It's a Toddler's Party. How About a $75,000 Budget? In Los Angeles, children's birthday celebrations [View all]

It’s a Toddler’s Party. How About a $75,000 Budget?
In Los Angeles, children’s birthday celebrations have spiraled into mini-weddings.

One hundred people RSVP’d for William’s sixth birthday party, which was held at a Los Angeles park on a March afternoon. By 12:30 p.m., the fire station-themed event was in full swing, with energetic attendees trying on their own fire-hose backpacks and gleefully coasting down slides into a large custom ball pit, detailed with flames and the slogan “Let’s Get Fired Up.”

Preparation for the event had begun three months before when Sabrina Maldonado and Melissa Mueller of Stay Golden Design began working with William’s mother and 14 vendors to hammer out all the details.

--------

The ratcheting-up of expectations may have something to do with the pandemic. Parents were pent up for two years and emerged wanting to go big for their children’s milestones.

Then, of course, there’s Instagram. “Social media’s just doing the job of the school gossip,” said Joshua Castillo, a parenting consultant in Los Angeles. “There’s always been social media, it just used to be a person who found out how much something cost, maybe took a picture, and showed you the goody bag from the party.”

And it’s impossible to ignore the influence of the Kardashians, whose events introduced new standards for what it means to celebrate. “Around the time Kim had a party for her first child, and it was something that was featured in People Magazine, something shifted,” Ms. Zelken said. (“KidChella,” as that party was called, featured a Ferris wheel and an ill-advised American Indian headdress). “People had this drive to get to that same level, or close to it.”

At William’s 6th birthday party, a real fire truck showed up later.Credit...Alyssa Hunter Photography








https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/style/la-children-parties.html