A Surprise Party is the perfect way to celebrate events like milestone birthdays such as a 50th or 60th, or to celebrate someone’s retirement.
Throwing a Surprise Party is always a tricky affair, especially if the guest of honour is a snoop or suspicious! One guaranteed way of making sure the celebrant attends is to hold the party at his or her own home.
If the party is being held for someone you live with, a handy trick is to maybe ask a neighbour if you can store all the party goods at their house. This way you can easily set things up while the celebrant is out without having to worry about them finding any hints beforehand.
If the celebrant doesn’t live with you, ask their housemate or one of their family members to help you set the tone for the night by decorating while they’re out.
If you need to keep the guest of honour busy beforehand, some ideal ways to distract them are to take them out to dinner, maybe see a movie, or even spend the day at the beach if more time is needed.
Have the party at a location the birthday person wouldn’t consider suspicious – a relative’s house for dinner, a restaurant or a favourite bar. You can also hold the party either a few weeks before or after the date of the actual birthday so they’ll be even less suspicious.
If you’re having an at-home surprise party, take the guest of honour out to dinner, and have an assistant welcome the guests. When you return from dinner – surprise!
Throw an early-morning (breakfast buffet) or late-night (dessert buffet) surprise party to catch a suspicious one off guard.
Make sure that everyone parks away from the party site, especially if they have a unique car or license plate, or if you are hosting at your house. Instead of the traditional “jump out and yell surprise”, have the guests walk in on the birthday person, as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on.
Here are some other suggestions for holding a Surprise Party…
The “Quiet” Dinner:
Before the birthday or occasion, make a guest list of all who are able to attend. Book an entire restaurant if you can and arrange for everyone to arrive 30 minutes after you and the celebrant do.
When the guest of honour first walks in with you they’ll be surprised to find the restaurant so quiet. After some time have several of the other guests turn up, seated at a nearby table. It’s even more fun if they pretend this is purely a coincidence.
You’ll have fun watching the celebrant’s face as one after another the whole restaurant fills out with their friends. See how long it takes them to realise what’s going on!
The Surprise Bus:
There are many party buses and guided tours that cater for large groups. Why not arrange for the celebrant to “meet” you somewhere in public, on a street corner, then surprise them when an entire bus full of their friends and family arrives, ready for a night on the town!
The Surprise-Surprise Party:
This trick is perfect if you hold a subdued – if not disappointing – party earlier in the week. Hold a party or even a quiet dinner well before the birthday then invite the celebrant to “another surprise” party for someone else.
Have the guest of honour hiding along with everyone else then when they least expect it – after waiting for no one to arrive – have everyone suddenly yell Surprise!
This can be even more fun if you convince the celebrant to hide where they won’t see everyone else hiding. While they’re out of sight have everyone put on cut out masks of the celebrant then see how they react once they pop their head out, wondering why it’s taking so long for the “guest of honour” to arrive!
