So you’ve got all the big elements of your Bar Mitzvah planned out. The date is set and the venue is sorted. All the guests have been asked to save the date and you’ve chosen your caterer. Next you can plan all the exciting details to have the best Bar Mitzvah party and perfect Bar Mitzvah gifts. With Patchwork you can ensure it’s a one of a kind event. A party that reflects your son’s personality and gets everyone excited for the big day.
How can Patchwork help us plan our Bar Mitzvah celebration?
The Patchwork platform is a totally flexible party planning tool. Patchwork allows you to collect gift money from your friends and family. You can collate offers of help for aspects of the Bar Mitzvah party.
The best way to appreciate Patchwork is to see it in action. Check out an example of a Bar Mitzvah gift page. It’s a fully functioning Bar Mitzvah mood board. It acts as a “save the date” for your guests and sets the tone for the whole party! The simple stylish design allows you to choose your own colour scheme. You can upload your own images, so you can really show your child’s personality and reflect your party theme.
What kind of things can I add to my Bar Mitzvah Patchwork?
The short answer is – anything you like! Patchwork is a visual and engaging platform that shows your family and friends the ways that they can help make your party amazing. From sending over a photo of you for your photo montage, to contributing cash towards a Bar Mitzvah gift that’s really wanted.
We all know the struggle of searching high and low for that perfect gift for the Bar Mitzvah boy. Conversely we’ve all handed cash over as a gift and then worried that it’ll reach the recipient securely. Or wondered what on earth it will be spent on! With Patchwork you can take all the stress and uncertainty away from your friends and family. You can be clear about the things you’d love, and making it super easy for them to contribute.
Inviting friends and family to gift in a way that’s meaningful, safe and fun.
You can add patches to your Patchwork Bar Mitzvah page showing your guests the things you’d love to receive. Guests send gift money securely through the site. It’s then up to you to choose how you’d like to spend or save the money received.
For example, your son might have a hobby that he’d like to spend some money on. Gaming? Art? Photography? Music? Add a patch to represent a contribution to some equipment or some lessons and allow friends to help him fund it. Maybe he’d like to save some of his Bar Mitzvah gift money for when he’s older? College or University fund maybe? Or plans for travel in the future? You can add a patch to allow guests to contribute towards this. You can even add a patch for a charitable donation, allowing guests to chip in to a good cause.
Once all the gift money has been collected, your son can donate to the charities of his choice. Or he can put some money away for savings and treat himself to a few things too!
Saving time, resources and the planet.
Using Patchwork to ask for the things you’d really appreciate is good for people and planet! With everyone being so pressed for time not having to shop around for gifts makes everyone’s life easier. It also solves the problem of being gifted things that – whilst well-meaning – might not be needed or wanted. Sadly those gifts end up at the back of a cupboard. It’s kinder to the planet and our finite resources to let people know what you’d like to be gifted. Together we can all reduce the amount of stuff going to landfill.
Other kinds of Bar Mitzvah gifts – time and skills!
Not all gifts have to be wrapped up or cost money. There are lots of other ways for your friends and family to get involved in your celebration and gift you their time and skills. Using Patchwork, you can ask people to send over any photos they have of you, so you can display them on the night or add them to a special album.
You can ask friends and family if they’d volunteer to help decorate the venue the day before; or if anyone is a master baker and would offer to make some delicious cakes to share! Or perhaps they’d like to pledge to take your son out for a day, or invite him for a sleepover and pizza? Asking for non-financial gifts is a lovely way to make everyone feel involved and connected to your special day. It also means that even those on a small budget can make a really meaningful contribution.
How do we keep track of who is doing what?
Every time someone contributes to your Patchwork – whether it’s sending a cash gift, or volunteering to help in some way – you will receive an email notification listing exactly what they are funding, doing, or making. You will also be able to see all the activity at a glance in your Patchwork account. Even better – once the event is over, and all gifts and contributions have been received, you can contact your guests individually via your Patchwork account to thank them. You can even upload photos to send too – then they can really see how happy they made you!
Bar Mitzvah cash gifts direct to you.
When you collect gift money for your Bar Mitzvah with Patchwork it’s yours to spend, save, invest or donate straight away. We don’t hold your money; instead it’s sent direct to your PayPal account or your bank account via Stripe. This way it’s secure and available to you at all times. We’ve also found that when people can see where their gift money is going they feel happier. They are more satisfied with the experience of gift giving and they are likely to be more generous too.
Ready to start your Patchwork?
You don’t need to sign up to start using Patchwork. It’s also completely free to set up your page – so go and have a play! We’ve got loads of easy to customise templates that you can edit. Simply add your personal details, swap out any images you want to, and edit the text to reflect your event. Then publish your page (make it live) by linking to your PayPal or bank account.
Next, you’ll be prompted to create your own url. You can easily share this with your guests so that they will arrive on your page immediately. Guests don’t need to sign up to access your page or to gift via Patchwork. It’s fun and easy to use and over 90,000 people and counting love using Patchwork!
So that’s it from us – enjoy using Patchwork! Please do drop us a line if you have any questions and let us know how your event goes. We’d love to hear from you so do get in touch at hello@patchworkit.com