FIESTAS

A futuristic bat mitzvah designed by Washington, D.C.-based Terri Bergman of Terri Bergman Events featured a custom soda bar fabricated by Chicka Event Production with built-in iPod listening stations.

A bat mitzvah designed by Boston-based Rafanelli Events incorporated a Willy Wonka theme and a cocktail bar cleverly constructed to resemble candy buttons. Chicka Event Production provided the custom bar.

A Pop Art-inspired bat mitzvah, designed by Danielle Couick of Magnolia Bluebird Design & Events, was held at the Decatur House in Washington, D.C.

The Pop Art-inspired design featured neon pops of color and graphic wall panels.

Couick also incorporated comic-book details throughout the event.

“Kids are telling us about their favorite brands—Sephora, Gap, even Louis Vuitton—and want us to use that brand’s style elements as their design theme,” says Maya Kalman of Swank Productions in New York, who sourced custom yarmulkes for a Louis Vuitton-loving client.

For a tailgate-party-theme bar mitzvah, Sara Renee Lowell of Sara Renee Events in South Florida and lighting company Designs by Sean created sleek cube-shaped photo centerpieces that were illuminated from within.

A bar mitzvah designed by New York-based David Stark Design and Production had custom super-size signs, like an “Eat” sign made out of favorite books.

An illuminated “Drink” sign was constructed using thousands of crayons. After the party, the books and coloring supplies were donated to local charities.

Another bar mitzvah designed by David Stark Design and Production featured LED light installations on the dinner tables as well as suspended overhead. “Instead of using LED to illuminate your decor, the lights themselves become the decor,” Stark says.

More and more families are choosing unexpected party venues: A bat mitzvah also designed by Danielle Couick of Magnolia Bluebird Design & Events was held at the AFI Silver, a movie theater in Silver Spring, Maryland. Film-theme details included a custom movie marquee.

Additional film-theme details included personalized film posters and a step-and-repeat photo op.

Philadelphia-based Skeem Design’s match bottles serve as unexpected favors for weddings or other events. They come in fun shades and include handcrafted tags. The medium and small match bottles, $14 and $10, respectively, are available in black, white, green, orange, blue, and red. For birthdays, the company offers 32 hand-dipped beeswax candles with a coordinating box of matches for $24.