Surprise 30th

It’s been over a week and I still can’t believe that Jake’s surprise party has come and gone. I had an idea in my head at least a year ago and really started planning months ago.

Given the way summers typically fly by, I wanted to make sure that I had a head start on things and really got to work in May. At that point I reached out to our parents to make sure the date worked and started mapping out the party plan.

Yes, I kept a secret from him for that long, and it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I thought I would blow it or one of his friends before the day came.

I gotta tell you all what I did to surprise him! {It’s ok to have a white lie if it’s for a birthday surprise, right?} I told him a couple weeks before to not make plans because we would be meeting my cousin and her husband for Mexican.

Getting dinner with them was a normal weekend activity so I knew it would be believable and he wouldn’t be suspecting anything. If he only knew I had invited all of his friends months ago, and he was about to be in for the surprise of his life.

That evening I called an Uber to take us downtown to La Revolucion in Fountain Square. I had arranged to have our friends show up at the restaurant 30 minutes before we got there in order to pull of the surprise.

“Surprise! Our friends totally shocked Jake, as he opened the door walking through the restaurant thinking we were just getting dinner and going home for the night. He was speechless and his reaction was priceless.

After about 10 minutes the shock on his face wore off and I told him the rest of the plan for the evening. All twenty four of us shuttled into the brew bus that took us to four breweries downtown for some beer tasting.

After the 3 hour brew tour we ended the night at Rathskeller listening to the tail end of an Irish band.

So in a nutshell, my best advice for planning a surprise party like this:

Plan in advance – giving yourself plenty of time will keep the stress levels low
Picking a theme is always a fun idea
Design a special invitation to get the guests excited and set the tone
Have plenty to drink
Have fun!