With a surprise party, you get the fun of being able to see the joy and shock on a person’s face when they suddenly walk into a room full of their friends and family. The only problem is, planning a surprise party isn’t always as simple as it seems. With that in mind, we’ve put together some of our top tricks for making your next surprise party more sensational.
1. Become a Detective
If you’re throwing a surprise party for someone, then you’re going to need to get to know that person inside and out. You need to make sure that you know what that person likes to eat, what they want to listen to on their playlist, and what they really hate about parties. There’s a good chance that you already know a decent amount about the person that you’re throwing the party for, but make sure that you’re on the right page.
Speak to the friends and family members that are in their person’s life and ask them if they agree that your assumptions are correct. You can also make suggestions about the kind of party you would like in the other person’s presence and see how they respond.
2. Step into Their Shoes
A good way to make sure that you think of everything when you’re planning a surprise party is to place yourself in the other person’s shoes. Close your eyes and imagine how you would feel walking into your event as the guest of honour. What would the party boy or girl see, hear, and smell as soon as they walk into the venue?
If you’re having trouble stepping into the other person’s shoes, start by writing down a list of their likes and dislikes and using that as your starting point. Stepping into the other person’s life for a while could also help you to choose the best gift too and if you’re still struggling, UKGifts has some great gift ideas.
3. Delegate and Share
Once you know a date for the surprise party, and you have a general idea of what you want to accomplish, there’s nothing wrong with seeking out a bit of extra help. As fun as it may be to plan a party in some cases, it’s worth remembering that it also means taking on a lot of responsibility and stress too.
If you already have a lot going on in your own life, then it can be easy to let things slip through the cracks if you don’t have any help. With that in mind, speak to friends and family members who can help to lessen the load and take some of the stress off your shoulders. You’ll appreciate the help later.
4. Do Some Social Stalking
The digital world is fantastic for today’s party planners. Thanks to social media, you can learn a lot about the person that you’re throwing a party for, without them being any wiser. All you need to do is jump onto their social page and find out what kind of things that they share, what they like to follow, and what they talk about. On Instagram, you can even get an idea of the kind of products that your loved one likes, which means that you’ll have some ideas for things like presents too.
Another great thing about social media is that it allows your friends to share their favourite playlists through things like YouTube and Spotify. You can use this information to plan the playlist for the big day and make sure that you get it on point.
5. Make Sure All the Right People Get There
Finally, the last thing you want is for your loved one to turn up at a surprise party and wonder where someone important is. With that in mind, use your time snooping on the other person’s social feeds to make sure that you invite everyone that they interact with regularly. You can also run your guest list by the people that you’re working with on the party.
Friends and family members should be able to give you some extra top tips on everything from which colleagues to invite, to which people you should avoid at all costs. This will make it much easier to get the VIP list in order.
