Bar Mitzvah...11 months in counting

amother

Emerald

Thu, Jun 18 2015, 11:14 am

I am making my first bar mitzvah in 11 months.

What is the timetable for getting everything done?

When do I need to order (we have a sofer in the family in Israel, so I need to call him up to order them) the tefilin?

We spoke to the person teaching the layning and he said to start in August.

I put the shul on hold for the week we need and also put the room on hold for family meals.

I am not doing an evening thing but I am doing a breakfast in school on his actual birthday. When do I need to call about those platters and the person to come set it all up nicely.

How about invitation?

Raisin

Thu, Jun 18 2015, 11:19 am

you need the tefillin 2 or 3 months before his birthday. So order them now. Also easier to spread out the money.

obviously the further in advance you order caterers etc you will have more choice, but 6 months sounds plenty to start thinking about that. Maybe research prices etc meanwhile.

we printed our own invites so I don't know how long it takes to order. Compiling a guest list and getting everyones addresses can take time though.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, Jun 18 2015, 1:38 pm

It's good that you have booked the shul and the hall for shabbat. Do you have many guests and family coming from overseas? If so, I recommend you let them know the date before the invitations go out so that they can book flights.

amother

Emerald

Thu, Jun 18 2015, 10:34 pm

Mrs Bissli wrote:

So I drafted an email but I havent sent it yet. There are many out of town guests but its within America, but most need flights. Even the family that lives in the same state will need to be put up for shabbos since we live in a different community.

I kind of feel odd sending it out now but at the same time some of them may be creating flying/vacation schedules for the next year (whether or not to go on vacation winter break or hold out etc) and I know I would be grateful for the extra information
(then again I'm a planner, as you can probably tell, and the more information I have, earliest as possible is a good thing in my mind)

Mrs Bissli

Tue, Jun 23 2015, 6:02 pm

amother wrote:

We sent an email as "Save the date " heads up and explained the official invitations would be in the post in due course. Speaking from my own experience of too many semachot I missed because we were informed of the date with inadequate lead time to book affordable tickets.

doctorima

Tue, Jun 23 2015, 6:07 pm

I would assume most potential guests are more focused on their summer plans at this point. Maybe wait 2 months and send it out at the end of the summer, which is still 9 months in advance, as a save the date. It sounds like you've got all the reservations you need at this point, but definitely touch base with the sofer so there's no surprises there, and start thinking about who's doing your invites, catering, photos, and music/entertainment.

amother

Emerald

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 12:06 am

doctorima wrote:

I agree with you on waiting for september to send out the "save the date" email.

We composed the email and I realized I cant send it out yet.

My sister asked me for the date because she is trying to figure out if she is coming home during the summer, or yom tov. I obviously told her the date. So I know that if someone is thinking about it they will ask around.