“That’s how life is. Full of surprises!” – Isaac Bashevis Singer
When planning a Surprise Party, your highest priority is to make sure that your Guest of Honor doesn’t find out about the party ahead of time. Let us offer you a few tips when it comes to creating your Invitations and planning your party.
– This is no time to be subtle with your guests. We always advise customers who are throwing a Surprise Party to put the word “SURPRISE” in bold and in caps. It’s not out of line to make the type for this word slightly larger than the rest of the text. Some of your guests may take a cursory glance at the Invitation when they first receive it, and if the word “SURPRISE” doesn’t jump out at them and they’re not reading carefully, they may not realize that they are being trusted to keep a secret.
– Make absolutely sure that there is no chance that a stray Invitation will be seen laying around your house (if the Guest of Honor lives with you) or at a good friend’s house. If you are throwing a Surprise Party for a teacher, do not bring the Invitations anywhere near the school building. If the party is for a co-worker, distribute the Invitations somewhere away from the office.
– If the Guest of Honor lives in your house, have the Invitations delivered to a neighbor or a friend. You don’t want to give the Guest of Honor any reason to be curious about the contents of the package that you just received. It’s much easier to avoid questions than to have to create alibis to cover up your plans.
– The Return Address on the Invitation envelope and/or the Addressee on the Response Card envelope can NOT be the address where the Guest of Honor lives. If the Guest of Honor lives with you, then find a neighbor, friend or relative who is willing to let you use their address on the envelope. If you’re concerned that your guests won’t recognize this return address and therefore may not open the Invitation, you can still include your name or the name of the Guest of Honor. For instance:
Joseph Rousseau’s SURPRISE Birthday Party
c/o Mary Jones
111 First Street
Brooklyn, NY 11209
– Make sure that your Guest of Honor will be available on the date and time of the party. Get your alibi straight right from the beginning. Tell him or her that they’ll be attending a party for someone else, or that they’ll be going out for a night at the theater, or to the game. Use your imagination and figure out what will appeal to the Guest of Honor.
– If your guests are going to be driving to the site of the party, ask them to please park their cars off site. The last thing that you want to have happen is to conceal your secret for months only to have it given away moments before the Guest of Honor makes his/her grand entrance, when he/she recognizes several friends’ cars in the parking lot.
– Make sure to tell your guests to arrive half an hour before the Guest of Honor arrives. Spell it out in the Invitation. Party begins at 7:00 p.m. SHARP. Guest of Honor arrives at 7:30 p.m.
– It’s not excessive to remind your guests that this is a SURPRISE party and to enlist them to cooperate in helping to conceal the secret.
– It’s always a nice touch to ask your guests to prepare a toast or a few remarks to pay tribute to the Guest of Honor. If you ask them in the body of the Invitation, that leaves them plenty of time to prepare a few words. Some of your guests may freeze up if asked on the spot, but with a few weeks’ prep time they might find the perfect thing to say to the Guest of Honor.
You can see aselection of Surprise Party Invitations on our site. We also have a selection of suggested wording for your Surprise Party Invitation. If you don’t see what you want or if you have any questions, feel free to contact Debbie toll free at 888.286.0365 or info@ipvstudio.com. She’ll be glad to assist you.
“The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.” Ashley Montagu