Figure on paying big time for a semi-glamorous locale; an embassy will do (but only one for a major country). Then, add in food and booze — about $100 a head. Plus entertainment, security, cleanup, insurance. Valet parking for a few hundred could cost roughly $6,000.

Want a celebrity at your event? Of course you do. First-class flight to Washington, a hotel suite and limo for the weekend: Count on $4,500 or so more per glamourpuss, not including his or her posse, which you may have to include.

The Washington Post’s Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts reflect on some of the most memorable moments from past White House Correspondents Dinners, and how the president’s chosen jokes can become cultural tidbits.

Add it up. When all is said and paid for after all the parties surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this weekend, some media organizations will drop as much as $200,000 each to entertain an elite list of guests.

As the numbers suggest, the media-sponsored partying before and after the annual dinner on Saturday has become the tail wagging an overfed dog. The dinner — 3,000 people hobnobbing with the president in a televised lovefest — costs media companies $2,750 for each table of 10; the event at the Washington Hilton will raise about $150,000 for journalism scholarships, according to the WHCA, a nonprofit group.

Pfft. Small change.