I began to plan my husband's surprise 30th birthday party 5 months before the big day because I knew that a lot of people would be getting married in early June and competition for a banquet hall could be tough. I chose a local restaurant that offered a banquet room and secretly interviewed DJ's for the party. In order to keep my nosy husband from figuring out my plan, I told him that one of our friends (who really was engaged at the time) was getting married the day that I had been planning the party for. I even went as far as creating a wedding invitation and having someone mail it to us to throw him off! With a little help from one of my husband's co-workeres, I gathered the names and addresses of the people who he spends so much of his daily life with at work. I knew that he would be shocked to see them there! About 2 months before the party I sent out Save the Date" cards with an old picture of my husband in a silly birthday hat eating a piece of cake. When the date drew closer I created my own invitations using balloon-themed cardstock and small pictures of my husband. In preparation for the party I created large collages using pictures from my husband's infancy all the way up through present times. I used poster boards with a balloon motif and attached them to stiff architecture boards to keep them in place. Once the party arrived I placed the boards on easils around the room for everyone to look at while they waited for us to arrive. I also ordered dozens of balloons and created placemats using old scanned photos of my husband. Each guest had their own picture of him throughout the years! In order to avoid any awkwardness between co-workers and our family and friends I created a seating chart and little place cards made out of cardstock for each person. I put my mom in charge of assisted everyone to their tables when they arrived. I also bought these really fun centerpieces made out of shiny "30s" at a local party store along with ceiling decorations with "30s" on them that hung over the whole room. The tables were sprinkled with "30s" confetti to add some color to the white tablecloths. Just for fun I bought plastic leis and mardi gras beads for everyone to wear as the party kicked off. To keep the younger kids entertained I bought a few coloring books and crayons. When the big day arrived my husband was convinced that we were going to a friend's wedding. Much to his surprise when we walked in the room all of his family and friends were there to greet him. We ate and danced and enjoyed every moment. We sent our guests home with CD's that had a compilation of some of my husband's favorite party music on them as favors. To this day I still don't think my husband gotten over the surprise!"