Planning a Surprise Party......in less than 72 hours!

The ENVI team has been busy at work and we have not been blogging as much as our readers have liked, however....we're back!

We recently planned a surprise dinner birthday party and here's the catch.....we pulled it off perfectly in less than 72 hours!

We are here to share the secrets, some do's and don'ts so if you have a surprise party you want to plan you can do it stress-free, with ease, and enjoy yourself in the process!

The daughter of the special guest contacted our office for expertise in planning this type of shindig in a short amount of time....3 days to be exact!

Well, how do you do that?

1. Book it!
The venue that is. When searching for your venue for a party, you first have to have an idea of how many guests you are expecting. In a short time frame of 3 days, you would like to keep it to a minimum, it's easier to manage that way. Not only do you keep the guest list to a minimum, but search for a place that has all amenities included so that you have less to worry about. For this event we had a guest list of 15 people and our venue was Kiku at Camp Creek, a Japanese Steak House.

2. Spread it!
The word that is. Now it's time to let your guests know about the plans and share all the details. After you have gathered phone numbers and email addresses of all invitees and quickly start dialing and / or sending evites out to let them know about the plans. Don't forget to let them know the time of arrival for guests and the time of arrival of the special guest. The worst thing would be for your guests to arrive at the same time of the honoree!!! Not only do you have to inform your guests of the plans, but you have to stress that it is a SURPRISE and designate someone to get the guest of honor there.

3. Theme it!
Depending on the vibe you are going for with the party, you may want to have a theme. For this party, we didn't have a theme per se, but we did keep a certain color scheme of pink, orange, and gold. Also the dessert plates were the same color scheme with a damask print. It was absolutely gorgeous.
4. Wrap it!
Wrap up the details and get ready to have fun! Final details include ordering the cake, providing ideas for gifts to the guests, and taking care of any loose ends. Make sure that you are there as the party host early enough to greet the guests, especially in the case of using a restaurant. Sometimes restaurants have you in a special party room and other times, especially on busy nights, as in the case with Kiku you will be seated once the entire party gets there. Stress the importance of timeliness and you will be set to go!

The party at Kiku was a great success. The honoree was thrilled, super surprised, and had a wonderful time with her family and friends.