Hayden's Bar Mitzvah

Last weekend I had the honor of photographing Hayden's Bar Mitzvah. What a great day. The rehearsal on Thursday at Shearith Israel allowed me to get some beautiful candid photos of Hayden reading from the Torah and the Basketball themed party Saturday night at Brookhaven Country Club was out of this world amazing. Laura Schindler from L'events, DJ P Love, and Fenton Fulgam are always great to work with. The lighting technichian and airbrush artists...super talented...you'll see if you keep reading. Here's a peek!

 This is Hayden and his fabulous parents. Love families that laugh together.

I love photographing the rehearsal. It allows me to capture some special moments that you just can't get any other time. Mom and Dad giving him his Tallit.

 Reading an aliyah with his grandparents.

 His parents and grandparents watch as he reads from the Torah.

 Mom and dad watch as he reads his Torah portion.

 There's no one else at the rehearsal so I can move around a bit and see things that if I had to stand at the back of the room during the service I wouldn't be able to see like mom holding hands with dad and little brother while watching Hayden practice. Such a sweet moment.

 Love this photo.

 Family photo time. What a beautiful fun family to work with.

 Everyone.

 The brothers.

 All the guys.

 Hayden.

 Saturday night's party had stunning decor and lighting. Seriously. His party was a basketball theme and the artists who airbrushed the jerseys for the guests also airbrushed basketballs for the centerpieces. What a great idea.

 The lighting...gorgeous. I love the red and blue. It's so vibrant.

 The kids' room and the adults' room.

Personalized giveaways. The water bottles were on all the kids tables and the key chains had the adults names and tables on the back.

 I don;t usually share the food with you but Hayden had breakfast for dinner at his party. Love that idea. Who doesn't like pancakes, bacon, chicken and waffles, fresh fruit and breakfast burritos? I'm all about that. And for dessert...funnel cakes!

 When the kids got there they rushed the sign-in board to leave his messages and congratulations. I'd like to think it's because of the amazing photo I took of Hayden on the front...I'll just tell myself that :)

 The grand entrance. The tunnel entrance is not my personal favorite because no one can see the guest of honor coming in but this one turned out great!

 Getting ready to party!

 Mother son dance with a little dad photo-bomb at the end.

 The hula hoop competition.

 The hora! This was fun when they circled up at the beginning all the boys were together in the center and Hayden and Spencer ended up next to each other. I couldn't have set it up better.

 Hayden's friends picked him up and tossed him in the air. I've never seen this happen before...I hope I see it all the time now. So fun.

 High five's after the hora without the chair.

 Time for the Hora with the chair. Hayden was great and had so much fun up there. Everyone went up in the chair and although I'm not sure that was planned...it was perfect. Spencer had fun and was reaching out to Hayden and both mom and dad had great reactions. I absolutely love this set of Hora photos.

 Snowball dance. And you know I LOVE the snowball dance. This was great with Spencer and his friends giving Hayden the "thumbs up" on his choice for first dance partner. How cute is that?

 THen the younger boys took photos and giggled and smiled. Again...this could not make better photos if I had set it up. Perfection.

This is cute too...Hayden plays basketball so he's tall. The girls all had to stand on tiptoe to dance with him. :)

 Don't forget about Fenton and his dancers keeping the kids entertained all evening.

 And DJ P Love rocking the music.

Mazel Tov Hayden! Thanks for having me as your photographer. I loved taking your photos.