I recently  had the pleasure of photographing Rachel Freedman’s bat mitzvah at the beautiful Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach.  The event was designed and coordinated by Mindy Weiss Events, who transformed the venue into an elegant yet modern underwater theme that catered to both the young and older generations present. It was the perfect mix of age groups and I had a great time photographing Rachel’s family as they let loose alongside her energetic friends.  Up Next…Our “highlights” video and slide show!

Rachel looking quite the grown-up as she gets glammed up at the Pelican Hill Spa for her party:

Before the festivities, the ceremony was at the Congregation Shir Ha-Maalot in Irvine:

The boys had fun too.

Mr. Freedman was hilarious!

So it rained that day and we wanted to shoot on the grounds of Pelican Hill, but here’s Rachel Rockin it for the camera!  Her Dress is amazing!

Rachel stuck it out in the cold so we could create some images like these,  I don’t think she’ll regret it seeing how good she looks here!

I love how Rachel’s dress matched the theme!

Rachel making her grand entrance

Pelican Hills ballroom looked off the charts that night!  This is perfectly elegant and yet fun thanks to Mindy Weiss!

I Love to see kids at this age rockin it!  I think the kid in me wants to put my camera down and rock out with them. I love this photo! Let’s call it “Mitzvah Mayhem”

Who said a bat mitzvah couldn’t be fun for the adults? Check out Rachel’s parents, Jeanette and Michael, taking over the stage!

Being a former lead singer of a band, I’m quite the self-proclaimed critic for live music events .  The James Gang Encore band BLEW ME AWAY (they totally nailed a cover of ACDC’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’)! They were hands down the most incredible live band and MC I’ve ever seen!

Congratulations, Rachel!