Planning a surprise party can be tricky if the guest of honor lives nearby. Advise guests to be discreet, plan ahead for the guest of honor’s schedule, and hide party supplies. Keep guests hidden until the surprise and enjoy the celebration afterwards.
Throwing a surprise party is great fun for everyone involved. Party-goers and hosts alike enjoy planning the surprise without the guest of honor finding out. If he or she doesn’t live nearby, planning the surprise party should be pretty straightforward. If, however, the guest of honor lives in the same city and you all share the same friends, planning gets a little tricky.
It goes without saying that every guest should be informed in advance that you will be planning a surprise party. Some of your more talkative friends and relatives may need to be encouraged more than once to be discreet. If you live in a city where everyone knows each other, discretion is especially important. You may need to have local merchants join in the surprise, especially if you plan to purchase surprise party supplies from their stores.
In addition to advising discretion, you’ll need to figure out how to get all the guests, other than the guest of honor, into your home without skipping the surprise. There are a few things to consider. For example, what if your guest of honor makes plans for the night of the surprise party? Many hosts don’t invite a surprise party guest of honor ahead of time for fear of ruining the surprise, so they’re in a dilemma because she’s already made plans.
It’s best to do one of two things. Invite the guest of honor to a smaller event in advance; for example, he may plan to have dinner for only two or four people. Another solution is to enlist the help of an accomplice who will arrange for the guest of honor to show up at the designated time and place. If the guest of honor lives in the same place as the location of the party, the accomplice will have to take her away for a day, or at least, for a few hours.
Invitations should be sent approximately six weeks to a month in advance. Let your guests know if the guest of honor thinks anything else is going to happen that day so the surprise isn’t ruined. Ask them to respond to a company email or a special voicemail set up for the occasion. Make sure they know not to leave voicemails about the surprise party. Even if the guest of honor doesn’t live with you, she may still be around while you check your messages.
When shopping for the party, you’ll need to hide the supplies when you get home, especially if the guest of honor lives with you or likes to drop by unannounced. Party guests should be asked to come to the surprise party at least one hour before the guest of honor’s scheduled arrival time. The last thing you want is twenty or so cars parked in the driveway, which can ruin the surprise. Ask guests to park around the block or see if a neighbor will allow your guests to park on her property for the occasion.
Many hosts or hostesses like to turn off the lights so that the guest of honor arrives in a dark house. However, this can raise more suspicions, if the lights in your house aren’t usually dark at the time. You can manage the surprise element of your surprise party either by letting the guest of honor be surprised as soon as he enters your home or by ushering your guests into another room and leading him there after a few minutes. From a logistical point of view, there are not many houses that can accommodate twenty guests who hide behind the furniture ready to shout “surprise!” It is best to keep them in a dark room or away from doors and windows.
Once the surprise element of the party is over, the real fun will begin. Your guest of honor will no doubt be touched by the gesture and all other guests will have a chance to mingle. When organized correctly, a surprise party can be a fun and exciting social event that is enjoyed by all guests.
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