Dear husband is turning 29 on the 28th and since I won’t be around on the day itself, I planned for a surprise early birthday party for him. I am in a shoe string budget but I was still able to give him the grandest time.
Here’s some tips on planning a surprise budget party for your husband in a shoe string budget:
1. Decide how many guests you are inviting and then list them down. I thought of husband’s closest friends and prioritized them. I also listed back-up friends just in case some declined the invitation. I know, back-up friends sound mean but I told you I was in a tight budget and I can only accommodate the closest ones 😀
2. Invite them secretly and make sure you state that it’s a surprise party and that they do not mention it to anyone. What I did was group messaged them on Facebook and crossed out people who couldn’t make it and then replaced them with the people next in line. Another tip is to invite them an hour earlier than your planned time to get your husband to come to the party venue. This is to ensure that all of the guests are present before your husband comes in.
3. When your headcount is ready you can start thinking of a theme. I went for all things my husband liked and put it together. He liked Chinese and Japanese food so I had both.
FOOD- I opted to have them delivered instead of cooking. I ordered from Chowking their 4 SET B party pack which costs P525 each (good for 5 pax each). Then had a California Maki platter delivered from Kitaro.
It was a simple party and the guests were all friends that I didn’t need to impress so Chowking was a good choice. Everyone was happy and hungry so I’m sure they were satisfied.
DRINKS- Soda came with the Chowking party pack so I just stocked up on booze because  these guys drink like there’s no tomorrow and it was years ago since they all came together for a drink.
CAKE- my mother in law pledged for a birthday cake so I saved on this one.
LOOT BAG- To keep our friendship sweet, I placed 5 pieces of my husband’s favorite chocolates in a brown sandwich bag and sealed it with a home made thank you card.
4. DIY your decorations. Truthfully you don’t need to decorate since it’s an adult party but just for kicks, I opted to dress the place ala kids party. I bought party materials from Japan store and Toys R Us:
10 pcs balloons P39
party strings (4 pcs/pack) P66
party plates (10pcs/pack) P66
party cups (20pcs/pack) P66
birthday banner P36
I also made these 
 and stuck them on the California Maki. 😀
That’s our guild’s logo when we were still playing MU Philippines and where most of our guests and us met.
The loot bag thank you card is this-Â 
That’s totoro there in case you don’t know. And he’s Troy and Peaches’ fave Ghibli cartoon character.
5. Have fun! It was fun planning the party and keeping secrets from my husband AND daughter (I had to keep it from her because she will surely be so excited and will tell her Dad about it–believe me I know.) If you know me, I’m the type who can’t keep secrets from her husband 😀 he’s always the first one to know stuff when I’m excited and when good things happen. It was an effort but I’m happy that everyone had a great time and my husband was so surprised, happy and thankful 😀
I hope this helped you plan a great surprise for your husband. It does not need to be expensive. Just keep in mind things that make him happy and put it together. Ultimately it’s about friends getting together and catching up on lost times.
