Of all the things you have to think about when planning your child’s bar or bat mitzvah, the comfort of your out-of-town guests should not be a problem.
If your ceremony and party do not immediately follow each other, you don’t want to leave guests twiddling their thumbs in their hotel rooms. You also don’t want to have to plan activities for them when you are already in the midst of so much preparation.
By thinking ahead, you can make sure your guests feel welcome and you can offer them information on activities that will keep them occupied while you’re busy.
One New Jersey mother, for example, planned the bat mitzvah of her daughter down to the tiniest detail. Not a single thing was left to chance, least of all the guests’ free time.
On arriving at their hotel room, each guest found a welcome gift bag in their room. Inside were several items:
*A program of the weekend’s events that included the time of the ceremony, directions to the synagogue, time of the party, directions to the party site and an invitation to join the family at home for Sunday brunch, with directions to the house.
*Snacks. Cans of juice, snack bars, nuts and raisin mixtures.
*A hand-needlepointed box with a Jewish star on the outside and hard candies on the inside.
*Tourist information. The mother had gone to the tourist section of a local mall and gathered up all the appropriate materials on attractions in the area. These included shopping outlets, museums and parks. If you are not sure where to find this kind of information, try calling your local chamber of commerce or visit the lobbies of some hotels and motels in the area.
A welcome kit of this sort can be planned pretty far in advance — except for the edibles — so that you can work on it while you are not bogged down with other details…such as where to seat Uncle Ed and who should get the second aliyah.
Enlist the help of the bar or bat mitzvah child. Kids can learn both responsibility and the importance of being a gracious host.