I’m planning a surprise birthday party for my husband next month. I need some ideas on how to write the invitation so I decided to ask the smartest and wittiest bunch of people I know. Unfortunately they were all busy so I came here instead.
Anyway, I have a picture of my husband from when he was about 5, sitting by a birthday cake, that I plan to use on the invitation. He’s got his hands cupped under his chin and a huge smile on his face. As for the wording, here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Timmy is turning 30!
(insert picture here)
Make his birthday wish come true and join us in celebrating
on Saturday, Sept. 15 at the …
(Shhhh … don’t tell, it’s a surprise!)
In honor of Tim’s birthday, Val is springing for karaoke, so be ready to sing!
Tim will be arriving for the big reveal at 8 p.m.
Karaoke will begin at 8:30 p.m.
We’d love to see you there!
What am I missing? Any clever sayings about being 30 that I could add? Do you think people will take the hint and show up prior to 8 to yell “surprise” or do I need to be more specific about that?
If I were a person who would be recieving your invite, I’d understand that I was supposed to arrive before 8 pm, but I’d appreciate being given some clue as to how much before 8 I could show up and find evidence of Timmy’s party. (Doors open at 7:30 or whatever).
Well, it’s at his favorite bar so technically I guess people could show up at when it opens 10 a.m. if they want. Knowing his friends, that just might happen. I plan to have my mom or sister bring the food/cake there for me at about 7:30.
You could also write it up as a “Have You Seen This Child?” and tape the invitations to milk cartons. “Little Timmy, last seen here at age 5, has been missing for 25 years.”
Or you could make up your invitation by cutting out letters from magazines, in the manner of a ransom note, that say, “We hAvE stoLEn aWAy this LITTLE boY. if You waNT to seE hIm aGaiN, bRinG PreSenTs to HIS bIRThDay PaRtY on SaTURday…”
Ha! That’s funny. It could be something along the lines of, “Have you seen this boy? He used to be so cute and innocent. What happened? He turned 30!” I doubt I’ll have the resources to use actual milk cartons (~30 invites, which I need to mail, and trying to do it sneakily) but I could probably come up with something that looks like a milk carton on paper. I plan to design them myself using QuarkXPress.
I plan to have my mom or sister bring the food/cake there for me at about 7:30.