Spillerman Hits Home Run with Baseball-Themed Party

Jesse Spillerman knocked it out of the park with his baseball-themed bar mitzvah celebration held over the weekend of March 25.

The bar mitzvah service was conducted at The Temple in Midtown under the supervision of Rabbi Loren Lapidus and Cantor Deborah Hartman.

Emme Spillerman, Ilyssa Klein, Jesse Spillerman, and Chad Spillerman at Jesse’s bar mitzvah party.

However, the real highlight, as most would assume, was the lavish shindig that followed.

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“I loved all of it…the Friday night dinner and the brunch, but, of course, the party was a blast and we had so much fun,” Jesse said. “I loved that my camp friends flew in from Florida to celebrate with me as well as many other family and friends coming from as far away as Amsterdam.”

Other special guests included Jesse’s closest friends since pre-school, who ushered his service, and a group of best friends from Blue Star sleepaway camp, which Jesse refers to as his “happy place.”

Jesse and his friends dance to the beat.

Jesse added that his favorite parts also included the grand entrance to his bar mitzvah party, dancing the Horah, and “just jumping around and dancing with friends.”

Jesse also shared about the lasting memories he will have from the weekend’s festivities.

“After all my years of Hebrew school, I was happy to finally become a bar mitzvah and to make my family proud and, of course, the party was amazing.”

Jesse is the son of Ilyssa Klein and Chad Spillerman. Ilyssa is an account manager with the Atlanta Jewish Times and Chad is a global account director with AT&T Business.

The party gathers to raise Jesse as part of the dancing.

“We were so proud of Jesse’s dedication to learning his Torah portion and how beautifully he did,” Ilyssa said. “We loved spending time with all of our family and friends for the entire weekend. During the party, Jesse’s jumping and energetic entrance into the party was epic and had us all laughing and cheering. What I will remember most about the party is seeing Jesse’s energy, enthusiasm, and pure joy…not only while he was lifted in the chair but while dancing and jumping around with his friends.”

As an avid baseball fan, Jesse said choosing a theme for the party was a breeze.

“I love playing baseball but, also, I’m a big [Atlanta] Braves fan and I love going to games and even to spring training. I also wanted it to be colorful and for everything to glow.”

The table décor featured vibrant, colorful graffiti art, per Jesse’s request.

Mom, Ilyssa, also discussed Jesse’s plans for the party’s theme.

“Marci Miller did such a spectacular job and seeing the room for the first time just blew me away,” Ilyssa said. “It was like walking into a fantasy land. Everything was colorful and neon, the room just glowed. The centerpieces were spectacular…tall, glowing neon, all baseball with his graffiti logo tied in. There wasn’t a detail missed, even the servers had on graffiti ties.”

Event décor included: place cards that were fashioned into baseball cards – each table card featured a photo of Jesse, at various ages, playing baseball; centerpieces featuring Lucite boxes with glowing baseball equipment; neon bats and balls as well as graffiti-laced bats; the kids bar was glowing, the adult bar sported a grass wall behind it with a neon “Jesse” sign hanging; the couches were black with neon pillows featuring Jesse’s name logo along with other graffiti pillows; and so much more glowing goodness.

Jesse and Emme sharing a loving moment.

As they frolicked, the kids dined on Caesar salad, pizza in mini-pizza boxes, sliders, chicken fingers and fries, all served on metal trays featuring Jessie’s logo.

The adults enjoyed several dining options, including: a Mediterranean salmon station served with fingerling potatoes, vegetable skewers, hummus, and pita; an Asian station with take-out containers of sesame chicken with fried rice, Mongolian beef with fried rice, and egg rolls; and a “warm-it-up” bowl station with grilled chicken, quinoa, beets, avocado, and various veggies.

Dessert featured baseball cakepops, baseball pretzels with a little, flat white chocolate baseball disk attached, white chocolate-covered Oreos, again, designed as baseballs. Shot glass desserts included key lime pie, banana pudding, chocolate mousse, and strawberry shortcake, as well as an ice cream bar.

The weekend, however, wasn’t all about fun and games at the party as Jesse had to study his tuchus off to prepare for his Torah portion.

“The biggest challenge would be learning the Torah portion, but it wasn’t as challenging as I initially thought it would be. I had an incredible tutor, Keith Nash, from The Temple, and I practiced every day…and my father helped me with it.”

For Ilyssa, a proud mom, Jesse’s performance at the service provided moments that she will cherish forever.

The family will keep lasting memories from Jesse’s bar mitzvah weekend.

“The service was warm, emotional and so special,” she said. “Though he was nervous for the service leading up to the bar mitzvah, he was relaxed, read flawlessly and just did an incredible job. We were so proud of him,” adding that Jesse wore his father’s tallit while Chad wore the tallit of his father, who had passed.

For his mitzvah project, because of his love of baseball, Jesse volunteered for Christopher League, which is a baseball league run by the Northside Youth Organization for children with special needs. Jesse said volunteering with Christopher League made him feel “really good to assist the kids and to help them experience the same joy he feels when he plays the game.”

Event Vendors

Party Planner & Decor: Marci Miller, The Perfect Party
Photographer: Steven Dewberry
Photo Booth: Button It UP
Caterer: Zest
DJ: Espuete (Daniel)
Videographer: Q&U Videography
Logo: Jennifer Leitman
Graffiti Artist: Next Level Airbrush
Hair: Raina from Bristle and Bride
Make-up: Theresa Stone
Mother’s Dress: from Susan Lee
Invitations: Robin Zusmann of Paper Matters