76 | MARCH 31 • 2022
ami is totally into
fashion and design,
”
Stephanie Perry says
of her daughter, a
student at West Hills Middle School.
“We wanted her bat mitzvah party to
reflect that but didn’t want it to be a spe-
cific theme. We wanted black and white
with pops of color — to be clever, but
not too sophisticated for a 13-year-old.
“Jen took that and ran with it,
” Perry
says of Jen Ajlouny, a senior event
director at Star Trax Events’ full-service
design team, called the A Team. “She
came up with the most amazing ideas.
She listened to me and Sami and created
a team that was beyond what we could
have dreamed. There is not a single
thing I would change.
”
A few favorite details included an
exquisite full-size photo of Sami with
real florals spilling from her dress across
the wall; drink stirrers and straws with
Sami’s name on them; custom Jell-O
shots by Boozy Bites in flavors like
Moscow Mule and Margarita; and hir-
ing a fashion illustrator to create stylized
“caricatures” of guests, a stunning way
of bringing in Sami’s passion for fash-
ion.
The event, held on Nov.
6, 2021, at Temple Israel,
happened during a small
window of relative com-
fort before Omicron hit,
and the family was ready
to party.
“Everyone was so excited to be out
and have some sense of normalcy. We
were so lucky to be able to celebrate
together,
” Perry says. “Jen and her team
made it flawless and fun, from the
moment you walked in ’til the moment
you left.
”
Starting with a photo from Sami’s pre-mitzvah
shoot with Dianne Scafone, Debbie LeClaire
festooned the skirt with live florals.
Fashion
illustrator
Nicole Jarecz
created
“caricatures”
for each guest.
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