The Kratchman family celebrated son Emery’s Bar Mitzvah at The Heldrich Hotel, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His love of video games became the theme and inspired everything from the place cards, centerpieces, and room decor, to the montage, favors and exit treats. There were some really unbelievable special touches!
The photographer was Jeremy Messler and the rest of the vendor information is listed at the end of the spotlight.
Bar Mitzvah Invitation
Guests were wowed by the invitation which had the perfect balance of showcasing the theme with using different video game fonts but also had a masculine and elegant design
Dad Jarrett designed the back of the invitation which was then grayed out and used as the envelope liner as well. Every font used is a different video game font. The font used for Emery’s name on the back of the envelope was the one similar to the WWE video game font
Emery's first and last name on the clever RSVP card
Custom stamps from Zazzle.com
Bar Mitzvah Logos
Emery had two logos, both designed by Dad Jarrett, that were used throughout the party. The first one looked like a video game rating with a large "E" appearing in a rectangular box
The second logo was Emery’s initials "EMK" made out of video game remote controllers. Here it is being used as a Gobo on the wall
The combination of both logos looked great on the step-n-repeat which Xtreme Event Group created
Bar Mitzvah Service
Emery did a great job reciting his Haftorah and prayers, making his family so proud. Pictured L-R: Brother Logan, Mom Koren, Bar Mitzvah boy Emery, Dad Jarrett and Sister Alyson
The yarmulkes were gray with a slight pattern. Inside there was a line that read “Game On” in English and Hebrew. The invitation was displayed in a frame next to the yarmulkes
The head coverings for the service were made by Mom Koren, sister Alyson and Mom's friends Alyson and Melissa. They had a gray bow with a Jewish star
Emery's grandparents Paula and Irwin Miller presenting the tallis to him that they bought in Israel
Bar Mitzvah Style
Emery wore a white tuxedo jacket, gray vest, black pants and white/black shoes. He also wore a video game bow tie for the first part of the evening
A fun accessory was his remote control cufflinks
After the candle lighting ceremony, the men in the family changed to superhero bow ties
Mitzvah Now and Then
The photo on the left is from sister
Alyson's Bat Mitzvah which we featured back in 2015! The family recreated their pose on the right at Emery's celebration
Bar Mitzvah Place Cards
The place cards were DVD video game cases with edible chocolate discs inside. Dad Jarrett created the display making Emery’s name in remote controls
Every table was a different video game
Dad Jarrett designed each "video game" place card. The front was a game cover with the guests’ names on the top
The back looked just like the back of a video game case but included Emery in the photos
The chocolate game disc inside the place card DVD case, created by Classic Cake, had either a Pac-Man or Donkey Kong design. 1UP represented the date (09092017) and 2UP represented the Bar Mitzvah year for Emery’s younger brother Logan (002021)
Bar Mitzvah Decor
The centerpieces included all of Emery's favorite games. Here is a close-up of the Pac-Man themed table centerpiece
The WWE table centerpiece incorporated pictures of Emery meeting various WWE superstars
The Donkey Kong table
Emery's guests sat on the left side of the ballroom at the "Mario Brothers" themed tables
The kids' table was shaped in the letter "E" for the guest of honor
Special Party Touches
The adult tables had a large chocolate box that had a video game remote control “handle” on the top. The boxes were filled with nuts, mints and chocolate covered fruit for the guests to enjoy and were created by Classic Cake
Out of town hotel guests received goody bags filled with water and treats. The bags were black with Emery's logo on it
Hershey Kisses wrapped in organza created by Mom Koren were in each goody bag
Emery’s sign-in door had a large “E” logo in the center and some video game character stickers on the bottom
Bar Mitzvah Montage
Dad Jarrett, Mom Koren, and Emery all worked on the montage. They used themes from “Modern Family,” “The Amazing Race,” “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” and “The Late Show.” They even put in a very short Socker Bopper’s commercial!
Watch Emery’s Montage here
Music and Candle Lighting Ceremony
Each family member made their entrance to a video game theme. Here is Emery coming into the ballroom to the "Mortal Kombat" theme song
The Bar Mitzvah boy also celebrated with a traditional Horah and chair lift
Emery surrounded by his friends during his candle lighting ceremony
Bar Mitzvah Cake
Dad Jarrett designed Emery’s Bar Mitzvah cake on paper and Classic Cake did an absolutely amazing job bringing it to life! The bottom part was gaming system consoles created using fondant that were standing up
On top of the consoles stood stacks of Emery’s favorite video games and Emery’s name spelled out in video game controllers. All edible!
Mitzvah Exit Treat
The candy bar was made to look like a video game shop with movie box sized candies
Emery’s friends received gray hooded sweatshirts that had the remote control EMK logo on the front and the big “E” logo on the back
The adults got 3 different remote control cookies to take home- Wii remote, PlayStation and Xbox
Brooklyn Seltzer Boys set up an amazing seltzer and egg cream bar
Seltzer Bar specialty signage using the family's last name
Bar Mitzvah Favors
Emery modeling his sweatshirt favor that his friends received at the end of the evening. The front corner had one logo
The other logo looked awesome on the back
Bar Mitzvah Project
For Emery’s Mitzvah project, he chose to support the Clean Crayon Collection in memory of Taylor Barta, an 8-year-old boy who went to school with Emery’s younger brother Logan. Taylor was diagnosed with Stage IV Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2014 at the age of 6 and bravely fought this disease for 2 years until succumbing to it in 2016. He was an amazing artist. The Barta family set up a collection for brand new 8-pack boxes of Crayola crayons. Emery’s original goal was to collect 300 packs of crayons. Within 3 days, he received 600 packs of crayons!! Due to the generosity of friends and family, he ended up collecting an incredible 1,570 packs of crayons! Awesome Emery!
The Barta family told Emery that he gave them the biggest crayon donation to date!!
Some planning Advice From Mom Koren
“Plan in advance – the sooner, the better!! This was our second time planning a Mitzvah, so we knew the work that was involved. We started early and had everything in order well in advance of the week before the party. The more organized you are, the better off you will be. I had spreadsheets for everything…from the invite list to the favors to the seating arrangements to which photos we wanted to take on the day of the event. The more you can do in advance and prepare, the smoother the day will run so that you can enjoy yourself! I also kept notes from our first Mitzvah to use as a reference. This came in handy so that we could look back to see what type of food we had ordered for the Kiddush luncheon, how many dancers we had used, how much candy we should get for the candy bar, etc.”
Vendor Directory
Venue: Galina Bayok, The Heldrich Hotel, 732-729-4670
Party Planner/DIY Decor/Montage: Koren & Jarrett Kratchman
Music Entertainment/MC/Photo Booth/Step-N-Repeat: Scott Present & MJ Navara, Xtreme Event Group, 732-536-8155
Photographer: Jeremy Messler, 609-980-5082
Videographer: Mitch Reisbord, Reisbord Video, 609-426-9898
Logo/Place Cards/Invitation Back/Cake Design: Dad, Jarrett Kratchman
Invitations/Favors: Dana Kaufman, by Dana, 732-625-1471
Chocolate DVDs/Mitzvah Exit Treat Cookies/Cake/Chocolate Treat Boxes: Kristina & Emily, Classic Cake, 856-751-5448
Décor/Candy Set-Up/Sign-In: Wendy Kandell, WayKool Events, 732-682-5096
Mitzvah Exit Candy: Mom Koren Kratchman
Mom Koren’s Service Dress: Nordstrom (Xscape); Party Dress: Dream Dresses (Ivonne D by Mon Cheri), 732-607-1112
Sister Alyson’s Service Dress: Nordstrom (Betsy Adam); Party Dress: Group USA (Camille La Vie), 908-351-0909
Bar Mitzvah Boy Emery’s Tuxedo/Dad Jarrett and Brother Logan’s Suits: Clothing Center, 732-254-0870
Service Hair/Makeup: Tina Marie, Salon V.I.P., 732-521-2700
Party Hair for Mom Koren and Sister Alyson: Spa at The Heldrich, 732-729-4670
Reception Makeup: Kelly Cunningham, 908-803-8203
Seltzer Bar: Alex Gomberg, Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, 718-649-0800
Superhero Bowties: Tie Game,etsy.com
Video Game Bowties: BowTie Yakut, etsy.com
Video Game Remote Control Cufflinks: Cuff-Daddy, 888-808-9944
Posted in
Mitzvah Spotlight,
Family and tagged
Family Spotlight.
