Can't recommend Happy Kids Chicago highly enough. I own a…read morelocal play place and Happy Kids is our go-to vendor for characters. Their costumes are highest quality, they put on a great show, and my clients are thrilled.

This Mickey Mouse team was AMAZING ! My friends and family had a blast with them! They were so…read moreinteractive with the kids and we didn't even know they took photos for us too and sent it to us afterwards! Thank you so much ! Having great entertainment really makes a big difference in memories !

We booked Ms. Rachel and it was a terrible experience. I was beyond disappointed. The character…read morethat showed up barely talked she did not talk to any of the children and did not smile. She didn't say "hi" when she arrived: she looked scared to be there. She played a "game" with the kids by taking out a flamingo and telling one kid to hide it and asked me to help her talk to the children. The kids couldn't hear her because she was speaking so low. When it was time to "face paint" she stood there helpless until my sister in law asked her if she needed something and she said she didn't have warm water. But I wonder if she hadn't asked would she have attempted to try. The only time she seemed enthusiastic and talked was when she was going and it was time to ask for her money. I am truly disappointed and feel it was such a waste of money.

We recently booked a princess appearance with Characters IO for my daughter's birthday, and while…read morethere were some positive aspects to the experience, there were also disappointments that are worth sharing for others considering this company. To start with the positives: the princess looked fantastic and looked exactly like the character she was portraying. She brought a couple of books and coloring supplies, which the kids enjoyed doing alongside her, and she danced with the girls in a circle. However, one of the reasons we booked with this company was that the initial booking emails highlighted that the princess could provide simple face painting. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she did not bring any face paint. This was especially disappointing as face painting was my daughter's top request. During the event, the princess was fairly passive and required prompting--such as being asked to join in the singing during the cake cutting--rather than taking initiative during key moments. After the party, I followed up with the company to express my disappointment and to better understand what went wrong. They responded that face painting is not guaranteed per their terms and conditions. I explained that this was not clearly communicated and asked what I should have done differently--whether I should have confirmed in advance that our specific princess could provide face painting. Despite sending seven emails and five follow-up texts, I never received a clear response or guidance on this. So while the appearance was visually impressive, the lack of clear communication and follow-through on a key feature left us frustrated. If face painting is a priority for your event, I would recommend confirming it very clearly in advance--or booking with another company that can guarantee it.

Smarty Pants is the way to go baby!…read more He came by for our sons 1st birthday party and followed a magician and everyone loved his creations! I believe he was there for an hour or so. As seen by his creations, he was a hit by both adults and kids alike! I hope we may utilize his services again! We can't speak highly enough of SP!!

What a fun performer. I came across him at the Park Ridge Kiwanis annual pancake breakfast, where…read morehe was doing some entertaining mostly for the kids but definitely for the adults as well. It's through him that I heard of the Central Street Busker Festival that took place the next day and his line was loooong! Most recently, we went to his show last week that the Mt. Prospect Public Library held for spring break. That was very very well attended, with a long line of folks waiting to get in (and that's with all of us registered to attend!), but the show was a lot of fun. He did a little magic, a little comedy, and some fun balloon tricks. This guy has been doing this all his adult life--unless that's also a joke and part of his act--but regardless, he's great at his job. I'm looking forward to seeing him again and my little one having the chance to pick her balloon creation on her own.

Don't recommend! Communicating with them is horrible. They booked me down for the wrong day so I…read morehad to track them down the day of my event. Told me they could only do a 30 min show instead of the 1hr I had booked them for. Definitely messed with my event schedule. Stressful and worst experience I've ever had.

Always able to help. On time, fun and very nice costumes. Keep up the good work. As an owner of…read moreanother company in the area, I need to say that Edgar and his staff are always awesome! We are always counting on them.

My daughter had a princess themed 4th birthday here, and it was everything we hoped it would be…read more She absolutely loved it. Very magical experience for all her friends. Very organized too. Nothing bad to say. Would definitely recommend to anyone else.

I just had my daughter's 6th birthday party and was extremely satisfied with all that My Party…read morePrincess did! We had the royal treatment and my birthday girl felt so special getting her hair done! They took care of the entertainment, the snacks, decorations, cake...literally everything! All that I had to do was take pictures (and pay) All of the girls who came to the party had so much fun! I highly recommend!

I'm sure I've hit a world record for character rentals. I know lots of options when it comes to…read morefind Spiderman, Elsa and other princesses. However, this year my kids challenged me with wanting the following characters at their bday parties: one of the My Little Ponies, Pikachu (Pokemon) and Elmo. While I had to go elsewhere to find the pony (probably the most challenging of the requests), Blazing Birthdays was one of the few character rental companies that had both Pikachu and Elmo. I was most impressed with their communication. Their managing director, Scarlett, was super helpful on the phone and followed up with a very detailed email after our initial phone call. After hearing a bit about my parties we decided on 1 1/2 hours for Pikachu (30 min of Pikachu followed by an hour of balloon twisting) for 25ish five year olds. And then 1 hour of Elmo (30 min of Elmo followed by 30 min of balloon twisting) for 25ish two year olds. I received a call from the characters the night before both parties, which is a first in my many years of character rentals. I could tell by their voicemails alone that they were going to great...and I was right. Colman was Pikachu and ran around our party screeching "pika pika"- the kids absolutely loved playing with him. After 30 min of playing pikachu disappeared and Colman appeared ready to twist a lot of balloons, mostly swords for this crowd of 4 and 5 year old boys. He was also really great w/ the kids and had no problem getting their attention. Catherine was Elmo. She ran into some traffic issues so was a few min late to the party, but texted to let me know and was very apologetic so it was no big deal. I was a little afraid of how such little ones (one and two year olds) would react to Elmo, but she was super sweet with them and they loved her. She (or he) gave a bunch of hugs, posed for pictures and even danced around for them while they ate. And then after Elmo helped my son blow out the candles she reappeared for some balloon twisting. Half the crowd disappeared at this point to make it home for nap time, but the ones who stuck around really enjoyed the balloons...especially my 7 yr old who took advantage and probably had 5 balloons made for just herself. There are a lot of options when it comes to character rentals, but Blazing Birthdays is the first one I would call next time. Professional, reliable and priced fairly as well. Thank you Pikachu and Elmo for making my boys birthdays extra special!

We rented out the Elmo Character for my daughters first Birthday. Prices are not listed on the…read morewebsite but if you call the number (I believe her name is Lynn) is almost always available to answer questions and give information. She's very friendly and nice. The open communication is great. They offer a wide variety of services from characters to magicians, clowns, face paint and balloon artists. Elmo was wonderful. He was on time and not in a rush to leave when his hour was up. He was really great with the kids. We played games like limbo and sang interactive songs. Elmo read books to the kids and posed for pictures. The energy level was great and all the guests left happy.

Jessica was great! She came to our grand opening at our fish store! She was on time and in costume!…read moreAll the kids were so excited to see Ariel and get their face painted. She was very professional and did a great job! If we are ever in the market for a face painter we will be giving Jessica a call!

Dreamcatcher Entertainment helped with my younger cousins birthday party. Jessica was quick,…read moreprofessional and extremely flexible with our needs for the party. She did a surprise Snow Queen appearance that left the kids talking hours after she left. Highly recommend!

This was one of the most special events we could ever have hoped for. My dinosaur obsessed daughter…read morewas beaming the entire time, and so was I. Brian and the dinosaur handler were both so great with the kids, and we got so many compliments from parents. I am glad that we made the investment this year as the memories will last a lifetime.

Chicago Dinosaur MADE my dinosaur obsessed daughter's 6th birthday party. She was so excited and…read morethey didn't disappoint! The "dinosaurs" are not cheesy - totally top notch and realistic. Brian the owner was so nice and a breeze to work with. Great with kids. Totally got into the character. All the parents and kids said it was such a memorable day. Highly recommend!

My son's party was a success!! It was all thanks to Funtastic Parties chicago!!! They made sure the…read morebirthday boy along side the guest/kids had a great time. My son one month later is still talking about how Pikachu came to his party!!! Thank you so much!! I highly recommend!!

We had a fantastic experience with DJ Chicago and John for our wedding reception. We had spent a…read morelot of time developing and pruning our Spotify playlists ahead of the wedding, and John did a great job taking what we gave him and turning it into a mix that flowed perfectly throughout each phase of the reception. He was especially lively and energetic when announcing the entrance of our wedding party and really helped set the tone for the evening. Once the dancing started, John seemed to have a great feel for the room and knew exactly what songs would keep the dance floor packed and the energy up. He put together a great mix of upbeat dance songs and slower songs, and the music never seemed to lose momentum. One of the things we appreciated most was that it still felt like *our* music and our taste, just put together and managed far better than we ever could have done ourselves. Seeing so many of our guests out on the dance floor throughout the night was probably the best testament to how good a job John did. We couldn't have been happier with how the music and atmosphere came together!

Nick & the DJ Chicago team were INCREDIBLE to work with! We hired Nick for our wedding earlier in…read moreAugust, and he absolutely crushed it! We wanted to do a mix of traditional "classic" wedding songs people all know and love with our personal favorite genres (EDM, funk), and DJ Chicago surpassed our expectations in how well he got through our lengthy playlist and seamlessly blended all genres together with highs and lows that kept the party going all night long. We appreciated DJ Chicago's willingness to try something a little bit different, and received numerous compliments from our guests with how much fun they had on the dance floor / how much they enjoyed the music. Not to mention, DJ Chicago was always quick to respond, collaborative, and helpful. Cannot recommend Nick & DJ Chicago highly enough for weddings and other events!