Rustic Camp Themed Bar Mitzvah - Princeton, NJ

We brought all of the warmth and magic of the great outdoors inside for this elegant and rustic tented event.

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Farm tables were transformed into detailed tablescapes with custom built birch arbors, willow branch sculptures, mixed foliage centerpieces, and whimsical candlelight.

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Features of the night included a campfire surround for young guests, a bespoke rustic bar for adults, birch wood backdrops and archways, as well as custom props and pillows and a dramatic lighting installation above the dance floor.

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Event Planner : Kraft Event Management

A/V Design : Power Posse Productions

Photography : Andre Maier

Elegant Autumn Bat Mitzvah Lighting and Decor • The Stone House at Stirling Ridge • Warren, New Jersey

Photo by Ira Casel. Birch wall, ceremony lighting, and mason jar installation by Eggsotic Events

In our last post, we mentioned that many of our bar and bat mitzvahs have a "Favorite Things" theme. We love designing parties that convey the celebrant's favorite hobbies, colors, and more.

This bat mitzvah, held in October at The Stone House at Stirling Ridge, had an eclectic mix of design inspirations: 
• Amethyst: the gemstone and the color as well
• Nature, especially trees and moss
• Preservation: eco-friendly materials and reusable, recyclable elements
• Art, especially painting

We've worked extensively with Lori, Jillian's mom, who has planned fundraising galas for several years. She's done a wonderful job creating memorable, elegant events in the past, so of course Jilly's bat mitzvah was no exception.

We partnered with Laura of Laura Clare Designs and Carissa and her team at Stone House to create a one-of-a-kind celebration of all of Jilly's favorite things.

The Ceremony

For the ceremony, Jilly wanted a sophisticated outdoor setting that reflected her love of nature. We used our handmade birch wall backdrop and created a custom birch torah table, which at 5' x 5' makes a beautiful focal point in front of the birch wall.

We lined the aisle with our pewter lanterns, which held our handmade birch wood candle holders. Simple touches, like reusable natural candle holders and eco-friendly soy tealights, added to the environmental preservation theme. We also hung mason jar candle lanterns from the tree and used our battery-powered LED uplights to illuminate the trees in the ceremony area.

Here's a mini-gallery of ceremony photos:

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The Cocktail Hour

The cocktail hour was held in the tent adjacent to the ceremony area. Since the guests would only be in the tent for a little while, we kept the lighting design simple. Amethyst purple uplighting and pin spots for the food stations made the cocktail tent look cohesive with the rest of the event. Laura Clare's tabletop lanterns completed the look.

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The Reception

The reception lighting was bold and elegant, with purple and green uplighting and pin spotting for the centerpieces.

We used live trees and ferns to create an organic feel. We framed the kids' lounge area using ivory drape and portraits of Jilly. It was accented by Jilly's name in moss, provided by the client. 

For entertainment, the family selected a photo booth, silhouette artist, and lots of games. We commissioned an interactive portrait artist to do live interactive painting. Jilly selected an inspiration image, our artist Marcelo created a foundation for the painting, and guests joined in throughout the party to add to the canvas. It turned out absolutely beautiful and makes a great keepsake for many years to come.

Laura Clare created gorgeous centerpieces and selected linens that tied the tabletops into the room decor perfectly.

Here's a gallery of images from the reception:

The planning for this mitzvah came together in a very short time, and the results were spectacular. Thank you to Lori, Jillian and family for including us in your special day! Read Lori's note from the next day below:

“I cannot express my gratitude enough for assuring that our vision for Jillian’s special day was carried out throughout the event. In fact you managed to exceed our vision! It truly was so beautiful and magical. Jillian was so so pleased with how everything looked.

With much appreciation and respect for your artistry :)

Warmly,
Lori”

Huge thanks to Ira Casel for sharing such beautiful photos of the day!

Photographer: Ira Casel Photography
Location: The Stone House at Stirling Ridge • Warren, NJ
Floral Decor: Laura Clare Designs
Calligraphy and Handwritten Signage: Belles Lettres Calligraphy • Mendham, NJ
Lighting, Trees, Interactive Painting, and Room Decor: Eggsotic Events

Unique Bar Mitzvah Centerpieces for an Autism-Friendly Event • Favorite Things Theme • Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, NJ

We've done creative Bar Mitzvah centerpieces for many years for a variety of themes. We often create centerpieces for a "Favorite Things" theme, where each table reflects a hobby or interest of the celebrant.

For this event, we had a fun and challenging opportunity to make centerpieces for a very sweet boy with autism. He has a diverse set of hobbies and favorite things, including travel, chocolate, gymnastics, penguins, Dr. Seuss, and much more.

We learned a lot about designing decor and lighting for an autism-friendly event. Here are some key points that made this event a success:

• Light Levels: The overall light level in the room should not be too low. We used colored uplighting around the room to introduce color, and pin spotting to highlight the centerpieces. We also used the in-house lighting, which was dimmable, to create a light level that's comfortable but not too bright.

Small, moving sculptural elements with graphics for a gymnastics themed centerpiece

• Kinetic Elements: Each centerpiece should be safe to touch and interact with. When children communicate less verbally, they experience things more kinetically. We chose elements that were safe to touch and play with, and included moving parts to make the centerpieces more experiential. The guests loved walking around each table, taking in the details that make each centerpiece special.

Interactive mini games on a rotating base for a basketball theme centerpiece

• Color and Variety: We used a wide variety of colors to make the tabletops festive and fun, and more appealing to children. Traditional centerpieces are often very cohesive, and we went in the opposite direction to make them as individually unique as possible.

A colorful representation of international travel

• Creativity: His interests were not only unique, but also very specific. For example, he loves one specific type of interactive fountains. They're the kind you find at boardwalk amusement areas where water comes up from holes in the ground. We used a variety of materials to convey this concept without using water. We thoroughly enjoyed finding ways to visually represent these interests.

Our interpretation of boardwalk-style fountains with fiber optic accents

We so enjoyed the opportunity to create such meaningful decor to celebrate a family's very special day. We look forward to participating in autism-friendly events in the future.

Here are more photos of our centerpiece creations:

Computers theme centerpiece with truss elements and a holographic base for a fun, futuristic feel

A sand castle, driftwood, family beach photos, and decorative accents for a beach theme centerpiece 

Classic biplane style airplanes with cloud accents

Details of this classic biplane

Cats are the mitzvah boy's favorite animals, so we created a playful "cats in a tree" centerpiece

The guest of honor loves chocolate, specifically nonpareils, also known as Sno-Caps. We had lots of fun creating custom extra-large nonpareils to represent his favorite candy.

This fun glowing lantern, combined with images and figurines, represented Dr. Seuss, the celebrant's favorite author

Large penguins and tiny penguins on a snowy mountain created a fun centerpiece that guests can touch and play with

The family had recently taken a safari trip, so we gathered our safari animals to represent their vacation experience.

Details of our gorgeous animal figurines

This interactive basketball centerpiece has a rotating foundation with four mini basketball games for guests to play. The guest of honor loves basketball, but it was emphasized that he loves playing it, not watching it on TV. We made sure that this centerpiece reflected that.

Details of the moving elements of the elevator themed centerpiece 

We captured the motion of a tennis ball by creating a 3D tennis ball sculpture, complete with rackets as accents

Horton is one of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, so we included him in our Dr. Seuss themed centerpiece

Details of our penguin centerpiece

Details of our cat centerpiece with autumn leaf accents

Fiber optic details and "water bead" accents on our fountain centerpiece

A huge thank you to Rich Schaub Photography for sharing such great photos.

Location: Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple • New Brunswick, New Jersey
Planner: Joan Glenn, 6 Degrees of Celebration
Photography: Rich Schaub Photography
Centerpieces, banners, room decor and lighting: Eggsotic Events • New Jersey & NYC