First of all let me say to anyone in the UK. Yes, we were called over various events concerning Beckhams etc. We neither book through Agencies nor work alongside other children's entertainers. Nor will we sign confidentiality clauses. So for any future "Rooney" or similar events, be our guest

Now, what is the least people spend on parties we've observed? A weekday one-hour session with us at very low cost, held at home, with just a few kids attending, a few home made cakes, sandwiches and crisps and a home made Birthday Cake I guess. Usually quite delightful affairs with lots of kisses and waves at the door as we leave.

The most I've seen spent was on a 5 year old's party from an exclusive all boys Prep School, at a venue in Cheshire UK, 7 minutes from us called Mottram Hall Hotel. I reckon they spent the best part of 1500 GBP pounds ($2500+) in just two hours. The cost of us to entertain, the cost of the room hire, the cost of food both for the children and adults, the cost of a champagne reception for the adults, the cost of highest possible quality foil helium balloons for each child, the cost of conventional helium balloon room decoration, the cost of quite astoundingly expensive party loot bags for the kids.

Of course both the above examples were nice, and folks spend their cash just as they wish . . . but I don't believe the kids at the big budget party actually would have noted any difference to those at a tiny houseparty, do you? Children have different thought processes to adults. I know that if my parents when I was a kid could have afforded to have an hour at our house in Heaton Norris with Mr and Mrs Woods (long deceased well known entertainers), I would still cherish the memory all these years later.

Of course I guess we've all taken part in 20000 GBP ($36000) weddings and suchlike, but I refer to an individual child's Birthday here.

Tony

The most I saw spent was a one year old party, where the father, a nightclub boss, spent over 5,000 to impress his Russian inlaws. What a tosser. I supplied over a thousand euros of entertainment (and took a tidy profit). The caterers had to be paid, and the food was good. The decoration was lavish. Then there was the DJ and the adult entertainment, the printing of invitations and posers (A0 size), etc. We did the figures afterwards and it came over 5,000. And I doubt that anyone was more entertained than they would have been with a small party in the house.

Your typo. where you put "posers" instead of "posters" Tony is so relevant Yep, these big do's are not really for the kids, - they are to impress others

This one comes up periodically. Was it last year The Daily Telegraph ran a feature on children's parties and came up with a startling figure as an average of something between £2000 and £3000 based on entertainers around £200 per hour, venues at several hundred plus food, goodie bags at £15 to £20 each, additional 'stunt' entertainment - lookalike or dressed figure and a disco.

The thing made sense if the individual fees were correct but it was being presented as the norm and it certainly wasn't.

There has been a TV programme earlier this year on birthday parties and the spend here was £15000 plus. They looked at various over-the-top families who had petting farms brought in, magicians, clowns and discos and gave the child a motorbike, there were fireworks and unlimited booze for unlimited guests, limousines to take the children to the venue so it all adds up. The angle was how crazy some people can be.

I did one last year in Surrey where there was full security on the electronic gates, several marquees in the grounds, full catering, proper fair rides plus inflatables, pony rides, a miniature railway all around the grounds, one of the Thomas the Tank Engines came in on a low loader and was taken off onto a short stretch of track. The children were all over it but it wasn't in steam because of Health & Safety considerations. Didn't seem to bother the children.

It was a party for a boy of aged 8 who loved railways and he was a nice lad and his sister - who was about 10 - was lovely. I think the ponies were there for her. They were very nice, very, very rich people. And their guests were equally rich. And friendly.

There was really too much going on. The helicopter rides were popular but depleted all our audiences. I did two shows all day.

There were two bands plus a roving jazz band, several good circus acts in a circus tent that was a bit too big for the audience and all told something around 120/130 guests. Probably about 40 children. They had full cooked lunch with so many options, afternoon tea later, a free champagne bar all day and every guest arrived chauffeur driven. The chauffeurs had their own place to relax and eat. But no alcohol! We had our own place too and there was a row of opened champagne bottles along the table. Help yourself! We did!! It was all top marque - Veuve Cliquot. And we had the same choice of the range of food. I guess that little lot had to have cost something around £25,000 and possibly more.

My personal highest ever was at The Grosvenor on Park Lane many years ago where I was assured the Ninja Turtles who were top of the bill had flown in specially from America. As the film was running in London I couldn't say but who knows. There were a lot of people there and I was just one of many entertainers. There was an at that time well known group playing in one of the rooms somewhere - the host was occupying a whole floor and living there, coming from the Middle East. The agent reckoned the budget was around £250,000 and I can believe it though I don't know what that covered. I understand every parent received a gold Rolex watch.

Slightly galling when I recall how hard they screwed the budget for me!

I guess I've attended a few of the higher-end events, though not quite in the league Tony mentioned. For the "bread-and-butter" end of the market, I'd say in my area, people expect to pay anything between £50-£300 for an entertainer. Most parties I attend probably average around a £300 spend total, and the large part of that's my fee. But, I provide the whole party, so they just find a venue, and provide the food. I have links to party website suppliers, though, and sometimes, the client will spend more on a fancy cake (frequently they cost over £50), decorations (my clients all receive a 20% discount at the "Pirate Party Store"), special tables, stools and tableware all in party theme (I have a link to a local supplier of these), and often bouncy castle, face painter and adventure playground, ice cream van and the house has a big indoor swimming pool, so all the kids are in there for almost the entire party anyway.
I once ran a full 2-hour "deluxe" party, and as I was packing up, a fire engine arrived. The mother had booked a "Fire Engine Fun" party back-to-back with mine! I hastily left, but not before she admitted that she'd spent over £1000 on the event. As I left, I watched the Fire Engine pulling out of the car park, with 6 kids on board. They were off for a 20-minute trip, with a stop-off to try out the hoses, etc. Then, the next 6 kids would go...and so on, for the next 2 hours. Meanwhile, the mother was left in the hall will the 24 kids who WEREN'T aboard the fire engine! I bet she had fun.
:)

Only 6 kids got to go? Geez, that must've been awkward for the other 24!

The first kids' show I ever did was also the biggest spender. The coorporate b igwig at the palce where I did table-hopping asked me to do his girlfreind's daughter's birthday, and when I arrived I found that he had rented the entire civic theatre lobby and surrounding park for the day, and there were:

3 costumed characters (Dora, Strawberry shortcake, and that dinosaur from the wiggles), 2 jugglers, a face painter, a hair-wrap artist, a twister, a woman who had a sort of puppet theatre along with masks that she wore on her person, a menagere of over 2 dozen animals from the zoo, 2 stiltwalkers, a pony-ride, a maze/bouncecastle, and another magician besides myself. Total cost: Over $15'000. I guess he really liked that gal & was out to impress her.