![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-mitzvahs-copy1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNeon lights flicker and heavy bass echoes from the speakers while teens scream and watch the stage with hungry eyes. They\u2019re waiting to be enraptured by a tween pop sensation.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDrumroll, please\u2026\u201d shouts the DJ into the microphone. \u201cIntroducing\u2026 the bar mitzvah boy!\u201d The crowd erupts in cheers.<\/p>\n A bar mitzvah is a Jewish religious ceremony marking a boy\u2019s transition to manhood. For many parents, it\u2019s also the perfect time to throw a party, which can be a costly affair.<\/p>\n \u201cYou definitely have to budget ahead of time,\u201d says Audrey Pancer, who organized a party for her son a few years ago. \u201cYou can do it like a wedding. You have your DJ, your have your photographer and your have your video guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike a wedding, bar mitzvah boys have to spend a year learning how to read and speak Hebrew so that they can recite passages from the Torah. An evening party often follows the religious ceremony. These parties are a lucrative business for event planners.<\/p>\n \u201cWe throw bar mitzvahs where they spend $150 a head and then there are bar mitzvahs where they spend $1,500 a head,\u201d explains Lorne Levitt, manager of Total Entertainment, a Montreal-based event planning company that often travels to Ottawa to throw bar mitzvahs.<\/p>\n COSTLY LOCATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe cost variable depends on the location. A synagogue requires an investment because it needs a facelift with lights, drapes and a stage,\u201d says Levitt. \u201cThen there\u2019s the empty halls where you have to bring everything like tables, chairs, and lights. The bill can range from $5,000 to $15,000 in just rental fees.\u201d<\/p>\n Weddings usually feature budget lines for rentals, d\u00e9cor, food and photography, but it\u2019s the entertainment for children that can make or break a bar mitzvah party.<\/p>\n \u201cI have parents who get a package that includes a DJ, two trained dancers to get the kids on the dance floor and boxes of prizes with flashy necklaces and glow in the dark bracelets,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s the bare minimum compared to some of the lavish parties Total has thrown.<\/p>\n The bar mitzvah boy\u2019s entrance into the party room marks the beginning of the night. Levitt has organized parties where a boy harnessed to the ceiling, rappelled down doing flips. Another child arrived by helicopter on top of a building while another came into the party room on an all-terrain-vehicle.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of the rules are that there are no rules. People like to get crazy, have fun and go all out.\u201d<\/p>\n Going all out could mean hiring hip-hop sensation Flo Rida to perform for $80,000 or K\u2019naan for $35,000.<\/p>\n THE PRICE OF BIEBER<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Levitt, if parents consider spending beyond their budget, they can hire Justin Bieber to perform for $1.2 million or Beyonc\u00e9 for $800,000.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the minority who make the party to show off. It\u2019s the majority who make the party to celebrate the bar mitzvah,\u201d Levitt says. \u201cIt\u2019s known as a very important moment in a Jewish child\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n This important moment is often dictated by a family\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n \u201cI was on a very tight budget so I didn\u2019t have an open bar. I put a bottle of wine on each table and I made my centerpieces,\u201d says Pancer. \u201cWe held it at a restaurant for 125 people and it cost me roughly $8,000.\u201d<\/p>\n Pancer\u2019s expenses fall in line with the fees charged by Professional Entertainment Group in Ottawa.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can book a DJ, a dancer and lights for around $2,500. But a photographer is not included,\u201d says Helen Viva, the manager of Professional Entertainment Group.<\/p>\n IT’S ALL SERVICE<\/strong><\/p>\n Viva has been working in the Ottawa bar mitzvah event planning industry for 10 years. She says that clients often forget they are receiving a service.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about the five to six hours we\u2019re at the party,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s all the work ahead of time that we have to do set up \u2013 making a music list of top requests and making sure the night\u2019s schedule is in tune with the caterers.\u201d<\/p>\n Heather Mechaly is an experienced party planner. Two of her three daughters had a bat mitzvah, but now she\u2019s faced with planning a bar mitzvah for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to pay $1,500 for my son David to start reading from the Torah and now I\u2019ve got to budget $10,000 for a party in a year from now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Mechaly says that she\u2019s amazed by how much money families spend on what\u2019s supposed to be a children\u2019s party.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy that it\u2019s that expensive. I would like to keep my guest list down to 100 people,\u201d she says. \u201cBut my son wants a party so he is going to get a party.\u201d<\/p>\n Oy vey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Neon lights flicker and heavy bass echoes from the speakers while teens scream and watch the stage with hungry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[26,30,65,27,28,29],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-finanice-2013","tag-bar-mitzvahs","tag-jewish-traditions","tag-kristina-partsinevelos","tag-ottawa-catering","tag-total-entertainment","tag-total-ca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3238"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4493,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions\/4493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}