So what do you do when you have a wedding to plan for and a hen do to prepare for - arrange a surprise party for your fiancé! I mean I don't know what I was thinking apart from the smile on his face when he walked in.
So, what are my tips for organising a surprise party?
1. Find The Venue
Before you start inviting people you need to decided if you want a big party or a smaller celebration. I chose to avoid the stress of inviting everyone we knew or knew 10 years ago - save that for the wedding next month - and settled for a meal. I decided 20 people would be an ideal number so I selected 3 options for dinner and set about ringing them. The first could not accommodate anymore than 10 people so this was a no as it would be too small. I wanted something affordable for everyone that had a bar so I settled on a great bar and restaurant with the average meal cost being £9. Booked!
2. The Time
I knew he would be home from work around 4.30pm and so I set about checking with a few people what time would suit them best. Allow for lateness - especially with men. I asked everyone to get there for 7pm and we would arrive at 7.30pm. One person was late due but aside from that everyone got there before we did (just)
3. The Guest List
I relied heavily on Facebook for speaking to everyone as it was easy for everyone to communicate. I knew I have 20 people for the meal so set about choosing the 20 people I knew he would want there. I decided that there were a lot of others we would want to celebrate with us so arranged a second group to turn up at 9pm for drinks and the rest of the night. Remember not to panic if someone doesn't reply straight away - they will and you will get it sorted
4. Ask for Help
I tried doing everything myself and then realised how was I going to get a big 3 0 balloon to the venue without him seeing. His Mum was amazing and arranged to get there at 6.30pm to decorate and she undertook the cake for me too. Phew!
5. Lie
I would never normally condone this sort of behaviour - but LIE! The best you could ever lie. I smile when I tell a cheeky fib so this was so hard for me. I made up some rubbish, for example "Only your sister and boyfriend are free on Saturday night for dinner. It annoys me that people are so rubbish when they knew it was your birthday weekend, but a few are going to try and come out later" and "I am so sorry I couldn't make your birthday better with getting more people to come to dinner but we will have a great time". Oh and in answer to why I was so stressed all the time I definitely over used "The Wedding" a lot!
6. The Decorations
We are saving for our upcoming nuptials so I didn't want to go spending loads - plus he had chosen a rather expensive record player as his present. My biggest tip is use eBay. Honestly it saved me so much money. I ordered a fabulous 30 banner for £1.99, and some confetti for 50p. I also had some fantastic part bags made up, which were a bargain and everyone loved them You can buy them here I filled them with some plastic toys from eBay which were 50 toys for £4.99 and I ordered some candy straws and temporary tattoos for £2.99
7. Relax
After juggling the text message to let everyone know you are arriving - I went with Mum has had some bad news and I just need to quickly text her back - stop worrying! You did it! And they love it. You arranged this and it is the best present to give someone so now eat, drink and be merry!
LJ xxx
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