22 | JULY 1 • 2021 

T

he name Pat Blackwell 
brings to mind one thing 
in the Metro Detroit 
Jewish party-planning commu-
nity: Indispensable.
The founder and face of the 
Red Coat Ladies (named for 
their iconic, eponymous attire), 
Blackwell has been running the 
show for bar and bat mitzvahs 
and weddings for close to 25 
years under the name Party 
Assurance. From wrangling in 
unruly tween guests to sewing 
brides into their dresses last 

minute to ensuring party time-
lines run without a hitch — so 
that the party-planning parents 
can enjoy the event instead of 
worrying about the details — 
Blackwell and her team have 
seen and done it all.
“I love that we allow people 
to enjoy their special moments,
” 
she says. “In a typical four-hour 
party, how many memories can 
you create? Do you want your 
memories to be of yelling in the 
kitchen because you’re out of 
french fries? We allow people 

to enjoy every second of their 
events.
”
Building on her years of expe-
rience and impeccable reputa-
tion, Blackwell has launched a 
new business (and donned a new 
blue blazer): Jewish Party Maven 
trains and coaches venues and 
vendors to understand and 
honor Jewish party traditions.
Blackwell comes by recog-
nizing this need intrinsically, as 
she had to learn everything, too. 
Raised Catholic on a farm in 
Minnesota with 10 siblings and 
prize pigs, she knew nothing 
of bar mitzvahs. After earning 
a degree in hotel and restau-
rant management, she, her 
husband and their three chil-
dren landed in Metro Detroit, 
where she answered an ad for a 
building manager in charge of 
events at Temple Israel in West 
Bloomfield. 
“They called and told me 
about the job,
” Blackwell says. “I 

said, ‘Don’t you want someone 
who is Jewish?’ and they said, 
‘no, we want someone who can 
work on Yom Kippur.
’” Her 
response? “What’s that?”
Eleven years later, “after 
watching people have amazing 
parties that they didn’t enjoy,
” 
she launched Party Assurance, 
and now she’s ready to let others 
in on what she’s learned.
With a lapse in parties to 
work during the pandemic (and 
having broken her back last 
June), Blackwell began thinking 
of ways to help clients in less 
physically demanding ways. 
“I’ve always dreamed of a 
job I can do from anywhere,
” 
Blackwell says, while stressing 
that Red Coat Ladies is not 
going away. But Jewish Party 
Maven is an extra layer to her 
business. In fact, each Red Coat 
Lady is required to become 
certified in the Jewish Party 
Maven course. “I held a mock 

Party Maven

OUR COMMUNITY

“Red Coat Lady” Pat Blackwell is 
adding to her business by training 
vendors in Jewish customs.

LYNNE KONSTANTIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Pat Blackwell of 
Red Coat Ladies and 
Jewish Party Maven

COURTESY OF PAT BLACKWELL

