Children’s birthday parties are making my life a living hell

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “We sometimes have mobile massages and manicures going on at the same time as the kid’s party,” says George Whitefield, co-founder of Sharky and George, a luxury party planning service in Chelsea. While I’m grateful that my children aren’t asking to take over the whole of Notting Hill’s Electric Cinema for an afternoon, or have a fairy-themed party at Purple Dragon – a swanky family members’ club in Chelsea that resembles a Soho House for kids – the issue is that even “normal” kids parties are expensive. “It’s just another thing for them to arrange and they leave it to us, including sending out the invitations.” Dazzle & Fizz’s speciality is immersive parties – a theme is selected, and the team builds an entire world around it, usually at a five-star hotel and with hired actors, like a Punch Drunk Theatre production for kids. “We’ve sent pop bands and pop singers onto superyachts for the kid’s party,” she recalls.