I knew that I wanted to have a lot of food. How to do that and still keep a surprise? Get the party catered. Adds to the expenses, but a real necessity in this instance.
Order the cake from the local bakery. Preferably on Wednesday if the party is on Saturday. Purchase or make the decorations ahead of time. Stopping at Wal-Mart doesn't insure that you will have decorations. A real party store is definitely the place to go.
And hope for good weather so that the necessary skull-duggery keeps the husband away from home for the necessary hours.
I was lucky. He never even suspected a thing. (Of course, the fact that his birthday was in November might have something to do with his being surprised. But it was a 50 and a half party--honest!)
Doesn't he look happy? And not at all abashed or ashamed to admit that he has turned 50. The young lady at the bakery thought I was silly in the extreme when I ordered the cake. I guess most folks don't celebrate 50 1/2.The party was held at the Booth. This is the name of the pavilion at the little golf course that our cottage ownership provides. It comes in handy when you want to do something like this. It holds plenty of people, has a wrap-around porch, and the biggest yard for kids to run around in that you could want.
Here are a couple of photos of the folks singing "Happy Birthday" to Doug.
That's Cathy, Jon, Johanna, John hiding behind Johanna, Mary-Lynn, Megan, Jack, Candy and Mike. 
And here you see Carrie, John, Al, Irene, Joe and Catherine, and Cathy again.It was a nice party. Kept me nicely distracted from knitting for a couple of days. Doug thinks this should be an annual event. Minus the surprise part. And he thinks I should be included in the festivities. I haven't decided if I'll admit to having birthdays ... but the party sure was fun!
3 comments:
I love the 50 and 1/2 cake idea! Creativity to the max, I say, but then I like things to be done a bit differently.
I'm glad to see that it went off without a hitch. You were still making and taking clandestine phone calls on Saturday when I came into the store.
And I think maybe that wonderful man of yours is onto something with regard to you being treated to a party, too. You just have to remind him that the honoree isn't supposed to do any of the work for the festivities! 8-D
Looks like a great party! Congrats to both the party planner and the honoree. We had my mom's 60th birthday half a year early. We gave her a hot air balloon ride, something she's always wanted, and it was much better in July than in January!
When I gave my husband a surprise party, I had all the guests gather at his brother's place a mile and a half away, drive over in a convoy, and knock at the door, carrying the balloons and banners that I'd bought. He was totally surprised!
Post a Comment