What I learned from throwing my first surprise birthday party...

It's hard and extremely stressful, yet the most rewarding experience throwing someone you love a surprise party. For the last month I have been planning my boyfriend's surprise birthday party and it's been awesome and a bit stressful at the same time. Throwing anyone a surprise party is difficult. Think about it. You have to invite all of their close friends and family with the hopes of NO ONE spilling the beans. You have to depend on others to help set-up the party while you're away with the birthday boy/girl. And last but not least, you must throw one hek of a party!

Well it's safe to say that my surprise birthday party was a hit! My boyfriend was surprised and everyone did an amazing job with keeping it a secret. The party was fun, the food was great and the atmosphere was just right. Everyone was smiling and having a great time and I felt relieved! Nonetheless, throughout this experience I learned three major lessons that you must do in order to throw a successful party...

Lesson #1: INVITATIONS! Your invitiations are key in throwing a surprise party! You should have an invite that has the words "SHHHHHHH!" "Surprise" "Don't Tell" plastered on the invite. Anythiny along the lines that will make the guests remember that it's a surprise party do so. When it gets closer to the day of the actual event, send out a reminder note, reminding everyone to keep quiet that it's a surprise party and make sure to RSVP. Invites are very important for surprise parties. Make sure all of your guests RSVP and keep quiet.

Lesson #2: The Set Up. Ok, so surprising someone is pretty hard. Especially when you're close to that person and you both spend a lot of time together. So you MUST plan the way you will set your birthday boy or girl up! PRE-PLAN this so nothing goes wrong! The day of the party will already be stressful and intense, so you want your day to go smooth. Plan to set up the birthday boy/girl in a way in which nothing is out of the ordinary, as if it was just another day. That's the best way to plan a set-up, because they will not be asking you a million questions like, "What's going on?" For instance, my boyfriend and I were out of town so I asked if we could go visit his friends a couple towns over to see their family and animals, so we did. We traveled about an hour out and had a great visit with his friends and family but I still had about 3 more hours to stall. So, I suggested we do what we always do, go to a hookah lounge and relax. My boyfriend enjoys relaxing at lounges and we do this often so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Then 6pm came around and it was GAMETIME. I set him up by telling him we had to meet our friend Miko to get the keys to our vacation house for the weekend...and then "SURPRISEEEEE!" we nailed it!

Lesson #3: Event Planner. Hire a great event planner with experience and expertise. I can not stress this lesson enough. Throwing a party is difficult and that is why people specialize in event planning. To eliminate stress, last minute calls and concerns, and to make sure your party is exactly how you envision it, hire an event planner that has experience and understands your vision. Having someone help plan the surprise party takes loads of stress off of your shoulders. Make sure your trust your event planner and that you're in constant communication with her. The better the event planner undertsands your vision and knows your budget, the better your party will be!

Last but no least, grab a drink and party baby, CHEERS!

Xo, Blu