The Levy family took advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend and celebrated their son Ben’s Bar Mitzvah over the course of two days.
His service was on Saturday morning at Or-Elohim in Jericho, New York and then the party was on Sunday evening at Temple Judea in Manhasset, New York.
Ben is a soccer player so his theme was appropriately World Cup Soccer. We would like to thank the Levys for sharing their unique ideas with Mitzvah Market.
All event photography was done by Joanne Orshan for JoJo Photos. All vendor contact information is listed at the bottom. Pictured above Bar Mitzvah boy Ben Levy.
The entire family looked great. Ben’s suit was from Nordstrom’s and Caroline found her beautiful cranberry colored gown at Bloomingdale’s.
Left to right: Brother Jason, Ben, brother Casey, Mom and Dad
Ben’s handsome navy and green invitation was done by Susan Lehrhoff for Ethan Niles.
The ballroom at Temple Judea is beautiful, but United Floral did a great job of adding different types of centerpieces to each table and incorporating Ben’s soccer theme.
Mom Caroline selected grey linens that added to the warmth of the room
One of three different centerpieces designed by United Floral
A beautiful tree created a terrific centerpiece
Pictures of Ben on the soccer field taken by JoJo Photos were on every table
This table used “Italy” signage to indicate the table’s name. Other teams were used for the different tables
Mom Caroline found some great resources online that she wanted to share! She ordered the below seating cards and printed menu cards from www.theorganizedbridestore.com. She found it very easy to do all online.
They looked great all lined-up!
United Floral added these great looking floral arrangements to the table with the placecards
These “BarMintsVahs” were placed at each guests seat. She ordered these from www.cool-party-favors.com
To keep the young guests busy during the cocktail hour, Creative Games brought in 4 foozball tables and created a “world cup” type of foosball competition!
JoJo Photos created this blow-up from an outdoor photo session which served as Ben’s sign-in board for all his guests.
In keeping with the theme, Ben gave sweatshirts to the young guests that were created by And That.
Design on the back of the zip-up sweatshirts
Young guests could also have these T-shirt pillows made at the party, courtesy of Creative Games
Starlight Express provided the music entertainment for all of Ben’s guests. Kayo was the MC.
Ben “makes his entrance” with two of the Starlight Express dancers
MC Kayo with Ben and his friends
After each guest came up to light their candle during the traditional candle lighting ceremony, Ben handed them a travel candle that Mom Caroline found online at www.Beau-coup.com.
Mitzvah Mom Caroline has now successfully planned one of her three children’s Bar Mitzvahs – she’s now one of our experts! We asked her for some Mom-to-Mom advice and this is what she had to say, “Remember that the service is the focal point of the experience. Not only does this keep your heart in the right place, but it takes some of the stress off of the planning. As for the celebration, don’t second-guess your choices. If you like your selections for decor and entertainment, so will your guests. Then on the night of the party, relax and enjoy all of your hard work!”
At school, Ben, together with his community service class, organized and collected hundreds of new and gently used books to donate to children battling cancer and blood disorders at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, the hospital where his Dad works.
Ben also created two baskets of art supplies, books and video games which sat on the bimah during his Mitzvah service and then were donated to the patients at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Ben felt strongly that while he can play soccer and basketball whenever he wants, he wanted to make the time that the children spend at the hospital more pleasant by giving them art supplies to create projects, video games to play and books to read.
Here is a list of the vendors who made Ben’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you call any of them, please make sure to say you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: Temple Judea of Manhasset
Caterers: Newman & Leventhal, Jeffrey Torem 516-621-8049
Music Entertainment: Starlight Express, MC Kayo 516-742-1100
Favors: And That 516-364-9222
Photographer: Joanne Orshan for JoJo Photo 516-625-6210
Photo Booth: Simphonic Events 516-660-1812
Games/T-shirt pillows: Creative Games 516-626-1900
Invitations: Susan Lehrhoff 516-626-3666
Decor/Florist: United Floral 516-829-8890
Sign-In Board: JoJo Photo
Mints: www.cool-party-favors.com
Candlelighting Gifts: www.beau-coup.com
Placecards: www.theorganizedbridestore.com
Mom’s Dress: Bloomingdales
Make-up: Amanda Evans 516-932-8592
Mitzvah Project: The Children’s Hospital At Montefiore
