Happy Excessmas!

This Christmas we are expected to spend an average of £423 per person on gifts and treats, according to a recent survey. But for a lucky few the festive season is a time for no-holds-barred indulgence. Here, three women who between them will spend £200,000 on Christmas tell Diana Appleyard why they are so extravagant...

Lesley Everett, 41, is a brand image consultant who runs a company called Walking Tall with her husband, David, 49. The couple live in a five-bedroom detached house near Bracknell in Berkshire, and have one son, Max, 11, who attends a private day school. Lesley says:

At Christmas there's no expense spared in our home. I never even look at the credit card receipts or think how much things cost when I am buying presents - I just buy whatever I like. I'm not ashamed about it.

This year my husband and I will spend more than £100,000. Most of it will go on presents - I spend at least £1,500 per person for my immediate family and this year David is treating me to a £65,000 Porsche Boxster sports car and I'm buying him flying lessons, which will probably cost £20,000.

But I never skimp on the extras either, such as decorations and food. We must get through at least 100 bottles of champagne each Christmas, which comes to at least £2,500. I also like our home to look festive, so I spend at least £300 on flowers and foliage as part of the decoration, and £100 on candles alone.

David and I see Christmas as a time to reward yourself and treat your family, and we certainly do that. Perhaps my 'spend, spend, spend' attitude comes from my background.

My father worked in the printing business and as a fireman, and my mother was a medical secretary. It was quite a working-class background, but my mother made sure we had a very traditional Christmas, even though she couldn't spend in the way I can.

Our table was always groaning with food and I want to recreate that lovely, bountiful atmosphere for my son, as well as giving my parents and my parents-in-law an experience to remember, as they come to us on Christmas Day.

It helps that I love the whole experience of Christmas. When December comes round I put on Christmas music in the evenings and flick through catalogues, getting ideas.

I work 12-hour days and fly around the world offering image branding to big corporate companies, so most of my shopping has to be done at weekends or in the cities I'm visiting, such as New York or Paris.

Altogether, I probably buy about 50 gifts for family and friends. I never limit myself to buying one present per person - more like four or five.

I'm always listening for hints about unusual things they'd really like, such as rally driving days or scuba diving experiences, which can cost £400 each.

I try to get a lot of my gift shopping done at the Bluewater shopping complex in Kent because everything's under one roof. I make a whole day of it and leave absolutely laden down by bags.

Of course, I usually treat myself to something while I'm there, like a pair of £150 Kurt Geiger shoes or some party clothes. I love fashion and my favourite party outfit is a Frank Usher full-length red satin dress which cost about £450 several years ago. Christmas is the perfect excuse to dress up - and let your hair down.

I always have a theme for my decorations at home, although one year I chose purple and silver, which didn't work too well. I buy new decorations each year, probably spending £20 on each bauble.

I don't use caterers at Christmas because I love to make everything perfect myself.

Sometime in December, David and I go to France to buy all our wine and champagne for the dinner parties and drinks parties we hold. I buy all of my food from Waitrose apart from on Christmas Eve, when I arrive at Marks & Spencer at 2am when the shop's not crowded. I buy everything you could possibly want for a festive Christmas: chocolates, liqueurs, a whole salmon, a lobster, crabs - you name it.

This shopping trip alone can cost around £500. But in the preceding weeks I'll already have spent an extra £300 on top of my normal food shops as I start stocking up.

The build-up to the big day is just as important to us as December 25 itself, so David and I always have a special pre-Christmas lunch.

This year we're going to Le Manoir

au Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire, run by Raymond Blanc, which will cost around £250 for lunch. It's our chance to spend some quality time together. We also usually have a trip to Florence, which costs around £1,000, and after Christmas my son Max and I are going skiing in Gstaad for a week.

I hate to think how much that will cost - probably a minimum of £2,000 - but it wouldn't be right to get through Christmas without seeing some snow.

I know I probably go rather over the top, but why not? I love to look down the table on Christmas Day, in my beautifully decorated house, and see everyone having a wonderful time.

Rayna Angel, 44, runs celebrity events company Angel Events Management, and is married to Simon, 48, who owns an aeronautical engineering company. They have three children, Richard, 23, Daniella, 19, and William, six, and live in a five-bedroom detached house in Virginia Water, Surrey. Rayna says:

My Husband has no idea how much I spend over Christmas. This year it will come to more than £50,000 thanks to all the parties and presents.

My most lavish treat to myself is to have a florist decorate my house in fresh and preserved flowers... I spend more than £2,000 - and that's not even including the tree. I know it's a lot of money and my husband will kill me when he finds out! But the house looks fantastic and all my guests comment on how wonderful it is.

Each year I have a colour scheme, and this year it's gold. So I have bought lots of gold decorations like snowflakes and angels, a recurrent theme of mine.

My collection of tree decorations is worth more than £1,000 and I've spent another few hundred this year. We buy the tree locally, and at £50 for a 7ft Norwegian blue spruce it is one of the cheaper elements of our celebrations.

We love Christmas, and because my job is arranging celebrity events I really go to town. I usually hire caterers, and we have up to 150 guests.

A small party costs about £5,000, although a few years ago we hired a marquee for our garden and had more than 200 guests - mostly friends, family and some clients. It was definitely our most lavish party and I hate to think how much it cost - probably around £20,000.

Simon adores good wine, so we'll spend up to £50 on a single bottle at Christmas, and I love Dom Perignon champagne, which costs up to £75 a bottle, so our drinks bill comes to about £2,000.

I also see no reason to stint on food at Christmas, and I spend about £1,000. We have so much it feels like I've bought up the entire contents of Waitrose and M&S. But then we usually entertain at least ten to 12 people here on Cristmas Day, and I'd hate to run out of anything or for anyone to feel we hadn't made an effort.

Christmas cards are another indulgence of mine. We send up to 400 cards, and have them specially made with a personalised message, which costs about £300.

This year my design shows a lady with her butler, and behind is the husband loaded up with presents. I hope Simon will find that amusing. It made me laugh, anyway. Simon doesn't really get involved in the details, so he can't complain!

He also leaves the present buying up to me, and I don't think he realises how much it will all come to. The cost seems to go up and up each year, what with family and friends' children.

It must come to over £10,000. I usually buy whatever the children ask for, so long as it's not too extortionate.

This year Richard has a beautiful winter overcoat, and Daniella wants hair extensions, which can cost up to £500 at a top London salon.

I buy them lots of other things as well. William will probably receive a personal DVD player, which cost about £400, and a Game Boy, which is about £70. I buy Simon fun things, like a day driving a Ferrari, which costs about £300, and expensive gadgets for his new BMW - a Christmas present to himself.

Of course, I have to treat myself to new clothes for all the parties. I don't have a favourite designer, but I like to shop at Harrods and Selfridges, spending anything up to £500 on a party outfit. It all adds up, but then if you can't splash out at Christmas when can you? I just think: 'What the heck.'

Gina Conway, 36, runs the Gina Conway Hair Beauty Art salon in Fulham, London, which is frequented by celebrities such as the actor Max Beesley. She is married to Nick, 36, a senior policeman, and the couple, who have no children, live in a three-bedroom house in Wimbledon. Gina says:

All my friends tease me about how much I spend at Christmas. This year it will be more than £40,000, but to me it is a really magical, special time, so I don't resent spending the money at all.

I start to get excited at the beginning of November, and I can't pass a beautiful shop without popping in and buying something as a present.

I think it's because as a child I remember this time of year as a winter wonderland, with snow, frozen lakes and frosted trees.

My father was a businessman and my mother was at home bringing me up, so they were always able to make a big fuss over Christmas. I decorate our house with masses of twinkling tiny lights and exquisite decorations. I must have spent close to £1,000 on decorations alone - lights from The Conran Shop for about £100, carved hearts, stars and flowers bought from boutiques here and on trips to America.

The house is also filled with candles. I will happily spend £30 on one candle, if it has the most beautiful scent. Decorating the entire house with foliage, wreaths, table decorations and so on can cost several thousand pounds, and I spend £200 on Christmas cards.

My husband doesn't really know how much it call costs, but as my business is very successful I don't have to worry about running expenses past him.

I adore throwing parties, and we've had one already for about 75 people. I didn't use caterers, but I splashed out hugely on Louis Roederer champagne which is more than £30 a bottle.

I like expensive food such as smoked salmon and caviar, which costs about £100 a pot. So far this Christmas, I've thrown four big parties for friends, family and celebrity clients and have spent about £12,000 on them.

For Christmas dinner we buy all our food from Waitrose, and that adds thousands more to the bill. I buy a big organic turkey which costs about £75 and I like specialities such as caramelised walnuts for salads.

I don't buy masses of presents - probably about 20 because we don't have children yet - but I do go to town on their cost.

This year our gift to Nick's parents is taking them to Lake Tahoe, in America, which will be a big expense because I'm paying for top-of-the-range ski gear and equipment for everyone.

In fact, the whole two-week break will cost about £12,000. I'm also buying a digital camera for my father-in-law, which is about £250, and I'm buying something very expensive for my husband - but I can't say what because I want it to be a surprise! Usually it's high-tech gadgets.

For my present, Nick is buying me beautiful clothes. He usually buys me at least six gorgeous designer outfits to wear over Christmas. I've no idea how much he spends, but it must be a lot, looking at the labels, as they're usually upmarket brands like LK Bennett.

Yes, our Christmas is very expensive, but it's really worth it.