The following are some suggestions for mitzvot, which you can do during your reception:

You can have a tree planted in Israel in honor of each of your guests or each table of guests through various organizations. Ask your rabbi which group they donate to for planting trees.

You could find a way to incorporate mitzvot into the games you and the other kids play. For example, everyone could bring some clothes to donate, which they could match together and have relay races with.

Another way to incorporate mitzvot that a friend did was to hold a murder mystery.  In her mystery, the victim was supposed to be on her way to a homeless shelter, so she asked all her guests to bring sandwiches and canned foods.  After the reception, she delivered these to a real homeless shelter near her home.

You can ask guests to bring food, baby materials, canned foods, etc. For more detail, refer to my section on mitzvot to do before the event and what to ask guests to bring in the invitation.

You can cut out part of the meal or have the reception in the afternoon without dinner and contribute all of the money saved by doing this to Mazon or other organizations such as local homeless shelters. To find out more about Mazon, call 310-442-0020.

Instead of flower centerpieces, you can do several things. You can contribute the saved money to Tzedakah. You can make a centerpiece out of books, and donate them to organizations such as Headstart. You can have cans of food, which are to be later donated to an agency or shelter to be given to the hungry. You can find a way to arrange gloves, hats, and mittens into centerpieces which look like flowers. There are listings of charities in your local Yellow Pages under Social & Human Services.

You could also hold a Tzedakah fair, where each table represents a different charity, with information on the charities and ways to contribute. For information on Tzedakah fairs, contact bigabba@aol.com.

Instead of a party for your friends, or after your party, you and your friends could go and provide services to your community. You could help repaint an older synagogue. You could entertain people in retirement homes, disabled children, or sick people in hospitals. There are many community service projects you can find and provide by contacting your local UJA

You should donate your leftover food to various agencies. The Good Samaritan Law on food donations in New York protects people from being sued when donating 'apparently wholesome food' to non-profit organizations for distribution to needy persons. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (signed by President Clinton in 1996) provides similar protection.

You could inform your guests of what kinds of Mitzvot you are doing by handing out sheets of paper explaining your mitzvot or talking about them.