A milestone to remember
Capture every mazel tov
Family and friends scan a QR code to record their blessings, send photos and write a few words of pride. Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive a first film of the whole simcha, then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Try it like a guest: see the demo →
What is a bar or bat mitzvah video guest book?
A bar or bat mitzvah video guest book is a QR code that family and friends scan with their phone to leave a blessing for the child instead of signing a board. With Video Message, each guest can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute, send photos several at a time and write a note signed with their first name, in the browser with no app and no account. Relatives abroad use the same link from home, before, during or after the celebration, and at the party photos can play as a live slideshow on a screen. Within 24 hours after the collection closes the family receives a first film of the video messages, then builds a personalized film with the photos and notes and downloads every file. It costs $49 for the event, whatever the size of the guest list.
Picture it
After the service
Once the aliyah is over and the nerves have gone, relatives will say things they could not have said beforehand. Recording after rather than before tends to produce the messages families keep.
At the party
Between the candle lighting and the dancing there is a long stretch where guests are simply at their tables. A code there gives the room something to do that is not queuing at the photo booth.
From relatives abroad
Few celebrations have a guest list as scattered as this one. Cousins in another country, an elderly relative who cannot fly, a family branch that never made the trip: the same link reaches all of them.
A keepsake forever
A thirteen-year-old will not watch this film for years. They will find it at twenty-five, and hear great-uncles and grandparents talking about who they were on that day.
How it works
Place the QR code
On the tables, the sign-in board, or the party favors.
Guests scan & record
No app to install. They record a blessing, send photos or write a note straight from their phone.
Receive your films
Within 24 hours after the collection closes you receive your first film, plus each individual video. Then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes.
Beyond the blessings: photos, a slideshow, two films
A simcha brings three or four generations into one room. The same QR code gathers what each of them brings.
Generations in one album
Grandparents send photos of their own bar mitzvah or of the family decades ago; cousins send the ones from the dance floor. Several at a time, straight from each phone.
The slideshow during the party
Once the service is over, open the slideshow link on a screen in the hall. Photos appear as guests send them, automatically or after you approve each one, so nothing reaches the screen you did not want there.
A first film, then your own
The blessings become a first film within 24 hours after the collection closes. Then you build a personalized film with the photos and notes, choosing the order, the music, the color look, the transitions and the opening and closing text.
For the family far away
Share the films by link with the relatives who could not fly in. Download every photo and video as ZIP files and the notes as a PDF message book. Files are kept for 3 months after your first film, and we email you a reminder before they are deleted.
Collecting blessings around a simcha
Two moments, two very different films
A bar or bat mitzvah has two halves that could not be less alike. The service is formal and emotional, and the messages recorded around it come mostly from adults who have just watched a child do something difficult in front of a room.
The party is loud, late and full of teenagers. Those clips are shorter, funnier and recorded in groups.
You do not have to choose. The same code works at both, and the mix is what makes the finished film feel like the whole day rather than one half of it. Deciding early matters only because it determines whether the code goes on the invitation or only on the tables.
The guest list is the whole point
Few celebrations gather a family this widely scattered. There is usually a branch abroad, a great-aunt who no longer travels, and cousins nobody has seen since the last simcha.
Sending the link with the invitation lets the ones who cannot come record anyway. In the finished film their message sits between two guests who were in the room, and in twenty years nobody watching will know the difference.
What to ask people to say
Without a prompt, most guests say mazel tov and stop. It is warm and it is over in four seconds.
Ask for something only that person can give. “What were you doing at thirteen?” “What do you want him to know at twenty-five?” “Tell her about her grandfather.” Older relatives in particular often want to pass something on and have no natural occasion to do it.
The messages that matter later are the ones addressed to the adult rather than the child.
Getting a room of teenagers to take part
The adults will record if asked once. The friends will record if it is easy, visible, and not supervised.
Put a code on the tables where the young guests are sitting rather than only at the entrance, and have the DJ or MC mention it once during the party. They will do it in groups, they will be loud, and those clips are usually the ones the family rewatches most.
What you end up with
The photographer captures how the day looked. Nothing else captures how people sounded, which is what fades first.
You receive a first film within 24 hours after the collection closes, plus every individual message, then a personalized film you put together with the photos and notes. Download everything to your own storage within the 3 months your files are kept, as you would with any online service, because this is one of the few files a family genuinely keeps for decades.
When to set up & how to share
When to activate your space
Set up your space about 2 weeks before: add your child’s name, choose joyful or proud music, and print your QR code.
Spread the QR code as widely as you can
- ✓Place the QR code on every table and the sign-in board.
- ✓Add it to the invitation and any printed program.
- ✓Send the QR code and link to relatives through WhatsApp, a private family group, or SMS so those abroad can send a blessing, a video or family photos from home.
- ✓Ask the DJ or MC to invite guests to record during the party.
Put it on your signage and send the guest link privately to your guest list (WhatsApp, group chats, SMS), before, during and after the event, so even the people who can’t be there in person add a video, photos or a note.
What you receive
Made for your event
Simple pricing
Digital QR code
One event, delivered instantly, everything included
$49
or 3 for $99, for 3 separate events
- ✓ Videos, photos and written notes
- ✓ Live photo slideshow
- ✓ Two films, the album and the message book
- ✓ No app and no limit on guests
Planning multiple events or buying for clients? See pro pricing →
Questions
Can family abroad contribute?
Yes. Share the link and relatives anywhere can record a blessing from their phone. Their message sits in the finished film alongside guests who attended.
Some of our guests are older. Will they manage it?
Most do, because there is nothing to install and nothing to sign into: the camera opens as soon as they scan. Where it helps is to have someone younger nearby for the first couple of people, after which the rest of the table follows.
When is the best moment to have guests record?
After the service rather than before. The nerves are gone, the moment has happened, and people say things they could not have said an hour earlier.
What should we ask guests to say?
Give one question rather than leaving it open. “What do you want him to know at twenty-five?” or “what were you doing at thirteen?” gets a real answer, where an open invitation gets forty people saying mazel tov.
How do we get our child’s friends to record?
Put a code on the tables where the young guests are sitting, not only at the entrance, and ask the DJ or MC to mention it once. They tend to record in groups, and those clips are often the family’s favourites.
What music can we choose?
Joyful and uplifting, or proud and cinematic. You pick the mood when you set up your space, and you can change it before the collection closes. For your personalized film you also choose the color look, the transitions and your own opening and closing text.
Do guests need to install anything?
No. They scan the code, the recording page opens in their browser, and they record. No app, no account, no sign-up.
How long can each message be?
Each guest can record up to 3 videos of up to one minute, which is enough for a blessing and a short story. They can also send photos and write a note.
What do we receive?
A first film made from the video messages, delivered within 24 hours after the collection closes, plus every individual video to download and keep. Then a personalized film with the photos and notes, every photo and video as ZIP files, and the notes as a PDF message book.
Can photos play on a screen at the party?
Yes. Open your slideshow link on a screen or projector with a web browser and an internet connection, and guests’ photos appear as they send them, automatically or after you approve each one. If your family does not use phones during the service, keep the code and the slideshow for the party.
Can relatives send old family photos?
Yes. Guests send whatever is on their phone, recent or scanned, several at a time. A grandparent’s photo of their own bar mitzvah, or of the family decades ago, sits in the album next to the pictures from the day and can go into your personalized film.
Does this work outside the United States?
Yes, anywhere in the world. Nothing ships to you: your QR code and guest link arrive by email the moment you pay, and your guests take part in their phone’s browser. It works the same in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, across Europe and anywhere else. This page shows US dollars; we also have pricing pages in pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs and euros, and you pay in the currency of the page you buy from.
What language is it in?
Each event runs in the language you choose: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German or Portuguese. The guest page, your dashboard and the wording in your films follow that language. Your guests can speak or write in whatever language they like; nothing is transcribed or translated, so each message stays exactly as they recorded it.
Can we collect for longer?
Yes. Guests take part before, during and after your event, from the moment you share the link. You set the closing date, a few days after the event if you like, and can move it from your dashboard.