There’s a lot that goes into planning a birthday surprise, and a lot is required to achieve that wow factor. To congratulate someone, you need to know certain information that will make the process much easier both for you and the celebrant.

Here’s a lit of things you need to know in order to successfully pull it off.

1. Their preferences

Believe it or not, not everyone likes surprises. The majority of people do, but some don’t. So, before you begin to plan anything, you first need to know the celebrant’s preferences. It will help you determine whether a surprise would be a good idea, what kind of surprise it should be, who should be involved, and a lot more. In general, it will guide all of your decisions.

2. Your budget

Before you can decide what the surprise is going to be, you first need to know how much you can afford to spend. This will help you know how much could be spent and whether you would need contributions from other people.

So, let’s assume that the celebrant loves surprises. What are you going to give them? How is the party going to be? Your final decision depends largely on the person’s preferences and your budget, but here are a few ideas that will make your honoree feel more than special on their special day.

For a surprise party

1.    Pick a mutually convenient date and time

This is one of the first steps in your process—and the most important factor—picking a date and time when the celebrant is available. Discreetly discover this so that you can set a date for your big surprise. It would also be wise to ensure that your honoree is distracted and busy during the hours right before the surprise so that way they won’t have a chance to become suspicious.

2.    Choose the right place

The right place would depend on the type of surprise you’re planning. This is usually one of the hardest parts—choosing a place that keeps you from getting caught. It can be the person’s home or yours, their office, a bar, or a restaurant—your options are limitless.

Consider the places they love, the amount of time you have to prepare, the amount of money available to you, the number of people who will be in attendance, and how they can arrive discreetly.

3.    Determine who will be attending

When you know how many people you can afford to cater for, you then need to determine who those people are going to be—family, work colleagues, close friends, etc. Once the list has been finalized, the invitations need to be sent secretly, without the celebrant suspecting anything.

A good idea would be to create a WhatsApp or Telegram group with all of the invitees so that you can easily share relevant information—date, time, venue, etc. Be sure to request quick responses so that your numbers are accurate.

If you want to invite someone but don’t know their address, here’s what you can do:

1. Go to Nuwber;
2. Enter the person’s full name or phone number;
3. Click Search.

4.    Decide how the venue will be decorated

Too many decorations may just confuse the guest of honor. Keep it simple—some balloons, a banner, and some streamers will do. You may want to order custom balloons or a special sign. That will require that you do this at least two weeks in advance to avoid any delivery delays.

5.    Choose activities for the celebration

Depending on the type of party, you can include some activities that will encourage mixing and mingle among the attendees. The type of activities should depend on what the celebrant likes and the type of surprise party it is.

6.    Decorate the menu

Again, this would depend on the type of surprise party you’re throwing. Food is not necessarily a requirement, but the majority of hosts like bringing a birthday cake and cupcakes at the very least.

If you choose to incorporate a full meal, make it something that the guest of honor will enjoy. Consider ordering takeout to be delivered after the arrival of the guest of honor. This will help keep the secret under wraps as well as save setup and cleanup time.

Other ways to surprise someone on their birthday

If it turns out that a surprise party is not enough or not possible, you can also consider some other options or a combination of a few of them.

1. Host a half-birthday party;
2. Send birthday wishes online;

3.     Arrange for a surprise birthday delivery;

1. Plan a visit to a place the celebrant has always wanted to visit;
2. Create a festive mood at work for the honoree. Keep in mind that there may be some office restrictions that may make it impossible. You must also consider how comfortable your honoree will feel with it being done at their place of work;
3. A surprise makeover birthday shoot can be fun;
4. If you live abroad, a visit from you can be a great gift;
5. A small dinner party or luncheon can also do the trick.

Final thoughts

Planning birthday surprises can be very taxing, from coming up with a budget to picking a date, time, theme, venue, and decor, creating a meal plan, and selecting people to invite.

You’ll be forced to think outside the box to do something creative—something that will make the celebration extra special. In this blog post, we’ve provided a number of tips to help you plan a successful surprise. And if you happen to hit a wall in your planning, we’ve also given several options to choose from.

You can select one or a combination of any of them for the best effect. Keep in mind that not everyone likes surprises, so you need to consider that before planning a surprise.