kata voierA vrir Please join us at the fifth annual dinner to benefit YAD EZRA YAD EZRA feeby the Jewish tiory the kosher food pantry feeding the Jewish hungry Honoring The Tapper Family Howard, Susan, Maria and Mark ERICA RAIRIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS A family committed to helping L the less fortunate Wednesday, November 1, 1995 Congregation B'nai Moshe 6800 Drake Road • West Bloomfield Dinner 6:45 p.m. Hors d'oeuvres 6:00 p.m. Couvert: $100 per adult Youth (ages 8-18) $30 per child $1000 per table of ten Donors of $1,000 or more will be recognized as Yad Ezra Sponsors A special presentation will be made to Jeannette Eizelman Executive Director of Yad Ezra 1990-1995 Commemorative Book Chairman Isadore Bernstein Carol & Paul Hooberman Cindy & Melvin Schwartz Dinner Chairmen Sanford Eisenberg President Michigan allows an income tax credit for individuals, equal to 50% of the amount of cash contributions (subject to certain limitations) to organizations such as Yad Ezra that provide food or shelter to the indigent. 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Famdngtee Rills 810-553-3250 Budgeting The Good Times COTTON CANDY • CANDY APPLES FROZEN YOGURT • FUNNEL CAKES • CONEY ISLANDS • FROZEN BANANAS • CORN DOGS • POPCORN • SNO•KONES (810) 960-7617 YAD EZRA wishes to thank Barbara Sachse and Rhonda Dean, committed members of the Board of Directors, who have worked diligently for the or- ganization and the dinner committee. Their names were accidently omitted from the dinner committee lists. ast night at a beautiful Bar Mitzvah dinner, I sat with two other women at our table (the men turned pale and left) discussing bar and bas mitzvah budgets. One other woman and I had already sur- vived at least one child's big event; the other woman in the conver- sation was just beginning to plan her daughter's bas mitzvah. Surrounded by one of the most beautifully done bar mitzvahs we had ever attended, we discussed our personal budgets in whispers. I confessed that my oldest daugh- ter's bas mitzvah, last March, had run over budget by about one- third of the original cost we had projected. Ouch doesn't begin to describe the pinch, and we pro- ceeded with caution. Our event included a catered Friday night Sabbath dinner at home with about 20 people, in- cluding family from out-of-town, a kiddush after Saturday morn- ing services for our congregation, and a dinner Saturday night for our family and our daughter's classmates, about 60 people total. I did not think this was a lavish affair, since we made our own cen- terpieces and didn't invite any friends, even the closest. But we did have: a photogra- pher who made a video tape, two musicians so the girls could do Israeli dancing, delicious catered food, florist flowers in our home- made centerpieces, new dresses for the bas mitzvah girl (and her Mommy, and a new suit for baby brother), rented tablecloths, nap- kins and chairs; and a few more things that added right up to a budget-crunching number. We used the twin party rooms at my parents' elegant condo- minium: one for the dinner and one for the buffet and dance floor, so we didn't have much of a loca- tion cost. However, other factors cost plenty and I see in retrospect that I could have avoided, trimmed or curtailed others. A few hints: The Photographer: The only thing worse than just emptying your wallet on the photographer's desk would be giving a bar or bas mitzvah and not having pictures to savor afterwards. Hove having the bas mitzvah video and pic- tures; they are excellent and I cherish them and the memories they capture. That said, watch your dimes. When a professional party photographer, no matter how cordial, says the fee is $575, he doesn't mean it. He means the fee is $575 plus more than a dol- lar each per picture for develop- ing, plus $35 each for copies of the video tape, plus $80 for the album (a little less if you can have the gumption not to have the most gorgeous pix of your kid printed on the cover — gumption I lacked), plus four or five bucks for any reproductions you want to send to grandma, plus ten or more dollars for any enlargements you want for the mantle piece. I suspect we provided our pho- tographer's son with tuition to the Harvard Business School, but with a financial plan like his good old dad has got, he'll need that MBA. But, on the "we could have" list, I'd say, we could have skipped the picture on the album, we could have had cheaper duplicates made (although the professional quality ones speak for them- selves), and — this is the biggest — we could have negotiated an all-inclusive package from the very beginning. I don't know if I would have saved much money that way, but I would have had more control, and having more control always makes me feel smarter (it doesn't actually make me any smarter, but it helps). The Details: The caterer, an old friend, made most of the food for the evening meals, and a few sal- ads for kiddush. We worked out a fair price and she did a great job for me. That said, I wasn't listen- ing (or counting) carefully enough when she told me what her con- tract didn't cover: drinks and pa- per goods for the kiddush, wine, waiters (she brought them, but I paid them separately), tips, and rental chairs, tables and table linens. These things add up in a big way, even with paper goods from the budget warehouse and wine by the wholesale case. The Frills: The last minute ex- hilaration carried me away with perfecting our simcha. I could have chosen less exotic flowers: more carnations, fewer tulips. I could have chosen less expensive clothes, for her and for me and, particularly, for baby brother, who got grape juice on his new shirt six minutes into the evening to no one's particular surprise, includ- ing mine. I could have, but I didn't. And too bad. Because I love the pic- tures, and I loved the flowers, and baby brother looked adorable, even stained. I cherish the mem- ories and the achievement of my daughter...and we'll just save money somewhere else. Hey, honey, how about a vaca- tion in a tent? ❑