Lessons Learned Planning a Surprise Party

I decided to throw my boopy a surprise birthday party... here's what I learned, for you fools out there who decide to do the same.

Plan early(ier).

I made the mistake of planning it in a week. If I had more time, it would have been easier to collect all his friends' contact info and invite them to the party. Also, it gives them enough time to plan to attend. Facebook and MySpace are great resources.

Don't have it at your unfurnished apartment.

I thought it would be a good idea to have it in my unfurnished apt because there was space (and it could possibly double as a 'pre-housewarming'). But I realized I had to rent furniture. And deal with (any) bathroom situations. And clean up afterwards. So I changed the venue to a lounge down the street and it was definitely a good move.

Choose a cool bar/lounge

The place I ended up picking had a great atmosphere. There was also a cool bartender and they played 80s music. Double plus.

Plan more than one distractions.

Your best idea for a distraction can go up in smoke; literally. Fortunately, I had some good backup options that I could pick from.

Have a good excuse for your own absence (if you want to setup the party yourself).

Preferably one that doesn't make them think, "He's cheating on me." I opted for the "dinner with family," having my sister as the accomplice.

Have party favors.

Make sure one of them is temporary tattoos. Enough said.

Bring backup cameras.

Anything can go wrong - and that's why you want to be ready to capture it forever. Unless your memory card suddenly craps out on you. And mine did - otherwise I'd be posting all those naughty places people slapped on a temporary tattoo. So definitely plan on having more than one camera (or memory card).

The party turned out great. I take back the 'fools' comment I said earlier; seeing his surprised (and shocked) face was worth all the trouble I went through.