Parties worth your paycheck

Newport Beach resident and party planner Brian Dobbin never imagined he would have to face Bengal tigers and put on a smile for the television cameras while planning ritzy soirees for the upper echelons of Newport Beach society when he and a friend began catering parties out of the back of two Volkswagens some 20 years ago.

“Being in the presence of a 600-pound Bengal tiger is completely terrifying and humbling at the same time,” Dobbin said earlier this week while taking a break from filming one of the final episodes of his new cable reality television show that showcases some of the most over-the-top parties in Orange County.

One of Dobbin’s clients for the television series recently requested that exotic animals be flown in for a jungle-themed bash, including two Bengal tigers — one was still a cub, while the other was slightly larger, Dobbin said.

Dobbin’s battles to find the most fabulous food, drink, linen and silverware for his elite clients are featured in the new cable reality television show “Top This Party: Orange County,” which debuts at 10 tonight on the Lifetime cable channel.

The show features several glitzy parties in Newport Beach. Party hosts pay for their own parties on the show, but get Dobbin’s help and a television crew out of the deal.

The parties profiled in the show cost more to throw than what some Americans make in a year, Dobbin said — typically $100,000 or more.

“We’re starting off with a bang,” Dobbin said of the series debut, which profiles the James Bond-themed singles bash for newly divorced Newport Beach oil and real estate heiress Caren Lancona.

“She has a huge personality — that personality comes across every bit on the camera,” Dobbin said. “She is very intelligent, and she wants what she wants.”

The initial concept for Lancona’s party was a jungle theme with palm trees and exotic animals on a boat off Newport Harbor, but heiress and businesswoman Lancona changed her mind in the middle of the project and decided to go with the more glamorous James Bond theme instead.

“We went from loin cloths to sequins,” Dobbin said. “Honestly, it’s a really fun train wreck.”