*Contributed Content
Whether for the birthday of someone you love or to celebrate the work/life achievements of your nearest and dearest, surprise parties can be a great way to express love, gratitude, and pride. Unfortunately, just as keeping any secret in a tight-knit group can be tricky, surprise parties are astoundingly difficult to pull off, with someone along the way often letting the cat out of the bag and leaving your reveal far less impactful than it should be.
It’s a waste of your efforts, and it leaves the person you’re planning a party for missing out on the true joy of this experience. That’s why we’ve got a few pointers to make sure that your surprise event truly does end up knocking their socks off in an entirely unexpected way.
# 1 – Always add disclaimers on invites
Countless surprise parties have been ruined by one uninformed guest mentioning the invite or date to the person in question. It’s frustrating, but if you don’t clearly state that a party is a surprise, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t go ahead and talk to the person in question about it. As such, something as simple as adding the title ‘Sarah’s surprise party’ onto your invites themselves is crucial. You could add a disclaimer like ‘Don’t tell Sarah!’ alongside your R.S.V.P. details. Either way, you need to be clear from this very first moment to avoid slip-ups that are sure to cost your surprise later on.
# 2 – Don’t risk doing it yourself
Taking care of things like catering yourself can also make your secret more difficult to keep, especially if you live in the same house as the person in question or are incredibly close. Having to keep them away (particularly during the leadup to a big birthday, etc.) could be almost impossible in these instances. Not to mention that you risk them turning up unannounced and asking questions about the mountains of food, party decorations, etc. By comparison, turning to outside catering companies like Sorella Collective which still offer bespoke, personalized options, or even trusting other people with things like decor, entertainment, etc., can all help you to keep your own house and schedule clear. That way, you’re way less likely to arouse suspicion that’s almost impossible to explain away.
# 3 – Choose your venue wisely
Again particularly if you live with the person in question, hosting at home can also end up being a mistake, requiring convoluted and suspicious plans to get them out of the house while you prep. By instead seeking a venue on mutual ground, it’ll be far easier to remove this risk, allowing your loved one to chill out for just a normal day at home without any idea of the fact that all of their nearest and dearest are busily rushing to get things ready elsewhere.
It’s far from simple keeping a surprise party secret, but it’s more than worth this effort just to see the look on their face when they realize what you’ve all done on their behalf!
