonial Terrace, 914-737-0400
Décor/Centerpieces: Billy, Brian William Event Decorators, 845-628-0614
Sign-In board: Ben’s closet door
Custom fortune cookies: Ashley Tsao, www.myluckyfortune.com, 410-690-4463
Custom pillows: www.CafePress.com
Mom’s Dress: Nordstrom
Clothing for Ben: Lime green shirt Express, Lime green sneakers, Journeys
Hair: Hudson Paul Salon, 914-481-1300
Photographer: Zapshots by EJ the DJ
Videographer: Andrew Stein Videography, 914-788-4678
Mitzvah Project: 24HourWristbands.com
