Arbitrating with Bar or Bat Mitzvah or Wedding Family Decision Makers is an Art!
I am an arbitrator as well as a negotiator!!!
Many times I have a Bar Mitzvah boy or Bat Mitzvah girl, and their parent(s) in my showroom. The child wants something that the parent doesn’t want them to have. Or in the case of a wedding the bride and groom, as well as other family members, cannot agree on details.
It might be an invitation that is too “glitzy” or beyond their budget; or a centerpiece theme that the family members cannot agree, or deciding if there should be balloons or not on the centerpiece. At times a heated discussion pursues and I have to step in and suggest a compromise. Maybe what the Bat Mitzvah girl likes about the invitation is the glitter, but it has several layers of paper, making it more expensive. I suggest an invitation with less layers, but still with glitter. The parent is happy because it costs less and the Bat Mitzvah girl gets the glitter that she wants. Both mom and daughter leave my showroom still speaking to each other!!!
I once had a Bar Mitzvah boy in my showroom and he wanted a football centerpiece and his mom wanted to have a basket with food that could later be donated to a charity. Neither one seemed to want to give in to the other. I suggested a compromise. I made a centerpiece with a gift basket on the bottom of the centerpiece with food in the basket, that would later be donated to a charity, and a tall flexible tube coming out of the basket. On top of the flexible tube was another layer with a football goal post and pennant of a football team on the goal post. Both the mom and the Bar Mitzvah boy were extremely happy….as was I.