Surprise!

Scott Hardie | June 13, 2015
Have you ever thrown or attended a surprise party? How did it go?

It occurred to me that I haven't. I wondered if I was right to suspect that in real life, surprise parties don't happen like they do in the movies, or happen at all.

Steve West | June 13, 2015
Coincidentally, I just attended one this week. It went quite well as the honoree was completely unaware of the event. The preparation was a little intricate and I'm not sure if the "surprise" aspect was worth the effort. Some surprises were well thought out in that faraway siblings attended. A video montage was created as a gift and displayed. The food was catered at a pretty high cost but was nevertheless disappointing. The guest was overwhelmed by and appreciative of the response but that would have been achieved without any surprise. I'm unsure of the desire for "surprise" when an announced party would serve the same purpose.

Samir Mehta | June 13, 2015
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | July 10, 2015
Surprise parties are such big gambles. The honoree could find out the secret prematurely, or be impossible to route to the party when the time comes, or have a bad reaction in the moment. Is the benefit of a surprise when it goes well worth the chances of it going badly? I guess I'm with Steve in that I don't see the advantages of a surprise party over a regular party, but I guess it depends on the honoree. Some people react to surprises very well and others very badly, and that makes all the difference.