Tag Archives: Bat mitzvah

Feb 28 2010

Adina’s Batmitzvah

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tags: , , ,

Adina had her Batmitzvah last night at the Capri Hotel in Savoy, Johannesburg; and it was quite a bash!  Her mom booked me for this evening months ago, and in the build-up to it, I also did a portrait session with her and her family and produced a photobook which was used as a guest book last night.

The tables were so prettily decorated with pinks and purples and loads of butterflies; and the food was awesome… they even had milkshakes on tap for the kids!

I was so pleased with the way the photobook turned out!


Last night it was Purim, and so the Megillah was recited from these scrolls. Some of the guests were even dressed in mock prison gear for the occasion.

And of course there was LOTS of dancing, and giggling and fun to be had by all:)

It was a fabulous evening, and Mazeltov to the Davidovitz family again.

Catering:  Riva Flax from Capri Hotel

Band:  Zenith

Flowers: Kari Berkowitz from Flowers by Kari

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tags: , , ,

21 comments

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Kim - March 1, 2010 - 8:34 pm

I love your photos Janette!

tanya (43 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 4:09 pm

gorgeous colours in the decor shots! and i love all the “action” shots of the dancing with the girls’ hair flying around them!! so awesome! she must love these pics

Chantelle @ photo mommy (10 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 3:01 pm

Wonderful photos! You definitely captured the spirit of the event.

Jackie K - March 1, 2010 - 2:46 pm

I love the colours and the way you captured everything, you do amazing event photography which not many people can get right… Stunning pics!!

Denise (5 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 9:46 am

Can I just say one word about these shots? Incredible!

cat@juggling act (187 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 9:31 am

Oh forgot to say I love the one of the girl taking a picture of the others.

cat@juggling act (187 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 9:30 am

Oh I love love those flowers – perfect for a young girl. Your pictures are stunning as always.

tara (3 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 6:53 am

so very vibrant. great angles.

Girish (77 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 6:53 am

Cool shots again.

The b/w photos of the band are very nice.

Kathy - March 1, 2010 - 5:27 am

Fantastic!! Love the colours

Domestic Extraordinaire (42 comments.) - March 1, 2010 - 2:41 am

Love!

Amy @ Bitchin' Wives Club (1 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 11:43 pm

Fabulous shots! I love seeing everyone having such a great time and your colors are all so rich and vibrant. Loved the flowers and really loved that little girl in the front of the next to last shot. What a great capture of a smile!

Secret Agent Mama (84 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 11:27 pm

Absolutely beautiful work, Jenty!

Colleen Sevitz (21 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 11:05 pm

I love these, your event photography just amazes me, well done!

Avril (Mom) (385 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 10:21 pm

Vibrant and joyful!! Fantastic photos of such a happy occasion! Love the one on the chair! Table flowers are gorgeous!!

Anelle (47 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 9:45 pm

Lovely photos, Jeanette!

WackyMummy (30 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 8:10 pm

Such a beautiful collection of this party. =)

Lotus / Sarcastic Mom (3 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 6:47 pm

Oh, such fabulous, vibrant shots!
I adore the dancing, and the raising her up on the chair. Great!

Rachel (A Southern Fairytale) (5 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 6:38 pm

those are AMAZING shots.
The first two just took my breath away with their colors and snap and DOF.

I love the one of her in the chair! They are all fantastic!

Sarah (9 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 5:55 pm

I love these shots….

Gina (25 comments.) - February 28, 2010 - 5:38 pm

The photo of Adina and her friend doing the Tango is so beautiful!
They are all such great photos but that one really speaks to me :)

Oct 20 2009

Celebrating Tali’s Bat Mitzvah

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Parties Tags: , , , , , ,

As I mentioned yesterday, I also took photos at one of the family lunches after the ceremony.  Tali’s lunch was held at the TAC, and it was such a gorgeous venue overlooking the golf course.

Table centrepiece

Table decorations

The kids of course, couldn’t wait to find a way to get out of the enclosed garden, and wander around the grounds… so I had to go wandering around to find the kids for photos too:)

These girls discovered that the koi liked nibbling fingers:)so they soon had the fish trying to survive on land!

Touching fish

I cannot resist showing this photo of this little dude… how cute is he?!

Party dude

Then came the more serious part of the afternoon… breaking bread with the rabbi and her Grandpa Izzie (you might recognise him from the photos of his 70th birthday party a few months ago)

Breaking bread

Then there were speeches from her friends…

Talis friends saying speeches

Listening to speeches

And then Tali said a speech…

Tali speech

Mom and dad listening to Tali

And then it was serious party time:)

Dance with love

The boys dancing

Time to dance

The following photo is my ABSOLUTE favourite of the entire set… strange it may seem, but I love the promise that it shows with the little girls watching the older girls dance.

Envy and wonder

And last but not least, I can’t not show you a fun photo of Tali and her friends!

The girls having fun

I really thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I’ve taken so many photos that it was such a tough call to choose the photos to post on the blog.

Venue:  Killarney Country Club (TAC)

DJ:  Urban Entertainment

Videographer: Arnaldo Mandel

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Parties Tags: , , , , , ,

12 comments

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Sally (24 comments.) - October 22, 2009 - 8:26 am

well done you really caught some fantastic moments

Tanya (83 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 9:00 pm

Love them! the last one is my fave :) Well done Jeanette :)

Gilz (173 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 6:59 pm

It must be such an honour to capture people’s special moments, especially the unique ones.

Wenchy (11 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 1:41 pm

I want to be Jewish and 13 at once!

Janet B - October 21, 2009 - 11:49 am

What lovely memories! I love the candy sticks, the little Dude is just the cutest and then …. has to be the koi pond! How huge is that fish??? Nice work!

Fiona - October 21, 2009 - 10:57 am

Ooooh I absolutely love the last two photo’s ~ you’ve captured some great memories for the family Jeanette. Well done!

Firefly (273 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 8:19 am

Other than the little girls watching the older ones, I also like the one with the girls at the koi pond. I don’t think it would have been the same if it was posed.

Gina (58 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 7:52 am

Wow, so so so beautiful!
They will treasure these photos.
I love the koi fish one, what a shot!

Angel (186 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 7:45 am

I also love the one of the little girls watching the older girls.

Avril (385 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 7:15 am

Love them – you’ve captured her very special day perfectly! Also love the dancing girls .. reminds me of all the ballet concerts with all the littlies ‘in awe’ of the big girls!

Kathy - October 21, 2009 - 7:10 am

Wow these photos are beautiful. Well done Jeanette!!!

Annie (29 comments.) - October 21, 2009 - 7:02 am

Beautiful photos as usual! Love the table decorations!

Oct 19 2009

Bat Mitzvah celebration at the Shul

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tags: , , , ,

I was honoured to be asked by the family of one of the 6 girls who had their Bat Mitzvah yesterday at the Pine Street Shul to be the official photographer for the event.  I have linked to an article about the ceremony above, but basically it’s a celebration of a girl’s “coming of age”. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning at the Shul, and the girls were so much fun and it was just an amazing event to be a part of… so very special.

It was the first Bat Mitzvah that I’d been to, and thankfully had attended one of their rehearsals the week before so that I could meet their “Batty” teacher,  Dalya, and find out all the rules of the Shul.

It started really early in the morning with portrait sessions with all the girls and their families.

Erin

Kalsey

Thato

Natasha very proudly told me that her hair band was made by her family member that was visiting from Israel:)

Natasha and the purple hairband

Lori

Tali

We all then moved into the Shul for the ceremony but managed to get a few more shots of the girls before it all started.

Natasha

Having some fun

The only photo that the Shul requested, was this one with the girls and Rabbi Gerson and Dalya

Bnot Mitzvah

And then it began…  The girls had long speeches prepared where they talked about the things they’d learnt in the last year of Dalya’s teachings.  It was very interesting for me as it was all about their culture and traditions.

The girls

Thato speaking

And then the choir sang about the women’s role in the Friday traditions

Choir singing about Bnot Mitzvah

This was my favourite part of the ceremony, where the girls got blessed by their mother’s. 

Lori being blessed

The Rabbi addressing the girls and their families and friends

Listening to the rabbi

The girls all got presented with certificates from the Shul and the United Hebrew Schools

Tali getting her certificate

And then it was celebration and singing time!  Mazel tov to all the girls and their families:)

After the ceremony, I took photos at the Druker family’s lunch celebrations, and those photos are coming tomorrow evening.

Posted in Bar/Bat Mitzvah Tags: , , , ,

16 comments

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Sally (24 comments.) - October 22, 2009 - 8:33 am

the girls look lovely, I am sure they will be delighted with these to help them remember their special day

desi (86 comments.) - October 22, 2009 - 8:12 am

i love these jeanette! what a marvelous experience for you – getting a glimpse into another culture.
well shot

killlashandra (66 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 4:24 pm

What a wonderful event! It looks like the girls enjoyed their special day. :)

Avril (Mom) (385 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 2:57 pm

Wonderful photos! How interesting the whole day must have been for you! I also wondered about the colour of the dresses. Love the one with Mum and daughter … very very special! Well done my girl, you did a great job!

Wendi - October 20, 2009 - 1:04 pm

What beautiful pictures. As always you did a did a great job.

Gina (58 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 9:55 am

Cheryl – no significance in the colour purple. The girls I had my batmitzvah with wore white and peach (back in the early 90′s ;) )

Jackie - October 20, 2009 - 9:38 am

These are stunning!!

Cheryl - October 20, 2009 - 9:34 am

Is there any religious significance in the girls all wearing the same colour of purple? Lovely photo’s.

Wenchy - October 20, 2009 - 8:42 am

These came out beautifully!

Annie (29 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 8:25 am

Wow, these are amazing shots. You have a gift for capturing special moments. I am sure these girls are going to treasure these.

Janet B - October 20, 2009 - 7:59 am

What a special occasion! Lovely photographs J – perfect memories for the girls and their parents. Looking forward to seeing the lunch ones tomorrow!

Gina (58 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 7:20 am

So so beautiful. Love the one of Lori being blessed by her mom.

Angel – A bar mitzva is slightly different, The shul part is held on a Saturday morning which is the sabbath and therefor you cannot do any ‘work’ such as taking photographs etc… very religious people wont even drive. The day is meant to be spent in prayer and relaxation from the bible “and on the 7th day he rested”…

Angel (186 comments.) - October 20, 2009 - 7:10 am

Shoowee, it seems every shul is different…
My friend’s son’s bar mitzvah is this December, but they’re doing all their photos the Thursday before the actual ceremony because they’re not supposed to take photos during.
Great shots Jenty!

Kathy - October 20, 2009 - 6:55 am

Jeanette these photos are fantastic!!! It must have been such a moving ceremony, I could almost feel it. Well done!!!!!

Lance and Lori's Barmitzvah and Batmizvah celebration | Johannesburg Function Photographer | Jeanette Verster Photography - November 16, 2009 - 9:51 am

[...] and batmitzmah celebration last night in Savoy, Johannesburg.  Lori, was one of the girls whose bat mitzvah ceremony I took photos at last month; and she finally got to celebrate it with her cousin, Lance, whose [...]

Celebrating Tali’s Bat Mitzvah | Jeanette Verster Photography - October 20, 2009 - 10:41 pm

[...] I mentioned yesterday, I also took photos at one of the family lunches after the ceremony.  Tali’s lunch was held [...]

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