April 9, 2022

Party to the MAX Bar Mitzvah

When the youngest of three children reaches his Bar Mitzvah rite of passage and you’ve had the privilege of coordinating his older brother and sister’s Mitzvahs, how do you create that one last memorable event that exceeds even the highest expectations? If you are Portland’s premiere Mitzvah planner BLC Events, you take the PARTY TO THE MAX, of course!

This party was EPIC! Starting with the solid basketball Party to the MAX theme, we were able to incorporate all the best details from our vast Mitzvah planning experience to make this the Bar Mitzvah of our dreams (and our client’s, too). From the invitations to the swag, the floral to the table settings (I mean, the red chairs!) and the lounge and the candle lighting ceremony to the dance party entertainment – truly to the MAX Mitvah!

Portland Mitzvah planner, BLC Events, prides itself on the details of every event that make it memorable and unique. The relationships we’ve established with the best local vendors over our years of experience ensure that the details are perfection – like Lisa at Crave Design for Max’s black, red and white basketball invitation suite. We also have a knack for finding new vendors for the latest trends in details, too, like the amazing event swag from Sam at Swish LLC.

Our clients chose to keep the Bar Mitzvah ceremony a small, family-only event at Congregation Neveh Shalom. We enlisted two more of our trusted, local vendors, Andrea Zajonc Photography and A Beautiful Union videography to document the weekend’s events.

We wanted the celebration to have the feel of a VIP lounge for NBA players – and we pulled off the mic drop at Loft on 8th with assists from West Coast Event Productions and Really Big Video. Red chairs (can you tell we’re obsessed?) around black draped tables, black couches, red overstuffed chairs, custom MAX pillows and all the Party to the MAX and basketball imagery on the walls surrounding the space – it was incredible!

We had an indoor space and a tented outdoor space (Portland’s spring weather being what it is…) with a grand entryway that we definitely took to the MAX with a slam dunk from the balloon stylist at Rodeo Queen PDX and Alpha Lit Portland – two new vendor discoveries.

We called in our clutch vendors for the 3-point shots to round out the decor – Roger from Haute Flowers with his extraordinary red and white creations and signage from Letters + Dust.

It’s all about the SWAG for the tween-age party-goers, so naturally, we MAXed out this station – pajama bottoms, bags, socks, water bottles (hydrate to the MAX), t-shirts, and bag tags from SWISH LLC and candy (snacks to the MAX) from Nosh NYC.

Even the entire vendor team working on site wore our signature red and black Party to the MAX t-shirts! (BLC Events, Higher Ground Entertainment, Andrea Zajonc, and A Beautiful Union).

We recruited three of our favorite local vendors to keep the guests entertained all night long. Ben Gershen the DJ with Higher Ground Entertainment, Damian Zari with Zariart (we just love those custom airbrush painted ball caps – and so do the guests!), and Stumptown Booth for the win with the take-away snaps (and cookies with photos printed on them, too!).

We kicked the night off with a kids buffet of favorites, adult cocktail hour featuring a 3-alarm pepper margarita(!) and the traditional Hora for the guest of honor. Vibrant Table’s on-site catering was a game-changer for this event – so delicious!

After Vibrant Table’s brilliant dinner, guests were honored with one of the highlights of the Bar Mitzvah, the candle lighting ceremony. A brief video of the service started the program, followed by ten candles for family, basketball teammates and best friends concluding with a Max video montage over dessert to mark the occasion.

The final quarter was all about the dance party. Higher Ground Entertainment brought their A game as always and had both kids and adults running for the dance floor!