While it’s very hard to surprise me, it’s quite easy for me to surprise someone else with a fabulous party. Just watch me!
There are many things to make it the Best. Night. Ever. for the surprisee. Here are some of my helpful hints to throw a successful surprise soirée they won’t see coming!
1. Create a truthful cover story for getting the guest of honor to the party. Be realistic or your plan will flop. Need some ideas, Just Ask!
2. Invite his/her most deserving friends.
3. Text, call, email, or Paperless Post guests and make sure they SHHHHHHHHHHHH. If they don’t know it’s a surprise, they may accidentally ruin it.
4. Follow-up the initial invite with some element of surprise in their mailbox as a reminder to the amazing surprise party that’s ahead. For example, if it’s a spa weekend for a birthday girl, wrap up some fancy flip-flops attached with the itinerary of the event’s details. This will get your guests in a festive mood for the big SURPRISE!
5. Serve your guests crowd-pleasing comfort food that’s the guest of honors favorite food items. Party nachos, anyone? (See recipe below.)
6. Create the mood outdoors if the weather permits and hang café lights from the trees, turn on heaters if it’s a cool night, blast outdoor speakers with the guest of honor’s favorite tunes and line up lit votives along the deck’s railing. Add a few citronellas’ to ward off the bugs, if needed. Zap!
7. Serve the guest of honor’s favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and add a sprig of thyme, mint, and rosemary to spice things up!
8. Always use your trendiest dishes. I have a great chocolate serving bowl idea for fresh strawberries. Stay tuned for my next blog or Just Ask! Or, if your guest of honor is more of a low-key kind of person, go with disposables. There’s no shame in using paper products and it’s easier to clean up with no fuss!
9. Order your guest of honor’s favorite dessert, have a big mason jar filled to the brim of his/her favorite candy, and/or have a happy birthday video made from those faraway friends who could not make the surprise shindig. Do whatever you can to show them the party is truly in their honor.
10. Don’t forget to scream, “SURPRISE!” when the guest of honor walks in. For added fun, take a picture or video of the moment.
To get you off to a great start, here’s the Party Nacho recipe mentioned above:
Ingredients
1 bag of Tostitos Scoops
2 cups shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 lb. of ground turkey seasoned with a packet of fajita seasoning mix
1 medium finely chopped Bermuda onion
1 container of any store bought spicy salsa
1 can of chopped chilies
2 avocadoes chopped into small cubes
Fresh cilantro leaves
Preheat broiler. Place tortilla scoops on a baking sheet and spread evenly. Sprinkle ½ of the cheese over the chips, then add both types of beans, meat and onion. Add remaining cheese on top and broil until cheese melts. Add salsa, chilies, avocado and cilantro.
Serves 6. Dig in immediately!
Now get crackin’ and start planning for a super cool surprise party. Need any more tips for surprising that someone special? Just Ask!
