Feeling at Home in a Palace
God is in the fine details, and when it comes to a Bar-Mitzvah reception with over 5,000 guests in a massive space – he's apparently in the large ones too
The location: Hanger1, Israel's largest indoor space. The celebration: a Bar-mitzvah reception for the son of an extremely social couple with fine taste in art and design. Guests: 5,000, with more than a few prominent figures from Israel's economy, politics and media, which explains the wide media coverage and why there could be no mistakes.
The event producers revealed that the inspiration for the theme was the swanky Hotel Costes in the voguish heart of Paris. The hotel's motto, "A home away from home" and its most noticeable design features were adopted and coordinated into the event's décor, the result of which was a setting that was grandiose and opulent, yet warm and pampering. Deep hues of brown, gold and crimson, with Art-Deco accents, and a sense of spaciousness were evocative of the Hotel Costes' lounge.
But let's start from the beginning.
The sumptuous cocktail lounge in itself was fit for a reception. The enclosed area displayed a photography exhibition in the theme of friendship – a family core value. To avoid the chilly ambiance usually associated with art shows, the pieces hung behind gold ribbon veils, under a soft fabric canopy covering the entire cocktail area to lower the ceiling, all in dark wood and hues of black and gold.
The guests were unaware that this was merely the opening event, and in perfect timing, were dramatically ushered up a baroque flight of stairs into the reception area were they caught full view of an enormous lounge-style setting with a dance floor that spanned most of the area and could be viewed from anywhere in the venue.
The vastness of the indoor space could have easily attenuated the décor had it not been for the large-scale artifacts such as huge eclectic lighting fixtures, massive couches, towering floral arrangements and the piece-de-resistance: a chandelier made of upside-down pieces of furniture.
Video screens in sitting areas featured a movie especially produced for the event and the top-notch artists who performed in this special affair had to work hard to steal the show – which they did. You can ask Ilanit, Margol and Symphony of Love.
The younger guests were far from neglected, and they got to spend the evening in their own hype downtown-Manhattan-style recreation area, with day glow diner sofas, a massive graffiti wall, bar style game-tables and a menu offering every kind of goody a kid could dream of.
