Celebrating your teen’s bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah is a joyous occasion, welcoming them into a new milestone of life. Creating an imaginative theme for a bat or bar mitzvah helps to personalize the event, showcasing your teen’s personality and individuality through their favorite food, fun decor, and unique activities. RedWater is ready to help you create an unforgettable event for your teen’s bar or bat mitzvah.
Food Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
A spiritual shindig centered around fantastic food never fails to make a delicious mark. Consider food themes including:
- Tea party: A regal tea party full of finger foods and tasty teas is perfect for a teen who lights up when presented with the perfect teapot or has an affinity for all things pretty, dainty, and sophisticated. Scones and petit fours await!
- Coffee shop: Does your teen require a sweet cup of caffeine first thing in the morning? No judgment—same here. Consider throwing a cool coffee shop inspired bar or bat mitzvah! Platters filled with muffins, coffee cakes, and croissants can accompany a make-your-own latte station—the flavor combinations are endless.
- Fiesta: Spice up the festivities with a fiesta themed bar or bat mitzvah. A taco, burrito, or nacho bar allows guests to create their own perfect dish, and can be served along refreshingly fruity mocktails that your teen helps to create.
- Candyland: For the teen with a serious sweet tooth, there is no better theme than candyland. Pull this one off by creating a colorful candy bar and perhaps a cake shaped like your teen’s favorite confection. For non-sugary but on-theme fare, create savory pizza or spinach and cheese pinwheels that resemble lollipops.
- Popcorn: A sweet and salty theme like popcorn provides endless opportunities for delicious snacking all day. While the obvious fan-favorite flavors like white cheddar and caramel can be scattered throughout tables as centerpieces, popcorn chicken is a fun way to add some protein to the menu.
- Ice cream: A cool and creamy theme that is a definite winner in warmer climates, ice cream has no limits, just like your teen. An ice cream float or sundae bar will get everyone excited upon entering the space, or if you want to really wow your teen, rent an ice cream truck for the day.
- Pizza: There is no more quintessentially teenage food than pizza. If your teen is a serious savory pie kind of person, a pizza themed bar or bat mitzvah is a no brainer.
Food-Themed Bar & Bat Mitzvah Activities
Keep your guests entertained as they enjoy their fare with themed games, including:
- Coffee drink contest: For a coffee shop themed event, pick a few volunteers to enter a drink making contest. Each participant has 3 minutes to create a concoction of their choosing, and the guest of honor then taste tests each, deciding on the winner. A unique mug or coffee shop gift card is a great prize!
- Candyland house creations: Scatter a variety of sweets on your table, gum drops, jelly beans, peppermint sticks, etc., and invite guests to build a gingerbread-esque structure out of sweets—these kits can be quite affordable when bought in bulk. If you want to up the ante, put a time limit on the construction and have your teen be the judge. A giant jar full of sweets makes a delicious prize!
Decorations for Food-Themed Bat & Bar Mitzvahs
Decor truly ties the theme together. Consider decorations including:
- Tea party garden decor: For your teen’s tea party, create lush centerpieces of beautiful pastel florals with soft candlelight, drape greenery around the room, and find anything and everything lace-adorned for a lovely look.
- Bright & colorful fiesta decor: A fiesta is all about vibrantly celebrating life, and the decor is no different. Warm hues of florals, balloons, and streamers will signify to your guests that your teen’s celebration is about to be bold and beautiful, just like them.
Sports Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
For sports-centric teens, there may be no better event theme than the activity they’ve grown up playing or fiercely supporting. Explore sports themes including:
- Football: Throw a touchdown of a bar or bat mitzvah with a football theme. The food, decor, and activities are endless. Consider providing your favorite tailgate fare like wings, dips, and tots before a competitive round of football-related trivia. A fun drink idea? Take your teen’s favorite sports drink and replace the label with a personalized one featuring your teen’s name and jersey number.
- Soccer: Score big time with a soccer themed party. Cover your buffet table in a green tablecloth to mimic the field and fill it with all your teen’s favorite post-game snacks, like veggies, chips and dips, and wraps.
- Baseball: When serving classic fare like chili dogs, cracker jack, popcorn, and soda, there’s no need to visit the field to create a home run of a bar or bat mitzvah. While you don’t want to take away from your teen, having a livestream of a beloved team’s game can make for a fun bonding experience between attendees.
- Basketball: Shoot and score big time with a basketball themed bat or bar mitzvah. Cupcakes and sliders shaped like basketballs are easy, yummy treats. A fun and simple activity to set up for guests to try is basketball pong—hot glue party cups on various heights of a thick poster board, marking each with a point value. Your teen and their friends can take turns bouncing ping pong balls in, seeing who can get the highest score.
- Swimming: For teens on the swimming team, make a splash with their bat or bar mitzvah. Blue-themed food and drinks and decor will help to get your theme across. If your teen spent any time as the pool lifeguard, consider making their guest of honor chair a lifeguard stand!
- Hockey: For a teen who loves life on the ice, a hockey themed bar or bat mitzvah makes for a slapshot of a shindig. For easy but effective food options, consider serving staples you’d find at the rink’s concessions stand, like soft pretzels, popcorn, fries, and hot chocolate or slushies.
Sports-Themed Bat & Bar Mitzvahs Decorations
Sports theme decor can be made quite simple. Try ideas including:
- Football theme decor: Tablecloths that feature a field are a fun and simple way to let guests feel like they’re in the stadium. Choose balloons that represent your teen’s own team or their top fantasy pick. Hang up your teen’s jerseys around the room for an even more personal touch.
- Hockey theme decor: If your teen has been a player since they’ve been small, line up all of their skates and sticks in order from smallest to largest for a sentimental illustration of their growth.
- Soccer theme decor: Hanging mini soccer balls from the ceiling gives a fun layer of dimension to the event, and they can be used as party favors at the end of the day!
Music-Inspired Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
Is your teen keen on singing in the shower? Are they always the first to the dance floor? However they incorporate it into their being, music is a wonderfully fun theme for a unique bar or bat mitzvah.
- Rock ‘n’ roll: Whether you’re playing Elvis or AC/DC, a rock ‘n’ roll bash is always a great time. Whatever era you’re in, serving fun foods like rock candy or themed dishes like Fleetwood Mac ‘n’ cheese is a must. A photo booth with inflatable guitars will lead to some awesome keepsakes for your teen to cherish.
- Dance: Move and groove all evening long with a dance themed bash. Consider renting a dance dance revolution game to give your teen and their friends a chance to battle it out on the dance floor!
- Classical: Teens with a passion for classical music can feel regal at their bat or bar mitzvah with beautiful sheet paper art around the room (think garlands or paper flowers). Bright, classic centerpieces of flowers and vintage candlesticks will help tie the theme together as well. An elegant snack? Tea party-type finger foods and floral-flavored teas. Hiring a piano player is the perfect touch!
- Musical theater: For a teen with the bright lights of Broadway in their eyes, a show-tuned themed party is perfect. Feature posters of their favorite shows around the room and create craft mocktails inspired by the songs they are always humming along to.
- Hip-hop: Whether your teen is a fan of 80s, 90s, or 2000s hip-hop, help them plan a party that pops. Bright colors of balloons, old cassettes as table decor, and record-themed treats like cookies or cupcakes are must haves. It is also a great reason to gift your teen that fancy pair of sneakers they’ve been eyeing—they will arrive at their bar or bat mitzvah in style!
- Pop: Help your teen feel like the pop sensation they’ve always dreamed of being by making them the star of their day. A red carpet entrance where guests receive VIP passes is a fun touch to set the tone of the evening.
- Country: For a bat or bar mitzvah with a twang, a country-music theme is surely your thang! Delicious southern staples like fried chicken, biscuits, and succulent pies can help cement your theme. Personalized guitar picks are a fun favor and table decoration to consider.
- Disco: Bring the funk with a dazzling disco dance party! There is nothing quite as fun as a 70s music-themed bash. Create a spacious dance floor in the center of your seating area to encourage everyone to get up and groove. Glitzy streamers and colorful strobe lights can really help to get your guests in the dancing mood.
- Jazz: For a sleek and sophisticated soirée, a jazz themed bar or bat mitzvah is just right. A black and gold theme is classic and elegant, and asking that guests arrive in costume (hello pearls, glitz, and glamor) makes it an event no one will forget.
Musical Activities for Bar & Bat Mitzvahs
When your teen and their guests aren’t dancing, try these fun musical activities:
- Musical chairs: This is a must when music is involved. Play your teen’s favorite tunes and watch the competition dwindle down. For a fitting prize, find a vintage CD or cassette tape.
- Karaoke: Fun for the performer and the guests, a karaoke station really lets everyone in attendance shine while celebrating your teen.
- Guess that song: Play a 15 second snippet of a few of your teens go-to jams. Have guests write down their guesses for the title and artist.
Movie Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
Calling all movie-lovers! Plan a party that will help your teen feel like the star of the show.
- Superhero movies: There is no better time to harness your teen’s love of DC or Marvel than in planning their bar or bat mitzvah. While you can certainly offer sweets adorned with character emblems and logos, consider serving dishes that true fans would recognize from specific films, like shawarma (featured in The Avengers) or brunch food (featured in Thor).
- Fantasy movies: Does your teen love series like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Pirates of the Caribbean? Throw the ultimate fantasy movie bash with themed food from their chosen film. Extra points if you ask guests to dress up as their favorite character from the movie!
- Action movies: Help your teen feel like the hero of the day with an action movie themed bar or bat mitzvah. A James Bond or Top Gun theme is simple to pull off through themed decor. Having a projector play a loop of your teen’s favorite action scenes will keep everyone entertained and cheering!
- Romantic comedies (rom-coms): Does your teen have a go-to rom-com they absolutely adore? Bring that ambiance to life by taking a classic scene in the film and decorating your event space in a similar fashion. Heart-shaped confections are a fun snack to accompany this theme.
- Sci-fi movies: Aliens, robots, and all things paranormal! Pick a film your teen can’t stop raving about and bring it to life for their bat or bar mitzvah. For an Avatar themed event, for example, deck out your space in the recognizable plant life of Pandora.
- Classic Hollywood: Does your teen get uber excited when Casablanca or Singin’ in the Rain is on? Throw them a suave classic cinema themed soirée. Create a cool black and white aesthetic to call back to the days of pre-color classic films and serve classy mocktails to match.
Cinematic Decorations for Movie-Themed Bat & Bar Mitzvahs
Make the magic come to life with these unique decor ideas, including:
- Life-size cutouts: Whatever film genre your teen adores, surprise them with life-size cardboard cutouts or balloons of their favorite characters or actors to take photos with upon arriving at their event. The guests will love this touch, too!
- Walk of fame: Create a Hollywood walk of fame-esque path all throughout your event space. On each star, place a fun fact, accomplishment, funny saying, or childhood photo of your teen.
Travel Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
For a teen with a desire to hop on a plane and see the world, a travel-themed party brings the trip to them.
- Israel: Bring the beauty of Israel to your town with food and decor that transports you to The Promised Land. Consider creating decorations that mimic the national flower, the beautiful, bright red calaniot (anemones), or deck your venue out in traditional blue and white. Serve classic fare like latkes or have fun with a build-your-own bagel bar that everyone in attendance will appreciate.
- Paris: For a teen with the desire to see the Eiffel Tower, bring it to their bat or bar mitzvah! Create a Parisian experience for your teen through French fare like fancy cheese plates and macarons and suave decor like glittering Eiffel Tower centerpieces or roses. Having a beret at each seat is a fun and fashionable take-home gift.
- London: Bring the UK to you through a London themed bash. It wouldn’t be complete without proper food like bangers and mash or fish and chips.
- New York City: Recreating the Big Apple is a must for teens who strive to see the city lights. Surround your event in a silhouette of a cityscape and serve classic street foods you may find while strolling through downtown—this is perfect for a teen with a taste for all kinds of flavors.
- Beach theme: Celebrating amongst the sun and sand is always a great idea. Bring the beach to your bat or bar mitzvah with brightly colored lounge chairs, beach balls, umbrellas, and summery food favorites like popsicles, pizza, and burgers.
- Circus theme: For a spectacular soirée, create a circus for all to see! This theme can be made grand through different party stations—hire interesting acts like a magician, a fortune teller, a face painter, or a snake handler to entertain your guests.
Fun Activities for Travel-Themed Bar & Bat Mitzvahs
Give your guests and teen some fun activities to fill their time, including:
- Travel photos: Document your teens “travel” through a photobooth shaped like a famous landmark or hallmark of their chosen destination. For London, consider a backdrop featuring the famous double decker buses or Buckingham Palace. For New York, Time Square scenery would pop.
- Mark a Map: Provide a map of the globe to guests. Have them mark each place they’ve been. The most traveled guest has to share a story from one of their most memorable spots!
History Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Themes
Does your teen have a fascination with a certain decade? Turn it into a stellar party theme.
- Wild West: Create a sprawling Western scene with decor like cacti, hay bales, and a bandana tied to each chair. Burgers, brats, and root beer are perfect fare for this theme.
- Roaring ‘20s: Celebrate in style with the glittery golden hue that is synonymous with the 20s. Ask guests to come in costume to transport everyone back in time while you dine on fun finger foods and practice your lindy hop.
- 1950s: Creating a vintage diner themed party is a fun way for teens to feel like they’ve traveled back in time. Checkerboard tablecloths are a definite must have, where your fancy milkshakes and sliders await.
- 1960s: Flower power is the name of the game for a 60s themed party. Decorate your space in pastel florals and play some sweet 60s tunes for everyone to throw up their peace signs to.
- 1970s: A 70s themed bat or bar mitzvah? Groovy! Place a lava lamp in the center of your tables and encourage guests to break out their bell bottoms. Consider creating mocktails with your teen that are themed after a few of their favorite songs of the decade.
- 1980s: Neon, spandex, and side ponytails—it's the 80s! Give your teen a taste of what it was like with brightly colored streamers, balloons, and sweets. Renting a few retro arcade games provides something fun for your teen to try out, too.
- 1990s: Create a hip-hop wonderland for your teen’s big day. Set up a board game table with iconic 90s games like Guess Who and Twister. Serve some nostalgic 90s eats like pizza rolls, Dunkaroos, cheeseballs, and baby bottle pops.
- 2000s: If your teen is a fan of platform sandals and bold bling, you may have a 2000s fan on your hands. Consider hiring an airbrush artist to create custom shirts for your teen and your guests. A popular snack of the time, a Twinkies cake is totally appropriate for this party theme.
History-Inspired Bat & Bar Mitzvahs Decorations
Really bring your bat or bar mitzvah theme to life with decor, including:
- Decade themed photo booth: This piece of decor doubles as an activity. Create a space that showcases your chosen decade. For a Wild West party, a wanted sign photo booth provides a fun place for your teen and their friends to take goofy, memorable snap shots. For the 70s, a disco backdrop is a necessity!
What to Look for in a Bat Mitzvah Venue / Bar Mitzvah Venue
When choosing a bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah venue, discuss factors including the:
- Spaciousness: You need to make sure you have enough room for your guests to explore your activities and get down on the dance floor! RedWater features venues of all sizes, accommodating both intimate gatherings and large groups.
- Professional service: The staff at RedWater are passionate about making your event as smooth and memorable as possible. Our team sets up before an event and breaks down the space at the end of the night—we want to make things as stress-free as possible for our hosts.
- Delicious food: A great event is made by the food that is served. RedWater Events can supply a wide variety of delicious appetizers, plated meals, and buffets. You’ll be sure to find flavors your teen loves.
- Great reviews: Reading previous reviews ensures your venue is consistently committed to providing incredible service. Each of our event spaces has positive reviews from past guests, noting our level of service and detail.
- Affordable price: You don’t want to break the bank in renting an event space. At RedWater, we offer a variety of spaces to accommodate all budgets.
Have Your Bat or Bar Mitzvah at RedWater
Ready to secure a spot for your teen’s special day? Send us a message today to get the process started.
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