A simple guide to surprise parties

Everyone loves a good surprise party. Nothing beats the thrill of sneaking around in secrecy, not to mention the look of shock and confusion on the guest-of-honour’s face.

What’s more, they’re thoughtful and personal – that’s why everyone from average Joes to celebrated actors use surprise parties as gestures for their special someones.

However, there’s a knack to pulling one off properly. Need some tips? From start to finish, here’s our guide on how to plan the best surprise party for any person or occasion.

Put yourself in their shoes

First things first: you need to throw the kind of party that your special someone will enjoy. One way to do this is to put yourself in their shoes and write down everything you know that they like and dislike.

Alternatively, you can talk to them about the best parties that they’ve been to or use magazines or celebrity news to broach the topic of parties and get their thoughts. Having these juicy details will make the next part of your job so much easier.

Plan, plan, plan

There’s lots to think about when planning a party, including theme, venue and guests. When it comes to budgeting, don’t worry too much. If you need to, you can opt for a quick payday loan to help with any last minute changes.

Since the party’s going to be a surprise, you need to plan how to keep the secret safe. Choose a ‘trickster’ who will bring the special person to the venue using a believable cover story and work out other logistical details beforehand.

Spread the word

Once you have all the details worked out, it’s time to spread the word to the guests. Make sure that you use a way that your guest of honour won’t be able to see.

Something as simple as a WhatsApp or Facebook group should be enough to let your invitees know what, when and how the surprise party is going to happen.

Create a party playlist

No party is complete without some music. Either create it yourself based on what you know about your special person’s favourite songs or ask each guest to contribute a song to a shared playlist. Many platforms even give options to make this easier – for example, you could create a collaborative playlist on Spotify.

Act normal

When pulling off your surprise party, the main thing to remember is to keep things low-key and behave as usual. If your cover story is too elaborate or the preparations are too complicated, then the secret may spill out before the perfect moment. And with that, it’s a wrap. Follow these simple tips and throw a surprise party of which even a pro would be proud.