If you’ve ever been invited to a surprise party you know the stress of having to get there by a certain time. If you’ve ever hosted a surprise party you’ve done plenty of nail-biting worrying if guests will arrive before the guest of honor and keep their mouths shut. Plus there’s the danger the ruse to get the person to the party will backfire. Like: “But I don’t want to go out. I want to stay in!” Recently I attended a surprise birthday breakfast at the birthday girl’s home. It was a smashing success. The more I think about it, the more brilliant it strikes me. This concept needs to spread.
I had my doubts when I received the invitation via email two days before. Is she seeing someone and she’s going to be coming home at 8 a.m.? How many people will get there that early? 9am is hard enough. It turned out her daughter was in charge of alerting her at 7:45 with “Mom, you need to get dressed. A bunch of people are about to show up to celebrate your birthday.”
She was stunned and delighted as each new arrival popped in, at least a dozen in all.
Now, I would need an hour heads-up but for this natural beauty who wears little if any make-up and probably has never woken up with Bed Hair, a quarter of an hour was fine. In order for this to work you also need to know the person’s schedule to make sure they’re not going to be running off to an important appointment (like their therapist or a beauty treatment if it’s their birthday).
Consider this:
1. People are more likely to attend. At the end of the day, invitees may be tired, stressed and have more on their to-do list than they did when the day started. They may feel they have to stay longer than they can and then not show up at all. With a party scheduled at 8am, guests are fresh and it’s perfectly acceptable to not linger and head off to work. One woman was there only five minutes and no one thought it odd.
2. It’s inexpensive (as parties go). Coffee, orange juice, a couple bottles of sparkling wine or champagne, a quiche or two and a breakfast pastry or muffins is all you need. Add bacon or sausage and fruit if you like. Or put a few people in charge of a doughnut or a fast food breakfast biscuit run beforehand. Stick a few candles in the pastry, muffins or doughnuts. A cake is too much in the morning for me but to some people it ain’t a b-day bash without a cake and everyone singing that dirge-like “Happy Birthday” off-key. Up to you.
3. It’s different. That alone makes people more celebratory.
4. It’s a fun, unforgettable way to start a birthday. The honoree will always remember it.