You want to surprise that friend or that special someone with a massive party they never saw coming? Want to do it the right way? Read on …
First off, don’t even think about paper invitations. This goes double if it’s an office surprise party, in which case if you mess around with paper invites, you are pretty much guaranteed that the subject of the party will find out about the party long before the party date. Invitations are something that should be done electronically and properly. This is a very important first step. Make sure you get it right. Hint, hint, there is a link in this paragraph.
Also keep in mind that you don’t need to tell everybody and their dog about it. Once again, this is especially true in an office situation where you have a “captive audience”, so to speak. If this is the case, decide right away who really needs to be in on it. This means people who can and will contribute to the cause, put time and effort into it, and can be trusted to keep the secret. If it’s a private affair, you obviously have to invite more people because if they’re not invited they won’t even be there, but even so, keep in mind that less is more in this case. Quality over quantity, so to speak.
After having established these two first details, before you even send out those invites, do an intensive study on the intended victim in order to pick a day and time (or just time if it has to be a certain day), and how the surprise will work, as well as the theme for the party. Generally the best way is to have multiple people in on a ruse, who will bring the intended victim to the proper place at the proper time and BAM! SURPRISE!
Lastly, keep it simple. The number one reason surprise parties fail is because the planning gets too elaborate. The more variables are in the equation, the more likely one is to be off. The very fact that it will be a surprise is already bringing in a heavy dimension of complication into things. Don’t try to stack too much on top of that. Also, if you pick some really crazy theme, the victim has no chance to be in on that theme most of the time, so unless you can work out an angle where this is possible, think twice when picking out your theme.
So go forth and may your next surprise party be a complete and total success!
