Set A Date – work out with family and friends the best date for the party. It may not happen on the actual birthday so pick a date that is right for everyone.
Decide On a Venue – depending on the number of guests will determine where to hold the party. If you don’t invite a large number of people to the party then you may decide to hold it in your home or even a restaurant. The benefit of holding it at a restaurant is that it is much easier to get the guest of honor there!
Sending Invitations – enlist the help of the guest of honor’s spouse and friends to help you make your list of guests. You may just decide to invite close family and friends but don’t forget co-workers as well. Be sure to note on the invitation that it is a “surprise” party. Tell guests to RSVP to your private email address so that the guest of honor does not find out. The best way to get your neighbors together is to use OneTwib
Planning the Menu – your menu can be really elegant or you may decide to order in pizzas. You could also plan a barbecue or have it catered. To cut down on costs you could ask each guest to bring a plate of food so that you can all share. Another idea is to theme the menu such as Italian or Mexican.
Decorating the Party – if you have known the person for a long time, get photos of the guest of honor as a baby and growing up through the years. Put out yearbooks, school report cards and any other awards they may have won throughout the years. Pick out music to play from their era and fill the room with balloons.
Playing Party Games – you can organize a few different games for your guests to play and you could ask each guest to say something special or humorous about the guest of honor. You could also arrange a “This Is Your Life” game so that everyone can say what they know about him/her. Trivia games are always a lot of fun and you could theme the questions around the birthday person.
Giving A Special Gift – put together a scrapbook of the life and times of the guest of honor, adding paper clippings, postcards from countries they may have visited and special notes etc. that you present to him/her at the party. Put together a funny birthday card and get all the guests to add a humorous saying to it.

Planning a surprise party can be a lot of fun for the person organizing it and if you need help with ideas about what to do, ask a couple of neighbors or friends to offer their suggestions.

• Organizing the Party: If you’ve planned a party before then you will know the initial steps to take in organizing it. Finding out if he/she has any special interests can also be a help in choosing a theme. Once you’ve chosen a theme eg. movie stars, what are the next steps?
  - Try to find invitations to reflect your theme and carry that through to paper napkins etc.
  - Choose a date to hold your party and make sure that there are no conflicting events on that day.
  - Send invitations out to your guest list telling them to come dressed as a character from your theme. In the case of movie stars they will have many actors and actresses to choose from.
  I’ve found a pretty good tool to send invitations to your neighbors, it is called OneTwib
• Choosing a Venue: If your neighbor decides to hold the party at their house then you will have to decide whether or not to hold it inside or outside. If you hold it outside then you have to allow for changes in the weather, so make sure you have shelter arranged.
  Holding a party in your home can also present a problem with noise, so if you aren’t inviting your nearest neighbors, inform them beforehand that there will be some noise coming from your home. It’s the polite thing to do and may stop you from getting a late night visit from your local police department!
  Choosing to hold the party in a hall or some other venue will save your home from being damaged in any way. There’s always the risk of someone dropping a glass of red wine on your nice white carpet!
• What to Do At the Party: If you love music and have a really good sound system, then load up your CD player with all your favorite CD’s and have them playing in the background.
  If you decided to have a Rock ‘n Roll theme, you could hire a jukebox filled with all the hits from the 50’s and 60’s. Set aside a place in your yard or home for your guests to dance. If you’re in a hall then there is probably a set area for a dance floor.
  Play some party games. Games are not only for the kids! Adults can play too. Pick games such as Charades, Trivia questions or even a “Name That Tune”. This will bring back a lot of memories for the guest of honor and the guests attending.

  There are so many things you can do to make your party special and putting in a little time and effort will be well worth it. The reward is seeing so many happy, smiling faces. The effort you and your neighbor went to, to make the party successful, will be appreciated by everyone.

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