Baby's $200,000 first birthday party!

Crystal chandeliers, diamonds, Arabian Knights, lolly shops – this is like no other kids’ party you’ve seen.

Most mums want their child’s first birthday to be a special event. A few presents, some music and games, perhaps a couple of glasses of wine for the grown-ups. But Mia Akiki isn’t most mums. Mia was determined to make daughter Belladonna Monroe’s one-year milestone more than memorable – she wanted it to be unforgettable.

Forget two hours of peek-a-boo and amusingly shaped sandwiches – Mia wanted a party fit for royalty. “I’ve been planning this birthday party since I found out I was pregnant,” says Mia, who first came to Woman’s Day’s attention when she staged her own “fairytale” in 2011 – an over-the-top wedding to which she arrived in a pumpkin coach, wearing a dress made from 150 metres of silk and a 4kg crown. “We are raising our little Belladonna to be a princess, from her beautiful designer nursery to her first birthday party.”

And what says “princess” more than a lavish 10kg designer gown of champagne silk and lace and an intricate pearl-and-silk headpiece? “Her outfit weighs more than her – I can barely lift her!” Mia laughs, handing Bella to her dad, 28-year-old accountant Simon.

“Bella’s a mini-me,” says Mia, 27. “So, I’ve dressed her like a mini version of me on my wedding day.” Fresh from a quiet Catholic christening in the morning, the 110 guests are taken by coach to the lavish party at The Bellevue reception centre, Bankstown, in Sydney’s south-west. A wide-eyed Bella also arrives by coach – but hers is a fairytale pumpkin covered in exotic flowers and lifted high by dashing Arabian Knights. Her arrival is also accompanied by heady Middle Eastern music.