Anyone who has thrown a surprise party, come in please!

[falada45]

DH is turning 30 next month. I'm toying with the idea of trying to coordinate with his mom and put together a surprise party for him. He's the type of person that would be really flattered and get all choked up by it.

If you've thrown one before could you offer tips for what did/didn't work well? I have no idea where to start!

[fluffaluff]

I did a surprise get together for Hs birthday..I just had all our family meet at a food park for lunch since it was a beautiful day and no one can ever agree on what to eat. He said it was his best birthday so far.

[hopecounts]

Pick your venue first, get any help you can and designate someone to handle any last minute set up/issues or have someone else take DH out/off while you deal with it.
We did this for my Mom's 60th and it was a blast, I planned it from 5 hrs away and it was NBD.

[CheshireGrin]

So, for my 16th birthday, my brother decided to throw me a surprise party. To this day, I think his plan was absolutely ingenious. He let me plan the whole thing...and then called everyone back and told them all to come Friday night instead of Saturday. I never saw it coming!

[liverandonions]

I did a double surprise for my husband's 35th. His birthday is around CHristmas so I told him my mom had won a brunch gift certificate at a Christmas party and she was coming to take us out. She called when they all pulled up in a limo and I told him she was here (she always waits in the car anyway). He was all surprised to see a limo, and then opened the door and saw his whole family and my mom. We drove to Napa for wine tasting and lunch. My friends all came to our house and set up a party while we were gone so when he got home there was another surprise waiting for him. Use other people to help where you can. Plan your food and budget-I paid for everything with cash so he didn't see it coming out of the bank account. My friend kept all the food at his house and brought it over when he set up.

My step mom threw my dad a party and I lived out of state so since I was visiting and "they had plans that night" she suggested he take me out to lunch and the movies to spend some time together.

I suggest you have an answer/story for every possible question or situation!

[keyslover]

We did one a few years back for my sister. We had a venue and took care of the invites/food/etc and her friends helped plan a night out/bar crawl to get her out for the night. One of the bars they (her friends) had planned was the one we rented the room at for the party. She had no clue and was surprised when they came to the back room and it was decorated and her friends and family were there.

[DotAndBuzz]

I just did one for my mom's 60th. She got totally choked up and cried and it was awesome.

I had it in the party room at a restaurant. Had dinner at the restaurant w/ the family (planned, not a surprise, this was her "birthday party/dinner." Guests came in the side entrance (via signs we had people not at the dinner put up outside after we were seated). Served heavy-ish apps, as it was after dinner. Did a half veggie, half cheese plate, and 3 hot apps. Got pies instead of cakes. Was a semi-open bar - first 2 drinks were on us, anything more was cash bar (I know that might not sit well w/ people here, but it was a bunch of old people, and not a big drinking crowd. The restaurant apparently does it all the time, and they were the ones who suggested it).

Invited everyone via evite.

[StormyDixon]

everyone has such happy stories. we did one for my parents 25 anniversary with the help of my mom's bossy friend who insisted she knew best. She didn't send out half the invitations that we asked her to so my mom's closest friends from out of town weren't there. I don't remember how they got my parents there, but my mom was pissed that she wasnt' dressed up enough.

I look back now and wonder who was the party pooper my mom or her bossy friend