I’ll be photographing Brian’s Bar Mitzvah later this spring, but his family wanted some photos of him prior to the big day! On what turned out to be the last nice day in November, we met up in St. Paul for a quick photo session. He’s such a natural in front of the camera ~ I can’t wait to work with him again!
Back in June, I had the honor to photograph Hannah’s Bat Mitzvah ceremony at Temple Israel and party at the fabulous Five Event Center. I was excited to photograph this Bat Mitzvah in particular for two reasons. First, I’m a member at Temple Israel, so it was nice to have an event on my home turf. And second, because it is a reform synagogue, I would be allowed to photograph the actual ceremony, at least from the balcony.
We also took some formal family photos the day before the ceremony.
And Hannah rehearsed her Torah portion:
On the day of her Bat Mitzvah, Hannah wore a Tallit that had been in her mother’s family for generations. Her grandfather passed it down with pride: 
Hannah did such a great job! And then it was off to Five to celebrate.
The food, from D’amico, and the cake from Queen of Cakes, were just gorgeous.
Mazel tov, Hannah! Thank you for letting me be part of your Bat Mitzvah!
I had the honor of photographing the B’nai Mitzvah of twins Faye and Ben in early June. The ceremony was held at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The reception was held in Minneapolis at the lovely Cafe Lurcat. They had two caricature arts on hand to draw fantastic portraits for all the guests. It was a big hit!
We took advantage of the perfect summer evening and took extended family portraits across the street in Loring Park.
The DJ kept all the kids dancing in the upstairs of Cafe Lurcat all night:
Everyone gathered to watch a super cute slideshow of family photos:
The night ended with a dance of the Hora:
Mazel tov, Faye & Ben! It was an honor to join in your celebration.
Back in March I had the privilege of photographing Brandon’s Bar Mitzvah festivities. We took a few family portraits at Temple of Aaron in Saint Paul. Here’s Brandon with his grandfathers and with his brothers.
Here’s Brandon goofing around with the Cantor. And of course, a picture of the whole family.
Then on Saturday, there was a fabulous celebration at NBA City, downtown Minneapolis. Brandon’s a huge sports fan, as you can see from the decorations!
The kids enjoyed playing all of the games:
And the DJs kept the dance floor hopping all night!
Mazel tov, Brandon! See the video highlights of your party on Facebook and the rest of your pictures here!
Back at the end of February, I photographed Jesse’s Bar Mitzvah. We took pictures during his rehearsal at the Beth Jacob Synagogue in Mendota Heights. 
The party was held at the lovely 317 Rice Park, which was all decked out in shades of blue.
The food was beautiful, especially the desserts ~ a frost-your-own cupcake bar and beautiful chocolate covered marshmallows and strawberries:
And throughout the night, there was very lively dancing.
Mazel tov, Jesse!
