This past weekend we did the production for Jack’s Late Night Bar Mitzvah celebration at The Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac, Michigan. This party was just awesome from beginning to end.
It all started 5 months ago when I received a call from Paula Harris inquiring about some assistance with her son’s Bar Mitzvah on March 12, 2016. I met with Paula and John at the venue to discuss Jack’s party. During our first meeting, we had a blank slate to work with. Paula and John shared with me a little bit about Jack and what they were thinking. Along with a few photos from Paula, I came up with a plan. Rather than an actual theme, we built around the mood of the event. We decided on a UV/Black light party. Even though the venue hosts many concerts and has a ton of lighting, they had no UV lighting. In addition to that, I spoke to multiple people who had attempted a black-light party before and did not have much success. Paula had seen some pictures of an event that had slinkies hanging from the ceiling and I knew I could do it even better. Going into this, I knew that I had a challenge ahead, but I was confident I was going to succeed.
It all started off with my purchase of a UV flashlight. I knew that not everything glows under black lights. Just because it is a neon color, that does not guarantee that it will react to the UV light. I made sure my client knew this as well as I tasked her with finding all UV reactive plastic ware, plates, cups and more. The concern from the client was it would look cheap. Under normal circumstances, I would not tell a client to get plastic plates, forks and cups for an upscale event. In this case, it was intentional as it added to the design of the event. My 8 year old son found it funny that I walked around with a UV flashlight in the store shining it on different items. He inquired if I always carries it around. Only when I am doing a UV party!
The tables and chairs were covered with black spandex and topped with neon napkins. I recommended bringing in a face painter that could paint with UV reactive product. Paula also brought in a balloon company to make centerpieces that were UV reactive as well.
We brought in 151 slinkies to hang on the truss. This was no easy feat as each one had to be attached to a wire grid strung between the truss. No ordinary slinky would work, we needed HUGE ones. We installed 54 – 6″ slinkies and 96 – 4″ slinkies. For those who are asking, a regular slinky is 3″ in diameter. Now we had to make sure that we brought in enough UV lighting to illuminate not only the slinkies, but the entire club.
In order to ensure I had enough UV light, we had 4 new UV canons made for us with 54 x 3 Watt LED UV chips, making them an astounding 162 watts each. Each 3 watt chip is equivalent to a 30 watt bulb. In addition to these, we installed 61 additional LED UV fixtures and changed out 30 incandescent bulbs with CFL black lights. All of this lighting allowed us to illuminate the entire venue without using any house lights. Everything glowed from cloths to plates to the decor.
The entire event was awesome to say the least. All of the vendors that worked with us went above and beyond to produce the best event possible.
A huge thanks goes out to everyone below.
Linens, Lighting and Decor – Fabulous Events
Venue – The Crofoot Ballroom
Photographer – Robert Bruce Photography
Face Painting – Airbrushed Stuff
DJ/MC, Valet and burn bracelets – Star Trax Events
Balloon Decor – Pabloon Balloon
Ice Cream Sandwiches – Eskimo Jacks
Photobooth – Tap Snap Detroit
Dessert – Diamond Bakery and Haydens Confections
Catering – Annabel Cohen Cooks Detroit
Sweatshirts and giveaways – Valerie Hayman Sklar