The Katz family from East Rockaway celebrated their son Ryan’s Bar Mitzvah on January 15, 2011 at Temple Avodah in Oceanside, New York.
The time of year worked well with their theme: Chillin’ At Ryan’s Sports Klub (Ryan’s initials are RSK!). Mitzvah Mom Lauren was the party planner and did many of the special touches herself.
We thank the Katz family for sharing all their great ideas. All party photography was done by Art Photography and the rest of the vendor information is listed at the bottom of this feature.
Pictured above L-R: Bar Mitzvah boy Ryan, Mom Lauren, Dad Louis and older brother David.
The family wanted to set the tone with their elegant navy and silver Arlene Segal invite from Invitations and Beyond. The monogram of RSK were used on the invitation and on various touches throughout their party.
Their customized stamp matched the logo on the young adults favors as you will see below
Mitzvah Mom Lauren’s navy velvet dress was from Saks and the cream bolero jacket is from a Canadian designer named Catherine Regehr. Dad Louis is wearing a black velvet dinner jacket by Ralph Lauren. A terrific tailor named Charles Sanzone did alterations on the boys clothing and trimmed Lauren’s jacket to include the navy velvet piping.
When it came time for planning the decor, Mom Lauren explains, “My son wanted to include sports and I wanted an elegant atmosphere, so we came up with “Chillin'” as an overall theme and I was able to incorporate the colors silver and navy with ice and snowflakes.
Pictures from a photo session with Ryan lined the walls of Ryan’s Sports Klub
Tables in the cocktail room had snow globes that Lauren found at CVS. She added Ryan’s picture as well as snow flakes and pine cones as shown above and below
These snowmen found on Oriental Trading Company became sporty once Lauren hot glued helmets and sports equipment to them. They were used around the party for the “chillin’ effect!
Lighter Than Air were responsible for many of the unique touches like the large balloons and glow cubes at each place setting
Premier Skirting provided table clothes and silver napkins while Kombert Caterers designed menu cards with Ryan’s monogram
Ryan’s “sports” photos were worked into the centerpieces – each table number was incorporated into the picture as seen here and below
The Main Event provided the furniture for the lounge area and Lighter Than Air created the light-up cylinders
Custom pillows with Ryan’s monogram were created by Stitch This, Print That
Mitzvah Mom Lauren got this idea from the Lapidus Mitzvah Family spotlight and created her own seating cards using M&Ms inside small containers with a monogrammed label on top.
A sign-in book was created by Lighter Than Air and was displayed on the table below.
Shown above, Ryan’s sign-in book cover is on display using a photo light box. Two LED trees were brought in by Mom Lauren to surround the table
The music entertainment was provided by EJ The DJ with CL as the MC.
The dancers wore matching t-shirts with the same logo as the young guests sweatshirts made by Stitch This, Print That
EJ The DJ had Ryan’s monogram as a gobo light on the wall
Mom Lauren and Ryan during their special dance
The young guests enjoyed games and activities provided by Parties By Gail.
Table tennis
Bingo
Custom engraved key chains
A talented magician named Kevin Nicholas performed for Ryan’s friends.
Kombert Caterers made this silver and blue cake with Ryan’s monogram.
Snowflakes found on Oriental Trading Company were placed around the base of the cake
Young adults received alternative apparel hoodie sweatshirts that were created by Paul from Stitch This, Print That. Lauren designed the logo with Paul’s graphic art help.
Each child’s name was on the back – talk about personalized!
When you celebrate during the winter months, you just never know what the weather will be. We love how the Katz family was prepared and every adult guest received a snow scraper with a bag of sports chocolates for their ride home.
The scrapers were personalized and said “Chillin'” with Ryan’s initials and date of the party. Mom Lauren found these at Staples Industrial
Ryan purchased various sports equipment which was used to decorate the party. After the party, the equipment was donated to Camp Sizanani, in Africa.
Ryan learned about this summer camp from his counselor, who had worked there. It is a free camp for children who have AIDS or whose family members have AIDS. Ryan’s counselor turned to helping people rather than crime or violence like others had in his neighborhood. His decision to take the right path eventually led him to work at Ryan’s camp and Ryan was lucky to have him in his bunk, as his counselor. His stories touched many children’s lives and they were all very grateful to know him.
Lauren has now successfully planned both of her son’s Bar Mitzvah celebrations and has this advice to share:
“Plan ahead. I like to be organized so I used a 3” binder with a separate section and folder for each vendor. This helps to keep track of contracts, bills, and any photos or ideas you want to share with your vendors. Also, this helps you sleep at night because you know where to write all of your thoughts and you don’t have to try to remember where you put them in the morning, they can all be found in one place, just don’t lose the book! I like to be involved, some people like to let others make their decisions, whatever your style is, it always helps to be organized. Don’t waste a minute of your party being stressed or upset about the small stuff, just enjoy it, it’s over in a blink. When my son Ryan told me “it was the best five hours of his life,” that was worth everything to me.”
Here is a list of the vendors who made Ryan’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you call any of them, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue/Caterer: Kombert Caterers 516-678-6161
Party Planner: Mom Lauren Katz
Musical Entertainment: EJ The DJ, MC CL 631-348-7848
Favors: Dancer shirts, Pillow: Sweatshirts, Paul from Stitch This, Print That 516-308-3833
Magician: PopStar Magician, Kevin Nicholas
Invitations: Debbie, Invitations And Beyond 516-536-3300
Decor: Lighter Than Air
Sign-in Book: Lighter Than Air 516-933-3210
Mom’s Dress: Saks, bolero jacket by Catherine Regehr (Vancouver)
Tailoring: Charles Sanzone 516-887-9010
Dad’s Jacket: Black velvet dinner jacket by Ralph Lauren
Boys Clothing – Hickey Freeman (black velvet dinner jackets)
Photographer: Scott from Art Photography 516-569-3444
Photo booth: The Main Event 718-724-1007
Linens: Beth Yudin Premier Skirting 516-239-7992
Entertainment: Parties by Gail 516-569-3962
Video Montage: Lenny Manzo 516-599-7808
Hair: Nella at Pravana 516-766-1961
