CASE STUDY: Paint the Town Pink – Bat Mitzvah

14 September 2018

When it comes to organising parties at Merlin Events London we’re renowned for going the extra mile and creating something really spectacular and unique. Recently, Merlin’s former Senior Events Manager – now Director of Eventify Rebecca Thomas created an amazing creative girly-girl Bat Mitzvah at Madame Tussauds. Not surprisingly it went down a storm so we asked her to give us the low-down on planning and managing such an incredible event…

“My favourite events are always for private clients as it’s so rewarding to work with a family towards an event and then see them enjoying it surrounded by friends and family, making memories for life! So when this client wanted something that no one else had done before I knew it was time to unleash my creativity and go for it!”

PLANNING
The main brief was to be bigger and better than the last Bat Mitzvah, so the challenge was set. Whatever we were looking at, from entertainment to theming and lighting, we had to be coming up with something new. A big thing for the client was the impact on guests when they entered the main space, so we held back most of the excitement and the ‘wow’ factor for The World Stage. It all had to be girly (think pink, pink, pink!) and the family wanted as much time on the dancefloor as possible. However although we discussed every aspect of the Bat Mitzvah in fine detail no firm decisions were made until the week before the event, which definitely kept us on our toes!

EXECUTION ON THE NIGHT
Not only is The Events Factory the best in the business for event production and entertainment but director Craig Squires knows the family well as he’d worked with them before. This meant he knew exactly how to ensure the event was a success – which was a bonus! As the family had emphasised the importance of dancing we had a DJ with 5 singers and musicians to ensure that everyone danced the night away. We came up with the idea of wax hands (well this is Madame Tussauds!) – so guests could take a memory of the party home, and extra entertainment was provided in the form of UV tattooists, a human dessert table and photographers.

The wow factor was achieved by using clever lighting and having a long table from the entrance to the World Stage right down to the dancefloor, with innovative table centre lamps by Table Dressers. These had the Bat Mitzvah girl’s face on – so that as you walked from the entrance into the room to the dancefloor it looked as if she blew a bubble with bubble-gum and as you reached the end it burst on her face! Table Dressers provided table centres with stunning balls of pink roses for the adult tables. Whilst everything was very girly, we still kept it stylish with the introduction of grey linen (to break the pink up!), and used different table centres for children and adults to ensure the adults were seated appropriately.

Culinary artist and kosher caterer Ben Tenenblat provided canapes and cocktails during the reception and a two course seated meal in the World Stage. We then opted for dessert canapes and a sweet table rather than a seated dessert to allow for more time on the dance floor!

The Bat Mitzvah girl’s name was up in lights on the dancefloor itself, and on the large screen behind the DJ booth, so it was clear to everyone why they were there, and who was being celebrated. You could see the reaction on every guest’s face when they arrived in to the World Stage – mission complete! Guests were wowed and entertained from the minute they arrived with the Spirit of London Ride, cocktails and canapes in A-List mingling with celebrity wax figures, before the big reveal in the World Stage. For one night only Madame Tussauds was transformed into something completely unique.

MY FAVOURITE ELEMENTS
I loved managing this event as I got to work with such amazing suppliers who used their creativity to bring the clients vision to life, and top their expectations! My inner girly-girl also loved being able to create something so PINK! The family had a great night with family and friends for the Bat Mitzvah celebration, and what better setting than at Madame Tussauds! Their brief was met and the vision they had was brought to life… a night to remember.

Fancy a Simcha like this? Take a look at our options for your perfect Simcha in London!