The DelAngelo family celebrated their daughter Caroline’s Bat Mitzvah on February 5, 2011 at Mora Mora in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Their celebration was in a club atmosphere with lots of pink and a theme to match their daughter’s first name! They had many candy touches with their “Sweet Caroline” theme.
Pictured left (L-R): Younger Sister Melanie, Dad Henry, Bat Mitzvah girl Caroline, Mom Jennifer and Brother Andrew
All photography was done by Amy Peck and the rest of the vendor information is listed at the bottom of this spotlight.
The invitation from Papers of Note was brown and pink. A ribbon on the back held all the important information including the direction card and R.S.V.P.
A pretty envelope liner tied everything together. A rhinestone was used on the dot of the ‘i’ in Caroline for a special touch
A matching stamp
Six months before Caroline’s Bat Mitzvah, guests received these homemade save the date useful book marks and a post card (below) with info about one of her Mitzvah Projects
Mom Jennifer explains, “Caroline’s dad is not Jewish, and many of our family and friends who were invited to celebrate weren’t Jewish either.” She adds, “To make everyone comfortable, included in the invitation, was a card that explained what a Bat Mitzvah is and what to expect at the service as well as dress attire. People really appreciated that.”
Jennifer Butler designed dresses for Caroline, her Mom and sisters for the service and evening celebration. She also made ties for Henry and Andrew.
Everyone looks great in their custom dresses
Event Planner Arlene Rosenthal took care of decor creating a sweet room with lots of pink draping, candy displays and 3 foot pink balloons that floated on the ceiling.
Mora Mora is decked out in pink for Caroline’s celebration
The linens looked like pink roses with small arrangements of pink roses and candlelight – simple and elegant. The napkin rings were candy necklaces
Large martini glasses with LED lights on top of light up high boy tables
Signage over the bar spelled “gasoline.” With a few pink fuzzy letters, “gasoline” was converted into “Caroline!”
The bar is filled with appetizers for the kids. They were all in shot glasses to make it easy for them to eat
There were many special touches that added to this “Sweet Caroline” decor.
Three 8 foot silhouettes of a girl blowing bubble gum bubbles flanked the entry way
A faux gumball machine held multi colored balls that would be given out at the end of the party as part of Caroline’s Mitzvah Project. More information is below in the Mitzvah Exit section
There were personalized chocolate bars for guests with a sweet tooth
A Dylan’s Candy Bar inspired sign
The Imagemaker provided green screen photo favors including many different candy boxes like the one above
Shot glasses filled with M&M’s were used as place cards with different Andy Warhol type photos of Caroline.
Tables were the names of different candy bars. Of course the DelAngelo family sat at the ‘Oh Henry’ table
Starlight Express provided the music entertainment with Kao as the MC.
Caroline makes her entrance
Time for Caroline to get lifted in the chair
Caroline’s friends having fun!
Arlene Rosenthal had Caroline’s logo painted on her bedroom door to use as her sign-in board.
Guests used different color markers to sign-in with special messages
Caroline had a puzzle candle lighting created by her party planner Arlene Rosenthal. Instead of cake there was a puzzle. Pink candles were placed on a table and a piece of the puzzle was added each time a candle was lit.
The above baby picture of Caroline had an imprint of where all the puzzle pieces should go
As each candle was lit, a piece of the current picture of Caroline (shown above) was added and that created the new photo
Caroline’s friends pose for a picture
Arlene also took care of the favors for Caroline’s friends. Boys and girls had different logos for their sweatshirts, but all featured their last name on the back and a personalized “Caroline” chocolate bar. The boys sweatshirt said, “Property of Sweet Caroline” and the girls had an image of a candy wrapper with “Sweet Caroline” and the date with rhinestones.
Caroline’s friends show off their sweatshirt favor
Cubbies were used to hold their favors
Girls sweatshirt on the left and boys on the right
Mom Jennifer is a montage maker and owner of Caramel Studios. She created a clever montage for Caroline. Check out part of it below:
Here’s a clip from Caroline’s montage. Watch her grow up from newborn to 13 years old in one minute!
Watch here
Caroline’s Mitzvah Projects continued even to the end of her celebration. As adult guests left Caroline’s party, they received cupcakes wrapped in the pretty boxes below and the kids and each family received a ball and postcard explaining what they should do!
For Caroline’s 13th Mitzvah Project, she asked for help from her family and friends
Some Mom to Mom advice from Jennifer:
“Plan ahead and don’t leave details for the last minute. We had a very snowy winter, filled with many blizzards, and I knew that if I didn’t have everything finished the week before, I would have a problem if it snowed. My goal was not to step foot in any store the week of my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah! Good thing I planned ahead, because we had 2 major snow storms that week. Getting everything finished a bit early also allowed me to really enjoy that last week with Caroline. I was able to listen to her practice her torah portions, spend some quality time together, and not worry about details that had to be finished.
When it comes to the big ticket items, like choosing the venue and DJ, do your homework before you discuss it with your child. Just present options that you would be happy with and are within your budget.
Involve family and friends in the Mitzvah Projects if you can. We have a lot of family and friends who are not Jewish, and didn’t really understand what a Bat Mitzvah was all about. This gave them a great understanding of how important your Mitzvah Projects are and that this allows you to truly make the difference in the lives of others. I truly think it makes your Bar/Bat Mitzvah that much more meaningful, when your family & friends have helped you along the way. The party is a fabulous celebration, no matter what type of party you have, but what warmed my heart the most, was watching Caroline help others through her Mitzvah Projects and listening to her read from the Torah. Don’t lose sight of what this day is all about – the party is secondary. I could not have been more proud – it was the most special day.
Most of all … seize the moment and enjoy this incredibly special day.”
Another one of Caroline’s Mitzvah Projects was to bake cookies to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness in memory of her Grandmother Carol, whom she is named after.
A sign explaining her Mitzvah Project
Caroline with many of the ingredients needed for her cookies
The DelAngelo Family ready to bake
Here’s another clip from her Bat Mitzvah Montage. Caroline’s Mitzvah Project – Baking & Selling her Grandma Carol’s Chocolate Chip Cookies and raising $2400 for MSABC (Making Strides Against Breast Cancer)!
Watch here
The following vendors helped make Caroline’s party special. If you give any of them a call, please tell them you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: Mora Mora, 203 299-1677
Event Planner/Decor: Arlene Rosenthal, arlene@partyideasct.com, 203-984-0610
Photographer: Amy Peck Portfolio
Music Entertainment: MC Kao, Starlight Express, 516-742-1100
Photo Favors: The Image Makers, 914-963-8551
Favors: Arlene Rosenthal
Candlelighting Puzzle: Arlene Rosenthal
Sign-In Board: Arlene Rosenthal
Invitations: Sarah Parsons, Papers of Note, 203-254-2666
Montage: Mom Jennifer, Caramelstudios.com, 203-610-0015
Dresses for Mom Jennifer and girls: Jennifer Butler, 203-256-5768
Ties for Henry/Andrew: Jennifer Butler
Makeup: Leslie Atiles
Hair: Milexy, 860-204-7861
Transportation: Park Avenue Limo & Coach, 800-627-7257
Videographer/Zap Photos: Starlight Express
