How early should you have guests show up for an adult's surprise birthday party?

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How early should you have guests show up for an adult's surprise birthday party?

  • 5 minutes.

  • 10 minutes.

  • 15 minutes.

  • 20-30 minutes.

  • 45 minutes.

  • A hour.

  • More than an hour.

Results are only viewable after voting.
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
This afternoon we went to a surprise birthday party for a 50 year-old. We were told to arrive at 3:00 p.m. When we arrived, we learned that the guest-of-honor would be arriving at 4:00 p.m., i.e. an hour later. That seemed a little excessive to me.

I think 15 minutes is enough lead time as long as you make it clear that the surprise will be happening at X time (which, in our case, we were not told of the "surprise time" ahead of time).

What do you think?

MotionMan
 
TridenT

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
Honestly, I think 3:00PM is acceptable. A lot of people show up really late all the time.
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
27,550
11,912
136
I can understand why they told people an hour earlier, since many people have an inability to show up on time.
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Except that everyone was actually there by about 3:10 p.m.

Maybe I just hang out with people who have an above average ability to be on time?

MotionMan
 
TridenT

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
MotionMan said:
Except that everyone was actually there by about 3:10 p.m.

Maybe I just hang out with people who have an above average ability to be on time?

MotionMan
Click to expand...

Probably that. Many people will show up 30+ minutes late.
 
GeekDrew

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2000
9,099
19
81
My family recently held a surprise 60th birthday party for my dad. The invitations indicated that everyone should be there at X time (and didn't mention that dad would be arriving 30 minutes later). I got there an hour early, to set up the room, and the first people started arriving within 5 minutes of when I got there... but there were still people arriving 15 minutes *after* dad arrived.

Yes, people are morons. Yes, 60 minutes is probably overkill, but if they really wanted everyone there for the surprise, I totally understand.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
If they're that old, you'll want it around 1pm, because they'll need to eat dinner at 3pm, then get home in time to watch the 6pm news. They'll then go to bed around 7:30.

You'll also want to put some newspapers on the floor just in case. Oh, and blast some Frankie Vallie or Frank Sinatra so they know it's a party :D
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
Fritzo said:
If they're that old, you'll want it around 1pm, because they'll need to eat dinner at 3pm, then get home in time to watch the 6pm news. They'll then go to bed around 7:30.

You'll also want to put some newspapers on the floor just in case. Oh, and blast some Frankie Vallie or Frank Sinatra so they know it's a party :D
Click to expand...

Let me tell you, these 50-year-olds knew how to party better than any of us whipper-snappers.

MotionMan
 
chedrz

chedrz

Senior member
Sep 6, 2006
252
0
76
I'd say people need to show up at least 20-30 minutes before the stripper pops out of the cake and starts giving free lapdances.
 
N

nanette1985

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2005
4,209
2
0
If you tell people that the surprise is at, say, 5PM, people will show up whenever they feel like it.

If you tell people to show up at 4PM for a surprise party, people will show up at 4PM-ish.
 
MagnusTheBrewer

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
1,594
126
MotionMan said:
Oh, so your friends show up late to everything because they are all social butterflies who are too stupid and/or selfish to show up to a surprise birthday party on time?

Time for new friends.

MotionMan
Click to expand...

Only lawyers and us geezers with work ethics are concerned with being on time. Lawyers because of billable time and geezers because we had it beaten into us.
 
MotionMan

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
princess ida said:
If you tell people that the surprise is at, say, 5PM, people will show up whenever they feel like it.

If you tell people to show up at 4PM for a surprise party, people will show up at 4PM-ish.
Click to expand...

I guess I know better than to tell people when the surprise is suppose to be. But I would never people to show up a full hour early for a surprise.

I figure that, if they do not know when the surprise will be, they will show up close to the "show up" time.

(Side note: On our wedding invite, we called the ceremony for "7:30 p.m. sharp". Jewish weddings are pretty short, IMO. So, a few people walked in as we were walking out, Adam Carolla-style. LOL.)

MotionMan
 
JTsyo

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,980
1,100
126
The important thing is if you're running late be sure you wait until after the guest arrives instead of ruining the surprise.
 
Scotteq

Scotteq

Diamond Member
Apr 10, 2008
5,276
5
0
It depends on your family: In the case of mine, you can absolutely count on *nobody* being on time. Almost to a man, they will be a minimum hour late, if not two. An prime example of this would be my cousin, who was over an hour and a half late for her own wedding. The entire ceremony was only supposed to be 30 minutes, and we actually had to talk the Priest into not throwing us out. :p

I picked an hour on the poll, with the understanding that one knows their family well enough to adjust what you tell them. i.e. - If it was important, there are people I need to lie to in order to get them to the actual time/place.

Mostly, I would never consider doing a party (surprise or not) for anyone in my family. It will inevitably fail.
 
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