How to Pull Off a Surprise Birthday Party

I pulled off a surprise 60th birthday party for my husband in spite of vacationing all summer. He was 60 in August. I planned on a surprise party for him on September 8. We would be home at the end of August. So how did I do this?

I bought paper goods and decorations before we left for our vacation. I hid them in a closet I knew he never looks in. I wasn't sure at that point how many people I would have so I made sure to have more rather than less.

I thought it would be fun to have a theme party. Since we are both Yoga practitioners I hired my Yoga instructor to come for an hour on a Saturday morning.

I made up evites on www.evite.com. That site is wonderful and it works! The evite was a save the date notification with a hard copy to come during the summer. I requested that people bring a towel or mat for our surprise guest.

I visited my daughter in April who loves to make cards on her computer. We went to Staples and bought postcards. I used the evite as a base for the invitations. My daughter printed out twenty which was the number with which I was working. I went across the street and bought stamps. I addressed them and put stamps on them so all my daughter had to do was put them in the mail box.

In June while we were away I sent out the evites. I got some responses back right away. The evite and hard copy invitations gave an r.s.v.p. deadline so I had plenty of time. I also knew I didn't have too much to do when I got home - or so I thought!

I didn't make my husband's birthday a big deal. Although he was disappointed I knew that the surprise party would be all that better for him and it was although there were so many times I was going to tell him.

In August I e-mailed my daughter and she mailed the hard copy invitations. By the time I got home, August 24, I knew who was coming. I decided at some point that I didn't want to cook or bake. I went to Whole Foods and ordered party platters and a cake.