Jay's Barmitzvah - Hilton Suite, Prestwich

Jay’s barmitzvah party was honestly one of the most fun I’ve ever photographed.

I had missed out on capturing his older brother’s barmitzvah celebrations a few years ago due to it clashing with my youngest brother’s wedding, so I felt I had some making-up to do.

And having photographed so many of their friends’ bar/batmitzvah celebrations, my expectations were suitably high, but to say they were exceeded and then some would be an understatement.

My weekend actually began on the Friday, photographing the family at their home in Prestwich before heading over to Heathlands Village for a few more family photographs before Shabbat came in.

But the main event was on the Saturday night, at one of my most frequented venues, the Hilton Suite, and what a night it was!

With the barmitzvah boy carried into the room on the shoulders of his older brother and two friends, amidst a storm of confetti, as soon as the music turned up the action lifted several notches.

There’s nothing better for me as the photographer than when everyone is having such a good time that I am barely noticed, meaning I can just snap away capturing the frenetic action around me and catching lots of great reactions and expressions.

Special mention also to Jay’s grandpa, Adrian, ever-present in the centre of all the chaos, offering some kind of direction to those paying attention….I’d say I hope I have his energy when I’m his age, but in truth I wish I had it now!

The speeches were all highly amusing – even if there was a bit of heckling by Jay’s dad – and we were treated to an hilarious song by Jay’s friends.

But the stand-out performance – actually, the only ‘performance’ as such, but still – was when Jay, his siblings and dad all took to the dancefloor to perform an impressive display of dancing and general athleticism (with Jay’s dad suffering through a sprained ankle from an earlier bout of dancefloor skipping, no less!).

I should also say….I love lazers, and every party should have them! There, I said it.

And another special mention to Jonny Cocktail and his team of lively bar staff….not just providing the best drinks, but bringing a genuine sense of fun to the proceedings too.

But really, when the atmosphere is so electric the entire evening, and everyone in attendance is just having such a great time, you can be sure there are lots of memories to be taken with.

Another huge, huge congrats to Jay and all the family, and here for your viewing pleasure is but a small selection of my images from the night: