Oscar Party
My 13-year-old boy, Stan, had his Bar Mitzvah a couple of weeks ago and we decided to do something a little different than the norm. It turned out spectacular.
Stan picked out the invitations. They were shaped like "Oscars". Stan handed out invitations at school to his friends a few weeks before the date. There were at least a hundred and twenty adults invited, so I enlisted my friends, Judy, Sally, and Connie to lend me a hand addressing and sending the rest of the invitations in the mail.
A company that designed a online album which would be our own special website just for Stan's Bar Mitzvah. What made his Bar Mitzvah really unique was the theme, "Hollywood Oscars".
We rented a banquet hall at the Marina hotel. We decorated ourselves. I bought twenty yards of red velveteen at the fabric store and made curtains for the stage. I was able to rent two 4 1/2 foot tall gold Oscar statues from a theater prop warehouse that I placed on either side of the stage. We wanted to make sure everyone had a seat so we rented twenty tables and one-hundred sixty chairs. We also rented red and gold tablecloths from the party rental store as well. Sally rented small silver bowls which she filled with peaches and plums and used as centerpieces for each table. They looked very nice and were practical. After all, you never knew when someone might want a snack.
The hotel set up the clear plastic podium we rented and microphone on the stage. We wanted it to look like the podium used at the Oscars as much as possible.
We hired a caterer that not only made the food, but provided staff, to serve it. Sally volunteered to be the photograher for the day and used up 8 rolls of film! She must have taken pictures of every guest.
A bus picked up the boys from school and they arrived at the party around 3:30. Some of the adults had already started arriving and snacked on crackers, chips, vegetables, fruits and dips. The caterer told us alll the dips were family recipes.
A string quartet next to the stage, played classical music Some of the kids just played around, but some of the boys asked the young ladies to dance. A lot of the adults were dancing and drinking wine as well.
After the lovely Aliea La Tora ceremony, I took Stan aside and got him ready for his grand entrance. While I was getting Stanly ready, my husband, Harvey, entertained the guests by playing a video Stan and his friends made. It was a T.V. entertainment magazine style interview with each of them imitating their favorite actors and directors talking about how they felt about winning an Oscar. Stan started to calm down a bit when we heard the guests' laughter.
After I left Stan I came out and joined Harvey at our table. Everyone gave a nice round of applause when Stan appeared on stage. He took his place at the head of our family table and smiled his goofy little smile. I was so proud of him! He looked so adorable. Grandpa Merv, led the Hamotze, the cutting of the bread. After he was done, he ruffled Stan's hair and gave him a wink.
After the soup and salad were served, the kids played musical chairs. The quartet seemed to have lots of fun starting and stopping the music. The kids had a great time. After the game was over the quartet resumed playing classical music during the main course.
We had a choice of chicken or fish. Both were delicious. I had the chicken dish and Harvey had the fish. We visited with our guests and enjoyed spending time with our family for a while.
After dinner, Stan gave his thank-you speech. His voice was a little shaky, but everyone thought it was adorable! . Stan's thirteen chosen guests performed the Candle Lighting ceremony and each lit one of the thirteen candles. Each person read a speech or poem to Stan. He was smiling the entire time.
After the ceremony was over the dancing really began. The quartet started to play some more lively numbers and some jazz and swing. Nearly all the adults got up and danced. Even some of the kids got into it, although some were still in the, "I hate girls," stage.
Everyone had cake and sweets after Harvey and I said our thank-yous. It was so much fun especially when Harvey and I presented Stan with his own Oscar. "Bar Mitzvah Boy" and the date were engraved on the base. He managed to make an acceptance speech that turned it all into a big joke, but his face was bright red the whole time. Every was laughing hysterically by the time he was done. Every kid was given miniature Oscar key chains we found at party store. The kids thought they were great.
Every one said their good byes and went home. On the way home Stan told me what a great time he had. He even slept with his Oscar on his pillow.
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