There’s just something fun about surprise parties!  The planning, getting your close friends and loved ones involved, and ultimately surprising the person(s) you planned the whole thing for. (The mentions of companies are suggestions or my recommendations only.  In no way am I promoting them.)

The first time I planned a surprise party was for my parents’ 25th anniversary. This led to my passion for party planning. My mom always wanted to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary lavishly, so what better present than to surprise her with a party where all my parents' close friends and family gathered to honor them. 

Here are some steps I took to make sure the party turned out the way I wanted.

I started planning 3 months in advance. The first thing I did was gather all of my parents’ friends' numbers so I could contact them and let them know about the party.  When I started calling, I mentioned it would be a surprise party.  Once I knew who would be attending, I got their addresses because I wanted to send them a formal invitation.

 The next thing I did was I started looking up invitations. There are many options online, such as Etsy, Zazzle, and Minted just to name a few. Most of them will give you discounts if you order in bulk. Another option, is online invitations such as Evite or Punchbowl.  I personally like Evite because of its easy-to-use templates. After finalizing the invitation design, I mailed out the invitations 1 month before the party.

Next was to scout venues.  When I was doing this, I was a college student and didn’t have thousands to spend on a venue, so three things were essential to me when selecting one: location, price, and meal included. I wanted the place to be excellent and because of my budget, I chose a restaurant cum banquet hall and booked it for a Sunday night. 

When choosing a venue, start looking at least 2-3 months in advance. This will give you enough time to find one that is to your liking as well as within your budget.

You can throw surprise parties at home as well; you just have to be creative in keeping the guest of honor out of the house until the party.

Once the venue was booked and the deposit paid, it was time to take care of other aspects of the party, such as booking a photographer and having some sort of entertainment, ordering a cake and decorations. 

Because I wanted it to be a themed party, I went with an Oriental theme. For the cake, I ordered a 3 tier white cake embellished with silver design and fresh red roses. I made sure to order the cake 6 weeks prior to the party.

I had my friends help me set up in the afternoon and had the cake delivered to the venue in the morning of the party. When it comes to surprise parties, ask your friends to help you. Trust me, it is much easier to pull off if you have people helping you put it together. 

Because the venue included food, I didn’t have to worry about the menu too much.  I did do a taste test to create a custom menu.. If you have it at home, get catering, and if you have it at a restaurant, pick a restaurant where you know the guest of honor frequents the said establishment. You can opt for any restaurant, you just want to make sure that the guest of honor enjoys the cuisine served at that particular restaurant. You also want to make sure that said restaurant accommodates parties of 10 or more.

If you throw a surprise party at home, you could ask the guest of honor to run some errands for you (make sure it’s long enough that they stay out of the house and give you ample time to set everything up.) If you’re taking them to a restaurant, ensure your guests are there before you arrive.

Come up with some sort of plan to either get them to come back home or arrive at the restaurant by a certain time. You could assign someone the task of making sure that the guest of honor appears at the right time or you could bring them yourself.

This is very crucial, if your guest of honor comes a minute early than planned then it ruins the surprise.

Because it was my parents’ anniversary I wanted to capture the moment and I wanted it done professionally. Due to my budget, I opted for two photographers recommended by a friend of mine and I was able to get a decent discount. As for entertainment, then I went with live singing and my parents have so many friends who sing that one of them is more than happy to sing for us.

When opting for vendors such as photographers, florists or DJs, singers, band, find ones that are not overly expensive but are good at what they do.

It was the day of the party, and I had to figure out how to get my parents to the venue. With the help of my sister, we told my parents that we were taking them out to dinner at a lovely restaurant. 

Eventhough it’s been more than 10 years, I still remember vividly walking up to the door of the venue with my parents and seeing my parents’ friends and my mom’s family all ligned up to welcome them in. My mom said it was the best and the ultimate surprise and seeing that pure joy on her face was worthwile. Till this date, my parents’ 25th anniversary was and is the best party I have planned.

The only thing left to do, and I always say this is the most essential step: have fun!

Have you ever thrown a surprise party or had one thrown for you? I would love to hear about your experience. 

I hope this blog helps you plan a surprise party with ease.

Until next time!