Cousins Rachel and Jaclyn decided to join forces when it came time for their bat-mitzvahs - that means double the fun!

Here's the girls reading from the Torah at Adat Shalom
they each had the cutest custom pointers - love it!





Here they are all dressed up for their evening party at Andiamos

Both of their dresses were to die for - I swear, they didn't make 'em this cool when I was 13.  I cringe remembering my Bat Mitzvah dress ;-)

The ballroom looked great - loved all the bright colors



the hora!





the moms!

this was a happening party - check out how packed the dancefloor was!

Congratulations Rachel and Jaclyn!  Hope you girls had a blast!

All that I can say is WOW!  This was one amazing party for one amazing young lady!!  As soon as I met the Tyner family and heard about their plans I knew it was going to be a Bat Mitzvah to remember! 

We started with some Synagogue portraits

The Bat Mitzvah girl!


How cute is this family?!

A nice moment with grandma

And than it was time to PARTY at MBargo/Lucky Strike in Novi - such a fun spot!  I LOVED all the details that Susan and her team at 753 space design studio put together - the decor was all sourced from recycled materials, there was on-site screen printing, funky blacklight - and check out these awesome posters they created from some headshots I took! SO rock 'n roll!



the hora!!

The Magen Boys, all the way from Canada, kept the party going - this crowd was dancing up such a storm that the dancefloor nearly collapsed (literally!)...

Congratulations Gillian and family - what a fun night!  

Rachel's Bat Mitzvah last weekend was a blast!

Here's a sampling of some of my favorite photos:

the day began bright and early with some family portraits at temple Emanu-El in Oak Park.
could this family be any cuter? ;-)



the evening party was held at Hotel Baronette.  They decorated the ballroom with life-size renditions of many popular magazines - re-imagined, of course, starring the bat mitzvah girl!  Such a fun, creative theme!

now - get ready to be IMPRESSED!  this is artwork by Rachel that was displayed around the foyer.  LOVE these!  I would totally hang them in my house.  And she is only 13!  amazing.

a few more shots of Rachel....

and we can't forget her adorable sisters!



here's dad giving a speech...

quite possible my new all-time favorite hora shot.  ever. 

love it!

someone certainly enjoyed all the glowing goodies handed out by the always fabulous Star Trax MCs ;-)

Congratulations Rachel!  And congrats to mom and dad for raising such a lovely and accomplished young lady!