2018

willy wonka & the chocolate factory

Who Jonah Zimmermann of West Bloomfield is
an eighth-grader at West Hills Middle School.
Jonah had a September 2017 bar mitzvah at
Temple Israel.

Family Parents Jennifer and Dan Zimmermann
and brother, Aiden.

Venue The Reserve in Birmingham

Photographer Brett Mountain

What Went On The Zimmermanns are a creative
couple — Jennifer is an artist and coloring book
designer and Dan is an automotive designer —
so with Jonah’s help, they turned to each other
to create every detail, from the invitations that
resembled chocolate bars replete with golden
tickets to the candy centerpieces.
Photographer Brett Mountain snapped a pre-
party photo shoot with images relating to the
theme: One photograph used for the guest sign-
in board showed Jonah reacting as mom poured

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celebrate! • 2018

jn

chocolate syrup over his head.
Other decorations included giant lollipops
made from cut-up pool noodles. Centerpieces
were crafted from pyramids of real candy boxes
as well as Styrofoam molded and painted to look
like chocolate candies and truffles.
Other signage included the long contract that
the Golden Ticket winners needed to sign at the
beginning of the tour, printed larger than life on
an industrial printer. Rolls of button candy were
cut and used as napkin rings by place settings
with candy-striped chair covers. Other tables
were adorned with bouquets made of Tootsie
Pops and caramels. Jennifer found unusual
brands of candy shopping at dollar stores and
bulk food stores in Dearborn.
Crafted clear bubbles strung from plastic
globes suspended from the ceiling mimicked the
Fizzy Drink Lifting Room in the movie, and all
children received a golden ticket in their invita-
tion for admission to the secret candy room at
the end of the party. If they forgot to bring it, they
had to dance to earn entrance.

Other essentials by Team Invitations by Lysa
Goodman of Demby and Solomon Stationery,
West Bloomfield; linens from Affairs to Remem-
ber, Commerce. On-site decoration help and
transport: Star Trax; Party Assurance, Ann Arbor;
Jenna from Mandell Display Design, Southfield.
“We are a bit zany as a creative family and
wanted to do something different and show off
our creative energies,” Jennifer says. “Jonah is
a huge dessert fan, especially when it comes to
chocolate. The evening had plenty of surprises,
including my husband’s boss and son, who came
dressed [respectively] as Willy Wonka and an
Oompa Loompa. Everyone enjoyed that, espe-
cially when he led all the children into a secret
candy room at the end of the party.
“My advice to those who want to create their
own décor: Plan far ahead and enlist help either
from friends or a professional team to help with
room set up and break down. You do not want
to be going up on a ladder to hang things from
the ceiling the week your child has a bar or bat
mitzvah.” •