Roxy Jacenko says she spent $30,000 on a first birthday party for one of her children

LOW-key is not how Roxy Jacenko does things, even children’s birthday parties. She has admitted she once spent $30,000 on a bash for one of her kids.

Roxy Jacenko and son Hunter Curtis.

SYDNEY publicist Roxy Jacenko is unashamedly extra. When she puts on an event, there is no expense spared.

On the weekend she threw not one, but two massive parties for her son Hunter’s fourth birthday.

First, there was the construction-themed bash at a Sydney play centre, then there was a more intimate, professionally catered soiree at the Bondi apartment Jacenko shares with husband Oliver Curtis, Hunter and the couple’s daughter Pixie, 6.

But now Jacenko has revealed that she once spent $30,000 on a first birthday party for one of her children.

“I’m in a PR and marketing events business, so if I’m going to put on a function, a party or whatever it might be, of course mine’s going to be larger than life. It’s what I do. It would be like being a florist and not having flowers in your house,” Jacenko told 9Honey.

“I’ve done the $30,000 first birthday party, the kids had a great time. The parents had a great time. It was the price of a wedding, but at the same time it’s my schtick, it’s what I do,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s about the parents and who you impress — it’s about the fun and the excitement of working with your kid to choose the different entertainers and how the cake is going to look.”

Roxy Jacenko with her children Hunter and Pixie. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Jacenko also said costs add up because she doesn’t like to exclude any children from her events.

“I think guest lists should always include everyone, and I find it weird when they don’t,” she said. “I would never like my child to be the one who is left out.”

Jacenko also dished on what time she puts her kids to bed, which can sometimes be as late as 11pm.

“I suppose when you’re a working mother and you leave early in the morning and get home late in the evening, putting your kid to bed at seven o’clock becomes something that you don’t want to do — because if you do that, then you don’t spend time with them,” she said. “So I sort of let Hunter go to bed later … and later and later.”

Roxy Jacenko at a ball in Sydney last week. Picture: Vassi Lena

Jacenko gets home from work at 6pm, but wants to spent time with her children, so they all go to bed quite late.

“Poor Hunty, I dress him while he’s sleeping,” she said. “He sleeps a bit longer [in the morning] while I get Pixie ready and then they both leave by 7.30.”

She expects some parents will disagree with her approach, but says her unusual schedule is what works for her family.

“I think the reality is there’s no set formula, it has to be what works for you as a parent and what works for your kids,” she said.

“People will disagree with my mentality of ‘let the kids go to bed when they want to go to bed’ but I want to spend time with them, and that’s what works for us,” she said. “Sure they’re tired in the morning, but they’re happy kids because they’re spending time with myself and Olly [husband Oliver Curtis].”

Originally published as Roxy Jacenko says she spent $30,000 on a first birthday party for one of her children