The Fischer Family Celebrates Their 4th Bar Mitzvah with Marcello and the MMP Entertainment Team at Portobello in Oakland, NJ

If you had to choose the ideal venue for your Le Chaim finale, you’d want a location that was close to the Temple, had great food and offered excellent service. If you’ve ever been to lunch or dinner at new Portobello Feasts in Oakland, NJ, you already know that those  bases are covered.  But what about their sister property… the original Portobello right next door?  Under new management and featuring some notable renovations, Portobello Banquets deserves your attention once again if you’re planning a Bergen County social or corporate event in the near future.

Over the past nine years, we’ve had the honor of providing the entertainment and event production for the Fischer family.  We did Jared’s Bar Mitzvah first back in ‘02, Samantha’s Bat Mitzvah in’04, then Julie’s Bat Mitzvah after that in ‘06, and this past October, it was time for Zachary to be the guest of honor.

If you’re getting a little stressed out just thinking about what it’s like to have to plan 4 Bar Mitzvahs… relax.  It actually gets easier.  Once you find just the right combination of professional vendors and resources, you just keep hiring them back and let them do most the work. On the other hand… having to pay for 4 Bar Mitzvahs, now that’s a different story.

Zack’s mom and dad, Jeanette and Glen, once again trusted our recommendations for the kids cocktail hour and reception enhancements.  We provided the MMP trifecta for the kids cocktail hour. It included The Interactive Game Show, Paparazzi and DJ Hero.

As you can see from the photos, these activities were very well received by all of the young adult guests as usual.

For the reception, the Fisher’s upgraded to our dual plasma multi-media package. We created custom visuals for Zack’s Casino theme, we designed personalized video clips for the dance sets and featured candid photos of all the guests on the screens during dinner and dessert.  As you can see from the photos, Zack and his friends were entertained and kept busy from the moment they walked into Portobello until the moment they walked out, so Jeanette and Glen were very pleased with the return on their additional investment.

Special thanks to Vincent Amen, Portobello’s Director of Catering, for his hospitality and professionalism.   He was instrumental at the site survey when we needed to ensure the necessary spacing for the activities, to review the planning logistics, to confirm the timing of the food courses and verify our power requirements. (just a few of  ways that an Entertainment Director can enhance your over-all experience) Vincent can be reached at 201-337-1383 ext. 4 or Vincent.Amen@PortobelloNj.com.

We’re looking forward to our next collaboration with the Fischer family and Portobello   … which by the way time seems to be flying by lately, will be Jared’s Wedding Reception.  Unreal.   –mp

Encore Gallery:

California Dreamin’: Marcello Consults With Bay Area Entertainment Powerhouse: Denon & Doyle

Note to self: The next time you fly across the country or anywhere for that matter, make sure you are not seated in the back of the plane near the bathrooms. In addition to the constant NHL-worthy elbows being thrown your way, there’s quite an aroma coming from those little window-less depositories. Fortunately, Dawn Dubois, the District Manager from Rodney Strong Wine Estates was seated across the aisle.   Dawn’s ability to laugh at and make a challenging situation fun actually made the flight enjoyable.

Upon arrival to San Fransisco, I met up with my good friend, Dan Ohrman, General Manager of Denon & Doyle.  Dan and his family treated me to a day at the Wharf so I could do the “touristy thing.”  If you’ve never been there, these were the highlights; 1) eating a bucket of Dungeness crabs next to the window at Joe’s so you can watch the Bushman “spread joy” and scare the heck out of unsuspecting tourists,   2) driving down ‘the long and windy road’ aka Lombard Street,  3) seeing Alcatraz, 4) checking out all the street performers, and 5) Ghirardelli Chocolates (soooo good that the line was two blocks long).

After a good night’s sleep, Dan took me and one of D&D’s most requested Emcee’s, Partick McMichael, hiking up Mount Diablo.  Not only was it a beautiful hike and an awesome workout, I felt like a 5th grader on the ultimate field trip. At the top of the mountain, you can visit the Mount Diablo State Park Summit Museum.   Beyond offering one of the finest views in the world, it also has interactive demos that describe the native American history of the region and a diorama that plays native sounds and offers an overview of the park’s ecosystems.  The perfect “80 degrees and sunny” weather made the experience that much better.

By Tuesday night, it was time to get to work.    Over the past few years, Dan has taken Denon and Doyle, which is known primarily by value-seeking brides as the go-to wedding entertainment company, to being a dominant force on the Bay Area’s Bar Mitzvah scene. Dan arranged for me to present an interactive  seminar to some of the D&D djs, emcees and dancers.  I moderated a round table q&a about typical challenges you face as an event director,  offered a few techniques on how to elevate the customer relationship management level before the celebration and then demonstrated three of the most effective interactive audience participation routines that my company, MMP, is currently offering it’s clients here on the east coast.

It was one of the nicest ‘venues’ I’ve ever presented in.  It was poolside at Brian & Sue Doyle’s magnificent home.   Their house was the first I’ve ever been to that had a real peach tree in the yard. Brian, Denon and Doyle’s founder, said that the tree only produces California-quality peaches for one week every year…  and guess who had perfect timing for the 2010 season?  (Honestly, it was the best peach I’ve ever had.)   After the presentation, Brian, Dan and I discussed the importance of starting off a Bar Mitzvah effectively with the the necessary interactive cocktail hour entertainment. When your guests are entertained by and enjoy the opening act, that enthusiasm and momentum carries over to the main event and stacks the deck in your favor for an unforgettable celebration.

Wednesday night was the highly anticipated 4th annual D&D DJ of the Year competition.  I can tell you as a former winner and current judge of the national competition held in Atlantic City every year, Dan and the crew from Denon and Doyle definitely know how to produce a first class show! From the LED uplighting and staging to the lazer light show and special effects on surround trussing, the audio/visual ambiance really took the competitors adrenaline level through the roof.   D&D gave out awards for the Best Dance, Best Game, Best Shtick, Dancer of the Year, DJ of the Year, and Emcee of the Year.

I was really impressed by the level of camaraderie as well as the level of talent. All of the competitors supported each others’ performances throughout the night.

Each of the D&D Emcees assembled a select crew of performers to be on their team and even came up with customized names and logos!  Kudos to everyone that participated and congratulations to the winners:

Best Dance: Solomon Dauber and the Mastermindz- Get Down Tonight

Best Game: Solomon Dauber and the Mastermindz-Picture This

Best Shtick: Mark Addington and the PuppetMasters- Dancefloor Volleyball 

Dancer of the Year: Ashley Castro from the Rockstars

DJ of the Year: Cameron Chatterton from the Rockstars

Emcee of the Year: Patrick McMichael from the Rockstars

On a side note, I sat at the judging table with Dan and renowned Event Designer, Lisa Feldman.  She is one of most highly sought-after celebration specialists on the west coast.  Not only was it a pleasure getting to meet her, she shared a story with me that really struck a cord.  As usual, the topic of health and wellness came up during our initial small talk.  Lisa, who has run several marathons, mentioned that she just recently ran another one a few weeks back.  But she only signed up for it the day before!   For those that don’t know, you have to be in ridiculously good shape to just decide to run 26.2 miles tomorrow. Anywho, Lisa ran it to help out a friend who was running  her first marathon.  Lisa normally finishes in the incredible 3 and1/2 hour time frame.  For this race, she stuck with her friend, who was having a tough day, and finished together in 5 and 1/2 hours.   You know you found a good friend when they’ll stick with you through the good times and through the challenges. Kudos to you, Lisa!   This running quote came to mind…

“You’re running on guts. On fumes. Your muscles twitch. You throw up. You’re delirious. But you keep running because there’s no way out of this hell you’re in, because there’s no way you’re not crossing the finish line. It’s a misery that non-runners don’t understand.” -Martine Costello

The day after the competition, Dan and I went for a nice little run up Brionnes. You know life is good when a great run is literally right outside your door. (The State Park entrance is right up the street from his house).   There were times when we were running along the scenic trails under the blue sky and warm yellow sun when it felt like we could have been filming the next commercial for Nike sneakers or something.

Speaking of Nike, later in the afternoon, Dan took me to the UFC gym to take a “High Octane” circuit training class with Nike’s own, Julie Fink .  It was both an incredible and humbling experience. Julie is the real deal.   She is gorgeous and can kick your ass!  We were doing various 30 to 90 second station challenges that didn’t allow for any weak body parts to be pampered or protected from an ego adjustment. *90 seconds of pushups, tricep dips or burpees sounds a lot more manageable than it actually is.  Trust me.

On Wednesday night, Brian graciously sent Dan and I to Flemings Steak House to debrief on the competition’s production, to do an overall evaluation of Denon & Doyle’s day-to-day business culture and to give specific performance evaluations for three of the company’s top performers. Based on the initial responses, I think my critiques and suggestions were well received and accepted with merit.

In my opinion, the reason why Denon and Doyle is so successful is because of three things; the founder of the company puts the right people in the right place, the general manager genuinely cares about his team’s continuing education and well being, and the D&D team really cares about their clients and their professional craft.

That’s a pretty rare combination these days.

Special thanks to Brian, Sue, Dan and the entire D&D crew for their courteous hospitality and friendship.

I wish the Denon and Doyle family continued success, health and happiness. -mp

Lauren and Jerome’s Wedding Reception at the Crystal Plaza: “It Was More Than I Could Ever Ask For”

If you have 400 people on your guest list, the Palazzo Ballroom at The Venetian or the The Westmount Country Club would be my initial suggestions for New Jersey venues that boast a modern-elegant flair and opulent decor. However, if you are planning a more intimate affair in the 125+ range and would like to celebrate in a Platinum Wedding- worthy ballroom with first class hospitality, The Crystal Plaza in Livingston, NJ. deserves your consideration.

Lauren and Jerome definitely made the right choice with regards to the venue and event professionals, but what really took this reception from ordinary to extraordinary was the way they chose to personalize their event. At their initial design session last year, I gave them a copy of The Best Wedding Reception… Ever! It features ways to make your once in a lifetime experience more fun, unique and unforgettable.  You’ll see from the candid video testimonial below that you’ll get to choose your own adjectives when it’s your turn.

The personalization highlights started in the cocktail hour with an endearing conversational presentation. Jerome and Lauren supplied us with 75 photos leading up to the reception so we could produce a photo montage.  Not only did the collection include plenty of Kodak-worthy images featuring the newlyweds, the 7 minute media clip also featured cameos by everyone on the guest list. The final version of the montage included 3 of their favorite songs and was given to Lauren & Jerome on dvd as a keepsake.  (The version we played during cocktails was looped and muted.  This way, their requested background music programming for the hour which was playing could be enjoyed without distraction…   more importantly, the guests didn’t have to hear the same three songs over and over for the hour. .. and  because the montage was playing in loop mode on an unobtrusive plasma screen, their guests could enjoy the photos at their leisure and convenience.) It was a wonderful way to instantly reconnect all of their guests by sparking sentimental memories and lively conversation.

Another highlight was the father daughter dance.  Since Lauren and her dad couldn’t choose between four of their favorite songs, we produced a custom audio mix that included all four tracks.  After several weeks of tweaks and fine-tuning, we came up with a version that made the once in a lifetime dance with her dad a moment she’ll never forget and one he’ll always remember fondly. In case you are curious, the final mix included specific clips from Tim McGraw’s My Little Girl, Van Morrison’s Have I Told You Lately, Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me, and Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight.  It was a great way to make what could have been a  traditionally ordinary moment …refreshingly extraordinary.

Jerome and Lauren made a lot of classy moves throughout the afternoon like  taking a few minutes after the cake cutting to thank all of their guests and playing  their parent’s wedding songs later in the reception.   The love and respect for their parents was also evident during the grand entrance introductions when all the guests cheered for Jerome’s dad, who was given the honor to serve as Best Man!

I think my favorite part of the wedding,  (besides everyone singing and clapping along to one of the coolest first dance songs), was seeing Jerome dance with his mom.  Mrs. Genarelli worked in the guidance office of Indian Hills High School where I was a student volunteer.  Over the four years, I can’t tell you how many times she told me about “my Jerome”… like any proud mother would adoringly tell people about their son.  And then there I was, nearly 20 years  later, watching her dance with him on his wedding day. Between Mrs. Genarelli and Lauren, Jerome should thank his lucky stars. 

Special thanks to Nella Mellace and Marco Chivarillotti from the Crystal Plaza for their hospitality and professionalism.  It’s always a pleasure when we have the opportunity to collaborate.  Kudos and appreciation also goes out to Scott Bush from Scott Photography for sharing his photos for this entry.  Like I always say… when your venue, photographer and entertainment can work well together and are at the top of their respective games, you can focus on your job as a VIP guest of honor… relaxing, taking it all in and having the time of your life.

5 Years, 3 Events, 1 Love: Arissa’s Triple Play Bat Mitzvah

It felt a little like working at the Make A Wish Foundation.  Not only did Arissa thank her parents for “hiring Marcello” during her toast to her sister back in 2005,  she also said, “I want Marcello to be the DJ at my Bat Mitzvah!”; which you can see from the photo, filled the room with laughter.

As we all  know, life moves pretty fast.   Three years later it was her brother Ethan’s turn.  And then finally, last Saturday night- 5 years later- it was Arissa’s night to shine.

From the interactive cocktail hour to the grand entrance to the last dance; the Gazda’s and their family and friends partied like rock stars. I truly believe that some people were put on this earth to celebrate life and to teach the world to sing.  Nancy, Ken, Ilana, Ethan and Arissa definitely make the list…  The Landmark was over-flowing with positive energy.

At one point in the opening dance set, we played the remix of One Love, by my friend, Nick Ditri.  He’s part of the platinum selling duo of uber-producers known as The Disco Fries. We had Arissa and a dance-floor full of guests doing the Jersey Shore fist pump and jumping up and down like it was a New Years Eve celebration in Times Square.  What a moment!

I was little concerned about having such a festive-frenzy so early in the event.  Really, it’s like.. where do you go from here?   Thankfully, it was a typical Gazda fiesta with limitless enthusiasm and joyful fervor. We experienced several similar peaks throughout the night; whether it was dancing to a Blend Brother’s remix of Don’t Stop Believing, playing Face the Cookie from the hit show Minute to Win It or singing along to the new friendship circle anthem, ‘Lean On Me’ from the Glee soundtrack… we were in perfect harmony from start to finish.

If you’ve got a minute, check out the video testimonial (below) that MMP Entertainment‘s production manager, Frank Di Giacomo,  captured at the end of the event on the “Frankie D Cam.” (Our future clients really enjoy seeing and hearing candid thoughts and opinions directly from other families who were once in their position; having to consider a significant investment in the entertainment for their event and wanting the peace of mind of knowing that they’re making the right choice.) Look out for more 21st century word-of-mouth video clips in our future articles.  I think you’ll agree that we made Arissa’s Bat Mitzvah dreams come true. She wasn’t shy with her feedback. 

Special thanks to Dee from the Landmark for her hospitality and professionalism.  Hugs and kisses to Nancy and Ken for their friendship, patronage and generosity.

Encore Gallery:

A Passion For Fashion- Marcello Recommends: FlirtyFinds.com

I had no idea how popular Big Buddha’s were until I interviewed Jamie Hoff and Beth Roy; former executives at Ralph Lauren and Tiffany & Co. respectively.   Truth be told, I had no idea that a Big Buddha was actually a handbag.

Being blessed with a stylistic je ne sais quoi is just one of the many reasons why Jamie and Beth own and operate a successful fashion-forward enterprise called Flirty Finds; a Bergen County, NJ based online company that offers chic couture, accessories and style advice to internet savvy tweens and women all over the country.

What sets the Flirty duo apart from all of the retailers and department stores is their expert ability to sift through the abundance of fashion fails being offered out there and hand-pick what is going to make you look great, feel good and not break the bank; a true fashionista trifecta.

So, if you can’t get to Milan, New York City, Tokyo, Rome or Paris anytime soon and you want to see what you should be wearing this season; just grab your credit card and visit flirtyfinds.com from the comfort of your own home.

*I asked Beth to share some of Flirty’s thoughts on e-commerce, life balance, customer service, fashion trends and what they’ve been up to lately; this is what she had to say…

How has your business changed since its inception?

“We came to this business partnership after 20 years of friendship, and had many years of business experience between us. When we launched our website almost 2 years ago, we were both brand new at e-commerce, and we have learned so much from the experience.  From the technology, to the marketing to buying and selling our products – we’ve been able to fine-tune our focus and strategies based on what works and what our customers want. We’ve evolved from a website with an email list basically consisting of our friends and family, to a strong, developing brand — we were even mentioned in People Stylewatch this month.”

Do you have any tips for other moms who are raising a family and running a business?

“The biggest challenge we’ve encountered has been not letting the business and our laptops intrude on our family lives too much. We love what we do so much, that if we could, I fear we would both work on the business around the clock. We both chose when we had kids to be home for them, and this business allows us to do that.  The challenge is limiting our work time so that our families remain the top priority.  Finding that balance is a challenge that we both work on every day.”

What is the hottest product for this season?

“The Big Buddha bag (the “bella” bag in blue) and it has been our hottest seller to date.  Bags and accessories in sorbet colors such as aqua, pink and yellow are the hot trends for spring.”

Are there any trends that you see on the horizon?

“Women are learning how to stretch their clothing budgets by buying the basic foundations, and using accessories to liven up and add interest to their looks.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money to create a look that is fresh, trendy and polished.”

What was the best business advice you ever got?

‘We both agree that the best advice we ever received was to do something you like and you will be successful.  Also, always stay focused on the customer and find ways to make their life easier.  Oh, and of course, the customer is always right.”

Who inspires you?

“Jamie is inspired by her husband, Mark and author/speaker Joel Osteen who both give great advice on controlling your own destiny.  I’m inspired by my girlfriends, including Jamie, many of whom are mom entrepreneurs too, and who provide endless support, inspiration and ideas.”

What are you reading?

“I’m reading Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.  A great book on leveraging the power of the social media to build your brand.  Jamie is currently reading The Help, one of my favorites.”

Which product has made your personal life easier?

“One of our products, the IsABelt, (an invisible belt) is one of those products that is so simple, yet so effective. Jamie loves her iphone and the Keurig Coffee Maker is one of my favorite inventions of all time.”

What are you listening to?

“I’m a political junkie so it’s talk radio for me and Jamie is a fan of the The Black Eyed Peas.”

What are you watching?

“Parenthood & Modern Family; the two best shows to come around in a long time.”

What are you surfing?

“Budget Fashionista, YouLookFab, Momgenerations and  StyleBakery.”

*Thank you for your time ladies, I wish you continued success and all of the health and happiness that life has to offer.

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