From themed parties and award-winning entertainers to baby stylists and postpartum photo shoots, the glitterati can go all out for their little ones. Here’s a glimpse inside the haute-monde parenting world
LUCY ROBINSON
Throwing the ultimate birthday bash
Since starting GOPR & Events a decade ago, Stephanie Ledigo, 35, who is based in the North West, has amassed more than 28,000 Instagram followers. And thanks to her talent for planning, she’s been booked to throw themed kids’ parties for stars such as Paris Fury, Jorgie Porter and Jennifer Metcalfe – although the likes of Kym Marsh and Olivia Attwood have also turned to her to organise their “grown-up” events!
My business began 10 years ago when I started doing small events in places like hair salons and gyms. One salon said they wanted a celebrity involved, so we asked Tanya Bardsley from The Real Housewives Of Cheshire to attend. She was the first celebrity I’d ever dealt with. The event was a success and through word of mouth I started doing more. It’s all thanks to Tanya, really.
Recently, it’s gone absolutely bananas and I’ve done events for actors from Hollywood and Coronation Street, as well as people from Geordie Shore. I can’t think of a celebrity that hasn’t messaged us at some point.
I’d say children’s parties are one of my favourite events to plan, as the themes can be out of this world. We’ve had a lot of extravagant requests. We get a lot of asks for miniature ponies and farmyard animals and boys tend to like reptiles. It’s all just getting bigger and bigger. We’ve had live contortionists for a Greatest Showman theme, and we throw a lot of festival-type parties. It’s all a bit wild, but I love it.
A lot of the time, parents wish that they’d had a party like the one they’re throwing when they were younger. The parents are also planning something for the love of their life, so it’s usually months in the making. On average a children’s party costs £5,000 for the full shebang, although some clients have spent upwards of £20,000.
However, we tailor to all budgets. There’s so much imagination involved and you can really go to town with it.
Organising a children’s party takes a lot more planning than an adult one because the detail is really important. With an adult’s party, a lot of it is about picking out what food there’ll be, but with children they don’t really care about that as long as it’s got sugar. The kids care more about having s
