The Kamiel Bar Mitzvah Family Spotlight

Casey Kamiel celebrated his Bar Mitzvah on October 20, 2012.  He has an unusual, large family tree filled with parents, step-parents, siblings & step-siblings who love him madly.

All the pieces to his puzzle resulted in a party filled with warmth and happiness at The Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange, New Jersey. An intimate and moving Havdalah service was followed by Casey’s friends and family partying the night away at a 1940’s retro baseball style celebration.

Mom Dayna Platnick plans parties for a living…but planning her own child’s was a whole different ball game.

Pictured above L-R: Mom Dayna and Bar Mitzvah boy Casey.

The photographer was Jesse Hernandez Photography and the rest of the vendors are listed at the bottom of the spotlight.

Mitzvah Service & Invitation

Mom Dayna & Stephanie Tarre of Stationery Stephanie created this custom invitation from Spotlight Designs.
 

The invitation was made of chocolate brown leather and cork, which set the tone for the 1940’s baseball theme

Casey draped in his Tallit, given to him on this special occasion by his Uncle Josh and Aunt Stefanie

Casey's siblings Sydney, Ben and Lexi wishing Casey a Mazel Tov!

Mitzvah Details

Baseball was the theme which is Bar Mitzvah boy Casey’s passion. This party was done with a vintage feel and his logo, “Casey@ the bat” was taken from the famous baseball poem, “Casey at the Bat” written by Ernest L. Thayer. Mitzvah Mom Dayna and Jersey Street Furniture hit a home run with the vintage baseball decor. With a palette of orange and chocolate brown they created the feeling of 1940’s baseball, a la the movie “The Natural.” The room was also draped and lit in amber lights. Where the Flowers Bloom created the beautiful centerpieces. 

Mom Dayna, together with Sandy Hines of Jersey Street Furniture created "Casey's Starting Line Up" to help guests find their table assignments on clipboards. Lory Bernstein designed the guest lists that were placed alphabetically on the clipboards; a great alternative to place cards

The chain link fence, retro pennants and clipboards gave the feel of a ball park

Jersey Street Furniture created a cool kids' area with distressed leather couches, a light up logo bar and custom pillows

Debbie from 'Where Flowers Bloom' used 15 different vintage crates, one on each table, with mason jars, wheat grass, curly willow, tonal flowers and tons of candle lights for a spectacular effect

Jersey Street Furniture wrapped the dance floor in Casey's logo

Bar Mitzvah boy Casey came up with the "Mr October" custom napkins (a nod to Reggie Jackson) from Stationery Stephanie

Mom Dayna, painted Casey's logo on his closet door, brought it to the venue and everyone signed it so Casey could have a fun reminder of the evening right in his room without adding to the clutter!

Music & Entertainment

Shine Events provided the music entertainment. 

Casey "made his entrance" by dancing in with the Shine Event dancers to "Gangham Style" as his guests went wild!

Opening ceremonies started as Casey threw out the first pitch to his Dad, Andy

…and Dad Andy makes the catch!

Jason Liebman Music entertained the adults during cocktails with the sounds of The Stones and Springsteen to create a cool atmosphere for drinking, dining and laughter. Casey and his friends got crazy with Emcee Mike, DJ Brian & the high energy party motivators from Shine Events

The girls rocked their baseball socks!

Casey in the thick of things

Casey's Grandma & Aunts had a blast dancing on the lighted stages wearing shades provided by Shine

Total Entertainment brought this photo wall, reminiscent of Casey's room at home, where guests posed for a picture that they got to take home in a frame

In the kids cocktail room, a March-Madness type tournament was center stage and Shine Events lined up loads of pop-a-shots and the kids loved vying for the title of Casey's Madness Champion!

The "Wolfpack" toasted the Bar Mitzvah Boy with a skit from "The Hangover" and shots of 7-up

And of course, the evening wouldn't be complete without the mother-son dance!

Mitzvah Favors & Exit Treats

Late in the evening, baseball-style-vendors offered “Casey @ the bat” t-shirts to the adults while kids received an awesome hoodie! Shine Events built Casey’s Corner and it was the place to be at midnight! Complete with magazines, bottled water and retro candies, kids and adults were thrilled with the late night treats.

T-shirts for the adults

The grey sweatshirt favor had Casey's logo. Check out those shoelace ties

Casey manning "Casey's Corner"

Water bottles with Casey's logo

Ice cream was served in these mini logo'd baseball hats

Mom to Mom

Advice from Mom Dayna, a party planner:
“Finding the right DJ, florist, photographer, etc. aren’t an easy task. After working with many vendors over the years, I chose an all-star cast to create “Casey @ the bat.” To me, the hard part was dealing with the emotional end of this event during the weeks leading up to it. True, the party was undeniably important to Casey & me, but ultimately I was wrestling with the fact that he was turning 13 and my baby is gone forever. On October 20th I was overwhelmed with sheer joy; beaming as my son read from the Torah, as he hugged & kissed his grandparents and as he rocked on the dance floor with his ‘Wolfpack.’ Best advice I can give? Just be in the moment; be present and feel every emotion because it’s over in a blink.”

Vendor Directory

Here is a list of the Mitzvah Vendors who helped make Casey’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you call any of them, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.

Venue: The Wilshire Grand Hotel, 973-731-7007
Party Planner: Casey’s Mom, Dayna Platnick Events, dakamiel@aol.com
Music Entertainment: MC Mike, Shine Events
Cocktail Hour Guitarist: Jason Liebman Music
Favors: Alison Halper, ID Clothing, alisonhalper@aol.com
Extra Entertainment: Shine Events, March Madness Tourney, Air hockey & Airbrush Tattoo, Casey’s Corner newsstand
Photo Wall: Total Entertainment
Photographer:  Jesse Hernandez Photography
Videography: Kristin O’Gorman Productions, kristen.ogorman@gmail.com
Invitation: Stationery Stephanie
Florists: Where Flowers Bloom
Computer Calligraphy: Lory Bernstein, loryrb@aol.com
Décor: Jersey Street Furniture
Day of Event Coordinator: Cynthia Pesce Events
Sign-In board: Casey’s closet door, painted by Mom
Mom’s Dress: Neiman Marcus
Suits for family members: Sam’s Fine Men’s Clothing
Hair/makeup: Rita Scrivo-Longo, My Cinderella’s Dream
Party security: Bar Mitzvah Bouncer
Socks: Epic Sports