Q&A for How to Plan a Surprise Birthday Party

Keep the party plans off social media and out of text messages. You never know when the VIP guest will see a message on someone else's phone about the surprise party. To avoid spoiling anything, keep the details off your phone and other devices.

This is most likely a good idea, but if you don't know her friends well, you may need some help. Maybe ask her best friend which people she thinks it would be best to invite. This way you don't accidentally end up inviting people your mom isn't really close with.

The list could include: Balloons, snacks, cake, decorations (streamers), a present for the person, and drinks. The breakdown of specifics will depend on your party theme, preferences and exact items to be used and made.

Yes, as long as everyone at your house is aware that you are planning the party, and the person the party is for is going to be coming to your house that day.

Take them out somewhere, like shopping, a coffee, a random drop-off/pick-up needing their help, etc., and then "forget" something that has to be picked up on the way home.

Think about your friend's favorite hobbies like soccer, basketball, or painting and incorporate these into your decorations, games, food, etc.

For an ideal surprise party, have the guests park their cars on another street. This will ensure that the surprise party is kept a surprise from the guest of honor.

Make her breakfast and pamper her as much as you can. Give her a small, personal gift; she's not expecting anything lavish out from her younger sister. Your attention and affection will be the perfect present for her.

It's ideal to plan a little over a month before so that it'll give you a lot of time to prepare, and people will have the time to RSVP and you can be sure of the numbers attending. This also gives you time to get decorations, organize the food and do all the other things this article explains.

To avoid this problem, keep in contact with someone who lives with the "surprisee." This might be his or her parent, sibling, spouse, or roomate. This way, you will know that they won't have plans that specific night. Also, plan in advance. To have as much preparation as possible, start thinking about the party and planning a little over a month before the date.

Let him or her invite everyone, but make sure that everyone politely declines with an excuse. Before you decline, get an idea of what kind of party he or she was throwing for themselves so you can make sure the surprise party will be something that they like. After everyone declines, ask someone like the mom of the suprisee to offer to take him or her out to dinner on their birthday. Instead of going to the restaurant, have her bring them to the party.

Well, it depends on their age. If they are younger, a crown or a fake throne would be great. If they are older, just give them a lot of attention and tell them how much they mean to you.

Yes, this is a good idea, so they can warn everybody to get into position and prepare to shout "Surprise!" when the person enters.

You don't have to do anything extreme. On the day of her birthday, act like it's a normal day. Tell your other family members to do that too. Then, while she is at work, put up decorations, and make or buy a cake. Get snack foods and some punch too. Make her a gift, or even just a handmade card. Call up other family members (grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) and ask them to come over to celebrate.

Plan the party so it's not in their bedroom.

You can either just let it be and have a good time any way, or reschedule the party to ensure the person will still be surprised.

Invite people by Evite. Evite has a "What to bring" section that the guests can click on to see what is needed for the party. The host fills in what is needed for the party, and can also give the guest the option to fill in what they want to bring. So put alcohol, food, help with the party, etc. on this list, then the guests can choose how they would like to help.

You ask them. Friends ask each other questions like this all the time, so it shouldn't be suspicious. Or, ask one of this person's family members.

Anywhere where it would not be obvious that it is a party. For example, if you said to meet at your house, they might think it is just to talk or hang out, while if you said it was at an arcade, they might have suspicions that there could be a party.

Get balloons in her favorite color, decorate using homemade decorations and bake a simple cake.

You can probably find them relatively cheap on Amazon, or at any dollar store or party supply store.

Tell one to keep the other one away from the preparations saying you are going to surprise him or her and end up surprising all of them when they arrive.

Yes! You can find super cute drinking glasses and balloons, perfect for a party.

Have her stay at a friend's house. Have the friend do different activities with her that she enjoys and that will keep her occupied.

Do the same routine, theme it around his likes and get your mom or older sibling to take him out while you get ready.

The Dollar Tree has party supplies for very cheap. Use your or a friend's house for a free venue.

If you know the other person, ask him or her to team up so you can combine your ideas for the party.

Tell them you aren't going to do it anymore, then don't bring up the topic again.

Ask a chaperone to take them out the house while people arrive, if the party is at the house, and keep plans secret.

If your friend doesn't want to celebrate their birthday, then you should respect that and avoid planning any surprises for them.