My Family’s Special Day & Feeling Like A Disney Princess!

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a Disney character at Walt Disney World?  I would imagine if it was a very hot day and you were outside in one of those heavy costumes, that it would be kind of hard.  Then I imagined if you were one of the Disney Princesses, you’d probably be a lot cooler especially if you were inside taking pictures.  Well this past winter I did not actually dress up as a Disney Princess, but I felt like one and was able to experience how they must feel first hand!!

On February 5th, 2012, my daughter celebrated her Bat Mitzvah.  A Bat Mitzvah is a ceremony when a Jewish girl, who is 12 or 13 years of age, is considered an adult and responsible for her moral and religious duties. (For a boy it’s called a Bar Mitzvah.) There is a service at the temple where the girl reads from the Torah, says a variety of prayers and then says a speech explaining her portion of the Torah.  Usually after the service a big party is thrown at a catering hall or restaurant and you invite about 200 of your closest friends!!!  There is tons of good food, a DJ with dancing and usually really fun decorations and balloons.  Sometimes families make a theme for the party.  When I asked my daughter what she wanted her theme to be, she immediately said “Disney”.  We planned the party for a year and had some really amazing decorations.  On each table was a large Disney Character on a base, with smaller pictures under it of different theme park icons (Cinderella Castle, EPCOT, Disney Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and of course monorails!).  A lot of time people try to hide the theme that they are doing so when you walk in the room, you are surprised. Since everyone knows my family loves Disney, it was a no brainer that would be our theme and everyone pretty much guessed it in advance!

The week before the party we went to the place that made our decorations to see what they looked like.  I remember walking in and my jaw dropping.  There was a life size picture of my daughter on a base with all the characters and theme park icons surrounding her.  There was also the centerpieces I mentioned above with the Disney characters and park icons.  I could not have imagined how amazing they would look.

Base of the centerpieces!

Another custom at Bat Mitzvahs is to give out a favor to all the kids attending.  This can be a t-shirt or sweatshirt or something like that.  The design usually has something to do with the theme, has the girls name on it and the date of the party.  My husband designed a really cool design and when the kids got the sweatshirt they all loved it and wore it to school the next day.

The awesome logo my husband designed!

On the day of the party when I walked into the room and saw all the amazing decorations and balloons, I was thrilled to see that the Disney theme looked really looked great and fit my family well.  At dinner time, the DJ did a clever thing and played “Be our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast!  There were also other subtle Disney things throughout the day as well.

Now you ask, why did I feel like a Disney Princess?  Well I will explain.  As part of the party the family often rents out a company to do photo favors.  These are keepsakes the guests get to take home.  The guests take pictures with their families and friends and the kids all take fun and “goofy” group pictures together.  When the picture is ready, they also get a really nice frame to take it home in.  Well the party was in honor of my daughter but my husband and I were the hosts.  So when you are the hosts, everyone wants their picture with you.  I stood there at the place the photos were being taken and people were lined up to take their picture with me.  I was a little upset that nobody asked me for my autograph, but the experience of taking my picture with a line full of people made me realize how it must be to be a Princess or any character for that matter!!!

Feeling like a Princess!!

All in all, the day was a truly magical day.  It is something I hope my daughter remembers forever.  What did we do with all the big centerpieces after?  We took them apart and all the giant characters are hanging up in my basement.  We kept the centerpiece with the life size picture of my daughter together and every time I go in to the basement and see it, I think she’s down there!!

This entry was posted on October 18, 2012 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.