Surprise Party Planning - 7 Steps to Orchestrating a Great Surprise Party
Posted: Monday, January 04, 2010
by Shannon Summers
Throwing a surprise party is a great way to lift the fun of the festivity to another level. Because of the need for discretion surprise party planning can be very challenging. After all, a surprise party becomes a real treat only if your guest of honor is totally surprised. Having a few tricks in the bag surely helps in pulling off it off.
Before planning a surprise party, however, consider seriously whether it is appropriate for your guest of honor. If they are elderly, pregnant or persons with heart conditions will they be able to handle the shock? Make sure you know them well enough, or if not, have a confidential talk to close family members, so you can exercise good judgment here.
Here are 7 easy steps to creating a party that will happily stun the guest of honor:
1. Pick a date that will make a surprise more likely. If it is an anniversary for example the party might be scheduled shortly before or after the actual anniversary. If they are asked to do something or go somewhere on the actual anniversary it might make them suspicious. Try to set a date that fits the routine of your guest of honor.
2. Create a ruse activity to divert your honoree's attention. You may want to enlist the help of a reliable friend to invite the guest of honor to a fake activity. Another trick is to take the guest of honor to a smaller event ahead of time.
3. Pick a location that will accommodate secret keeping. For example if the guest of honor lives with you, hosting the party at home may be difficult. Decorating, preparing food, hiding supplies without tipping them off all become more difficult. Perhaps you can arrange the party at a friend's house, or you can book a restaurant or other venue.
4. Make sure everyone invited knows it will be a surprise. Whether you send an electronic or formal invitation, make sure it is absolutely clear to everyone. Emphasize that they should never mention the party to the honoree. Have the guests RSVP to an email address or mailing address not accessible to your honoree. Make clear that if they need to cancel or know more details, they should contact you, not the honoree. You will likely want to personally speak to individuals who may be around the guest of honor prior to the party to make sure they understand the importance of not "slipping up."
5. When setting up the venue, make sure the decorations are not visible from the outside. If you are going to use special lightings , see that you have an easy access to the switches. Also, it is suggested that you decorate the rooms with items that will enhance the shock of the guest of honor such as helium balloons and colorful streamers.
6. Tell your guests to arrive 45 minutes to 1 hour before the guest of honor. Don't cut it so close that it chances that your honoree will run into guests who may be a bit late outside the venue. In fact be sure your guests are advised that if they must come late to the party, they must wait to arrive at least 30 minutes after the surprise hour to avoid tipping off your honoree. Also, make sure guests park out of sight. You may need to make special arrangements for nearby parking where vehicles that would be recognized by your honoree will not be seen.
7. Have a lookout posted or someone with the honoree who can let you know as your honoree's arrival approaches, perhaps by cell phone. Hand your guests champagne poppers, silly string, and noisemakers. Shortly before the honoree arrives, have the guests gather together in one room. Turn off the light. Tell everyone to wait and hold their breath. When the guest enters the door, flip on the light switch. Everyone should shout "Surprise!" At the same time, pull your silly strings, pop the champagne, and blow the noisemakers. With the secret out, it's time for the fun.
Shannon Summers is a teacher and a party planning enthusiast who delights in teaching others how to put "magic" into their parties. For many exciting party planning secrets or to sign up for Shannon's free Party Planning Magic Mini-Course go to Shannon's website, http://www.partyplanningmagic.com. Also, click the following link for more information on surprise party planning .
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Definitely an extravagant way of putting it! I love your thinking and will definitely use this to create and host my own surprise party! One word of constructive criticism, however, since I have already hosted my own surprise party, you didn't really include the steps leading up to creating the "full out" surprise. You need to buy confetti, noisemakers, balloons, etc. If the "victim" of the surprise just walks into the location and everyone yells, "SURPRISE!" it isn't much of a crazy, exciting surprise! Still, AMAZING article! Some very key tips about hosting a party like this, and thank you for the advice and steps leading up to this "surprise" of a party! Thanks again. These tips will come in handy for the next surprise party I will be hosting!
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