What does a bar mitzvah planner do?

[Anonymous]

What does a bar mitzvah planner do? Is it cost-effective to hire one? What if we want to spend 10k or less on the event - is that even possible with a planner?

[Anonymous]

The planner will cost you about $5k so I wouldn't bother. Of course I say that having seen my parents plan both my and my older sister's bat mitzvahs.

I imagine the planner hears what colors and theme you want and then brings you invitations to choose from rather than you taking home those huge invitation books and flipping through them yourself to cull out invites that are in your colors. They talk with the florist and narrow down ideas, they get the band or dj, they find a few options for centerpieces, etc.

They do the culling and present you with fewer decisions. I could see it being nice maybe - if they understand your taste. But it seems like a waste of money IMO. I'm quite decisive and don't get talked into things. I wouldn't bother.

[Anonymous]

We did ours ourselves. Picked out the invitations online, booked the venue for the party, and worked with a caterer. Was pretty straightfoward.

[Anonymous]

Planners do not have to cost that much. Ours cost about 2K: 1K for the planning help, and 1K for being onsite during the party to make sure everything goes smoothly. Our budget was about 15K (soft), and 20K firm...She worked within our budget. She listened to our plans....she knew vendors, and was familiar with the venues. She took care of all of the on-the-day setups, which meant my wife and I could focus on being a good host.

BTW, If you look at just the party costs, and we did not decorate, we would have been just over 10k (excluding the planner, invites, etc). Venue charges (food, room and open bar) were $7700, DJ was 1250, and Photographer was 2K. This was for 80+ people.

(in my 20K number I am including temple fees, planner, decorating expenses, give aways, invites, and the sunday brunch).

[Anonymous]

If you enjoy - and have time - the kind of work that goes into planning and executing a big party than you can do it yourself. I, for one, was happy to give this over to someone else. It was time-consuming even with a planner. I loved having someone who could take responsibility for hiring, coming up with ideas, communicating with vendors, etc. It was also great to have her there the night of the event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does a bar mitzvah planner do? Is it cost-effective to hire one? What if we want to spend 10k or less on the event - is that even possible with a planner?

I can't imagine they do anything when you are throwing a normal party like that. Talk to the people in your shul' office. There is probably a list of things to do and venders to use. That is really all you need.

[Anonymous]

Same thing a wedding planner does. But if you're not doing a big elaborate party then there's probably no need,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you enjoy - and have time - the kind of work that goes into planning and executing a big party than you can do it yourself. I, for one, was happy to give this over to someone else. It was time-consuming even with a planner. I loved having someone who could take responsibility for hiring, coming up with ideas, communicating with vendors, etc. It was also great to have her there the night of the event.

But OP is doing a $10k day, and that includes the costs at the temple. So that's NOT really a big party. Just because my mother spent eight hours minimum with the florists doesn't mean other people take so long to make decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you enjoy - and have time - the kind of work that goes into planning and executing a big party than you can do it yourself. I, for one, was happy to give this over to someone else. It was time-consuming even with a planner. I loved having someone who could take responsibility for hiring, coming up with ideas, communicating with vendors, etc. It was also great to have her there the night of the event.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you enjoy - and have time - the kind of work that goes into planning and executing a big party than you can do it yourself. I, for one, was happy to give this over to someone else. It was time-consuming even with a planner. I loved having someone who could take responsibility for hiring, coming up with ideas, communicating with vendors, etc. It was also great to have her there the night of the event.

But OP is doing a $10k day, and that includes the costs at the temple. So that's NOT really a big party. Just because my mother spent eight hours minimum with the florists doesn't mean other people take so long to make decisions.

OP did not specify if 10K included the costs at the temple....It is possible to do a nice party at that price point, but you will have to do much of the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you enjoy - and have time - the kind of work that goes into planning and executing a big party than you can do it yourself. I, for one, was happy to give this over to someone else. It was time-consuming even with a planner. I loved having someone who could take responsibility for hiring, coming up with ideas, communicating with vendors, etc. It was also great to have her there the night of the event.

But OP is doing a $10k day, and that includes the costs at the temple. So that's NOT really a big party. Just because my mother spent eight hours minimum with the florists doesn't mean other people take so long to make decisions.

OP did not specify if 10K included the costs at the temple....It is possible to do a nice party at that price point, but you will have to do much of the work.

Right but what I'm saying is a $10k party is not that much work that it requires a party planner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Planners do not have to cost that much. Ours cost about 2K: 1K for the planning help, and 1K for being onsite during the party to make sure everything goes smoothly. Our budget was about 15K (soft), and 20K firm...She worked within our budget. She listened to our plans....she knew vendors, and was familiar with the venues. She took care of all of the on-the-day setups, which meant my wife and I could focus on being a good host.

BTW, If you look at just the party costs, and we did not decorate, we would have been just over 10k (excluding the planner, invites, etc). Venue charges (food, room and open bar) were $7700, DJ was 1250, and Photographer was 2K. This was for 80+ people.

(in my 20K number I am including temple fees, planner, decorating expenses, give aways, invites, and the sunday brunch). [/quote

+1 We did not pay that for our party planner either. I paid for 10 hours of planning plus to be on site the day of the event. Managing an event, even a small one takes time. I wanted to enjoy the day, not worry that the food wasn't coming out on time or the DJ wasn't sticking to the schedule. It made the day much more enjoyable. The planner also knows the resources and vendors better because they are doing events all the time. They know how to make an event look good with a limited budget.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I should have been more specific. 10K is the evening party alone. Not including temple costs at all. I appreciate everyone's advice. Thank you.

12:50 - I'd love to know the venue you used, as you said that the venue charges (food & room) were $7700. I haven't been able to find anything like that.

[Anonymous]

Clydes. That was for about 80 people.