This isn't a bridal shower though, or an engagement celebration - it's a six-year-old's birthday party.

A year since COVID spoiled the party - all the parties - Illawarra parents are going all-out on children's birthday celebrations, splashing out thousands of dollars on luxe balloon displays, Instagram-ready backdrops, hire venues, professional photography, styling and the all-important aesthetic.

Vivienne Manzano, director Balloon Expressions Wollongong, believes the boom is a response to earlier COVID-imposed austerity and to readily available overseas "inspo".

"It's like parents are making up for lost time," she said.

"I guess COVID made them feel a little bit ripped off, so now parties are bigger than ever.

"Social media's a very big influence - those trends in Canada, Russia, America and the Spanish in particular. They just go over the top in South America - they have massive parties.

"Everyone is all about the theme at the moment - Candyland, or Jurassic Park or Hot Wheels, donuts parties - it's endless."

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Ms Manzano's clients will spend anywhere from $500-$2000 on balloons for their children's parties, though she says that pales in comparison to the Sydney kids party market, where some parents will fork out $25,000.

"That's just for balloons, not the cake stand, the backdrop, the cake."

Amanda Bajrami regularly hosts themed parties for young children at her Albion Park Rail inflatable play centre, Go Kids Play, including her own son's Quinten's recent sixth birthday party, a Bluey-themed extravaganza.

She believes the bar for Illawarra kids' parties was raised when her centre started working with other vendors - stylists, decorators and top-tier cake creators - giving parents a one-stop shop.

"We've really upped the standard in the Illawarra," she said.

Parties at Go Kids Play cost as little as $280 for 10 kids, but combined with the services of other vendors - cake-makers, decorators, photographers - as well as tableware, catering and other add-ons, Mrs Bajrami says it is not uncommon for her clients' budget to fall between $1000 and $3000.

She concedes some of the children being celebrated will be too young to remember any of it.

"But I do feel like parents and families are also doing this for themselves, and to have those memories caught on camera, so they can look back and say, 'I did this'," she said.

Stylist Joanna Di Stasio says it remains possible to create a high-impact birthday setting on a budget.

But she has witnessed kids' events growing more extravagant from the helm of her styling business, Arabella Events.

"A signal of that is how many more prop businesses have popped up," she said. "We were first, now there seems to be a lot more that focus specifically on kids' parties."

Cortney Apro, of Powder Puff Photography, said parents most often splurged on a photographer for their child's first birthday.

"It's also a celebration for the parent," she said. "A lot of them get to the end of that first year and say, 'we made it!'."

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