I was channel surfing tonight and came across a program on TLC called "Outrageous Childrens Parties". The program documented the planning and execution of a Princess Party for a six year old girl. Even though I was pretty sure I'd find the whole thing ridiculous, I watched any way. You know, kind of like a train wreck. It was beyond ridiculous. It was appalling.
The birthday girl was the youngest in a family of 3 children. An older brother and sister were in their teens. There was a scene at the dinner table where Mom is telling the family about her grand plans for this once in a lifetime experience that she wants to capture for her darling little girl - who just happened to be standing on her chair dancing, posing, prancing and out of control. There was much eye rolling by the older kids. Her brother even said to his mom "She's only six! For heaven's sake.". Her father seemed to be a complete doormat and said little when his wife told him that the party budget was $15,000 or when she had him put on a king costume, complete with wig, for the party. There was a scene where he was walking in costume at the party saying "I'm broke." Indeed.
The budget quickly spiraled out of control when Mom rented a reception center to the tune of $24,000. Mom bought her little darling a princess dress that cost $750. Invitations for the 150 guests cost $2000. A tiered birthday cake cost $2400. The rental on a princess coach was around $1500, I think. Mom rented period costumes for all the guests and took the birthday girl, her daughter and grandma to a spa for pampering before the party. There were hired dancers as well. The final tab was over $34,000. Oh, and also Mom hired a party planner to help coordinate everything. While Mom, birthday girl, the party planner made visits to the venue, cake decorator and other places, the birthday girl was bratty and demanding. I wanted to grab little Gracie and give her a spanking. From the look on the faces of some of the business owners, they were thinking the same thing.
As I'm watching this, I'm thinking "in this economy, who has that kind of money for a kid's birthday. It must be a family in New York or Beverly Hills." Well, it became apparent by shots in the family home, backgrounds, and the area code on the front of an advertisement shown that the family lived in Utah and were LDS, as well.
This mother needs a serious reality check. With the standard now set, this little princess is going to expect even more when the really, big, wedding day comes along. Will her Mom be able to pull off that big day? Only if she hasn't bankrupted her husband with all the once in a lifetime birthday parties she'll have to organize between now and then.
Heaven help the poor young man who ends up marrying little Gracie.
2 comments:
Even if you had that kind of money, why spend it in such a crazy way? So Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey doesn't cut it anymore, I guess.
This is simply obscene, when you consider how much good could have been done with that much money.
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