Hello All,
This Mitzvah Family Spotlight is courtesy of the Mandell family. Their daughter Remi’s black tie Bat Mitzvah was held at The Woodmere Club and their creative theme was Hotel Remi.
The family chose this theme because they love to take vacations as a way to reconnect and enjoy some alone time. Since Remi’s celebration was going to be one of the last for her grade, they tried to incorporate new and unique ideas to keep the young guests interested. We hope their ideas will inspire you!
Pictured left: Bat Mitzvah girl Remi, her brothers Bailey and Dustin and parents Jon and Andi Mandell. All event photography was done by Ira Rosen. Reminder: All Vendor information is at the bottom.
The entire Mandell family looked great at Remi’s Bat Mitzvah. Remi’s dress was from Moonlight Couture and Mom wore a beautiful Stephen Yearick beaded gown. Her twin brothers Dustin and Bailey and Dad got their suits from Murlee.
Remi’s beautiful custom invitation was designed by Party Planner Debbie Kahn who worked closely with Mitzvah Mom Andi on all party details. The logo, an initial “R” was seen throughout the party and set the tone for all things Remi!
Remi’s invite set the stage for her fun celebration
As guests entered The Woodmere Club, they found themselves inside a hotel guest room complete with bed, dressers, chairs, bible and telephones. As an added touch, one of the dancer’s was sitting in a chair in a Hotel Remi bathrobe and matching slippers reading a travel magazine.
When guests arrive, they were greeted by Hotel Remi signage
Bat Mitzvah girl Remi at the check-in desk where guests registered and received an envelope with their table number. Also inside was a brochure which talked about all of the amenities of Hotel Remi and featured pictures of Remi at various places in her hotel
Remi strikes a beautiful pose in her “Hotel Room” lobby
Incorporating colors of hot pink and silver and using lots of white fabrics and lighting, Party Interiors owner Paul completely transformed the ballroom into a night club setting. The dance floor lit up and the kids lounge was elevated and changed colors each time it was stepped on. Instead of flowers, the room was decorated with crystal beads with many plasma TV screens placed around the room for easy viewing of zap photos and the montage.
Mini rolling suitcases were at each place setting and were filled with pink M&M’s which were available in October in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month
Instead of flower, crystals were used all over the room for additional sparkle
The Mandell’s used Shine Events for their musical entertainment, plasma screens and intelligent lighting. Fitting with the theme, Remi “made her entrance” via a hotel rolling luggage rack accompanied by some of the dancers in themed shirts!
Remi “makes her entrance!”
Remi’s brothers entered in suitcases!
Everyone got in on the action -the waiters, dancers, Vendors and Club employees all wore specially designed “Remi Hotel” robes
One of their many special touches was to hire an artist who painted “live” throughout the evening to capture the special memories.
Party Planner Debbie Kahn brought in an artist who worked all night and by the end of the evening, the Mandell’s had a beautiful painting to hang in their living room to always remind them of this special celebration
The kids drinks were adorned with neon “Remi” crazy straws from Krazystraws.com. Mini pink bottles of champagne were offered to adults as well as other cocktails and there were two separate cocktail rooms, one for the adults and one for the kids
Remi’s sign-in book
The Mandell’s guests enjoyed the “15 Seconds Of Fame” reality booth arranged by their party planner. As guests entered the 8 foot circle truss booth, their very own celebrity-like photo shoot, complete with professional cameras, lighting and appropriate music begins!
Remi offered her guests lots of great entertainment that also became take home favors.
Wacky Wendy entertaining a crowd with her party hats
The kids enjoyed airbrushing on flip flops and hats from Make It Snappy!
Remi proudly showing her sweatshirt favors by Holly Green from Infinity
Instead of a traditional montage, Remi’s was more like a film which showed her trying to find the perfect location for Hotel Remi. Throughout the montage she interviews family members and close friends who lobby for their place to be the new location. At the end, Remi clicks her heels and says “there’s no place like home” three times and the montage fades to The Woodmere Club and Remi is standing outside.
Remi’s Mitzvah Project was a series of projects. Her temple, Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Center has a youth group that was participating in a Day of Mitzvah’s. As part of that day, Remi packaged up life essentials for a battered Women’s shelter, visited a nursing home and did a craft with the residents, participated in a supermarket sweep in which each group had $25 to spend in the supermarket to buy as many non-perishable kosher items as they could and then deliver them to the soup kitchen.
In addition, Remi donated money from her Bat Mitzvah to the Justin Sheftel Scholarship Fund which ws set up in memory of her cousin Justin who was killed when a drunk driver ran him over in Ocean City, Maryland while he was participating in Senior Week having graduated High School the previous day.
Lastly, Remi planted a tree in Israel for each one of her adult guests who attended the reception and each guest received a Tree Certificate with their favor when leaving the reception.
The Mandell’s had some special touches that they have shared with Mitzvah Market.
The adult favors were travel dop kits complete with Hotel Remi, shampoo, conditioner (pictured above) and hand sanitizer
The Mandell’s purchased these dob kits as the adult favors and filled them with hotel amenities
As guests were leaving, there was a table of cookies, coffee and water bottles with a Hotel Remi label fixed to each bottle
As you can see in the picture below, even Remi’s cake was creatively made! Look closely, it’s a replica of a hotel room created by Sweet Things.
Mitzvah Mom Andi wanted to pass along some advice to our readers, “Staying organized is very important. Buy an accordion folder and keep everything related to the event in one place. As you go to other people’s affairs jot down notes on what you really liked and file it away. As a working Mom I relied heavily on my party planner Debbie Kahn, she was worth her weight in gold. Start gathering pictures for the montage and placing them in the folder. Keep track of what you are spending to keep things in control. Let your friends help you stuff invitations, organize sweatshirts, help with the bathroom basket, etc. Keeping perspective is really important. The people who love you and your family will have a great time no matter what you do so in the end don’t stress over everything. Enjoy the moment and the fact that everyone you love will be in the room with you, that’s what is most important. Ask a good friend to bring a camera so you will have some pictures for the next morning and to take to work.” Thanks Andi – all great points!
Here is a list of the Mitzvah Vendors who helped the Mandell Family put together a great “trip” to Hotel Remi. If you call any of them please let them know that you read about them on MitzvahMarket.com.
Venue: The Woodmere Club 516-295-2500
Party Planner: Debbie Kahn, AGI Events 516-374-6867
Entertainment DJ/MC: Matt Toubin, Shine Events 845-535-3100
Decor/Florists: Party Interiors 516-586-5850
Children’s Sweatshirts: Holly Green Infinity 516-295-9868
Adult Favors: AGI Events
Party Hat Maker: Wacky Wendy 877-939-2259
Flip Flops/Hats/T-Shirts: Make It Snappy
Cake: Sweet Things
Photographer: Ira Rosen
Videographer/Photo Sign-In Board: Ethan Kornfeld 516-678-7180
PM Boutique: Stephen Yearick Gown 516- 766-0064
Remi’s dress: Moonlight Couture 516-868-1500
Men’s suits: Murlee
Temple Suits: Infinity Holly Green Designer
Transportation: Jaco 516-935-2277
Water Bottles: My Water Bottles Labels
Makeup: Lani Spiro 516-428-9144
Hair: Carmichaels 516-374-3517
Mini Suitcases: FlavorsAndFlowers.com
