45 Times People Threw Surprise Parties With the Best Intentions But Completely Missed the Mark

Surprise parties are one of the greatest gestures a loved one can show you. What if we were to tell you, almost 80% of the time, these efforts backfire and turn out to be one of the worst yet also most memorable parties of your life?

In this story, a family arranged a surprise for their uncle’s 63rd birthday. When we think of the birthday boy’s reaction to seeing 50 of his closest friends and family around him, having his heart skip a bit would make sense. But, what actually ended up happening was definitely not foreseeable.

You would say it’s a regular phenomenon that girlfriends don’t like their boyfriends’ friends but generally they still put up with them. Except, this girl was different. She chose the ‘mean girl’ approach and didn’t invite any of his friends to the surprise party.

Though, sadly for her karma came to bite and the friends had a party of their own for him. This obviously meant that her surprise was ruined and ended up with tears and drama.

You would think that someone would understand that the cover up story was a lie once they saw their surprise party but not this kid. There’s always one who goes against the current of of the norm. Bless our special surprise boy for naively believing his mom’s budget issue story!

While going to Maccy D’s with his good friend sounds like a lovely outing, the surprise party is the better option. Maybe the birthday boy has simpler wants than his mom realizes.

Does the whole excitement behind a surprise party get more lame with age? We surely hope not. What we found to be the problem for why the guests won’t prepared was simply because they were overserved.

Well, there was actually another problem. The boss didn’t do her job which was text the birthday boy at 5:30pm so instead he was waiting around at the office while everyone was starting the party at his place.

Okay, men can be stupid sometimes, but we did not know this stupid. Who goes to the trouble of organizing a surprise party for their girlfriend and then cheats on her? We don’t get this logic but then again, we’re just the storytellers.

It’s not often we feel bad for the hostess of the party whose boyfriend and bestie organized the surprise in her honor but this story changes that narrative. We’re starting to curse these parties as there seems to be bad omen involved.

We’ve heard of surprise parties going wrong but this next one takes the cake. As it turns out, uncle Tommy aka the birthday boy here isn’t a big fan of surprises and chose the party pooper approach when he discovered his party.

He had a massive tantrum by throwing his gifts, destroying the cake and even uprooting himself to Florida. Yes, you heard that right. He divorced his wife and changed his life after this surprise. We bet no one in this family threw another celebratory event again!

We’re starting to feel scared from the aftermath of surprise parties. From cheating on partners to divorce and uprooting lives, what else can go wrong? Unfortunately, the aunt of this former birthday girl can tell you another surprising story.

Do Not Yell “Surprise!”Her niece accidentally punched her in the face and broke her nose in the process during the “Surprise!!!” chant. Perhaps we stop with all these parties before another individual gets hurt? Who agrees? No more surprises.

Who lets the host of the party smell like a pig on their special day? We would have doubted the wife’s intentions further but she was also the one who organized the party at an upscale restaurant.

As a rule of thumb from now on, remember to make sure the birthday person’s hygiene is well taken care of before the event starts. Who wants to be celebrated while stinking? Trust us, no one!

Army people have the quickest reflexes, we all know that. But what happens when you try to surprise someone who has military training? Well, you’re taking a slight risk for sure.

So when this guy came home from deployment and his friends threw a surprise homecoming party for him, all seemed merry until his reaction hurt a guest. To be more specific, one of the party goers left with two chipped teeth and a damaged wrist.

If someone is a Judo-enthusiast or Karate kid then perhaps you shouldn’t be throwing them a surprise party. Why? Their reflexes are too good and if you don’t maintain a safe distance from them, they could pounce. Don’t believe us? Keep reading!

Yes, the birthday boy did by accident break his girlfriend’s arm but it’s all water under the bridge now as they’re happily married. Though, we bet the wife thinks twice before surprising him still.

A party pooper: a person who ruins the atmosphere of a party. That is the definition we’ve always known but this next story takes the literal meaning of the term. We’d rather not spell it out for you so just use your imagination…

Turns out this 40th birthday boy had the runs the day of his surprise. How’s that for bad luck? Well, at least his little accident made for an unforgettable story that the niece still recounts all these years later.

It’s so upsetting when a plan with good intentions blows up in flames. Not literal flames of course. In this case, all this woman was trying to do was surprise her husband with a hot tub party after his return from Iraq.

However, what we’ve recently learned about army men is that the last thing you should do is surprise them. Chances are they’ll just freak out and reign terror. Somehow the wife ended up in the cake and the army husband was in a panic state on the floor!

There seems to be really bad luck attached to girlfriends surprising their boyfriends. For some unbeknown reason, the guy always ends up cheating on his girlfriend despite her best efforts to make his day special.

Picture the scene – all the guests are waiting at the apartment for him to arrive only to see him in the parking lot getting up to some inappropriate extracurricular activities. Happy birthday, you cheater face!

We have never heard about more ungrateful people than the ones from this list. If someone throws a surprise celebratory event for you then you should express gratitude. You should definitely not accuse them of holding sinister secrets.

Yet, that didn’t stop this 45-year-old husband. His logic was that if she could hide such a big secret like a surprise party behind his back then she’s probably hiding lots else. How about just saying “thank you, honey?” When did having good manners go out the door?

Imagine planning a surprise party for your fiancé, only to discover she’s cheating on you… That’s gotta hurt. While the poor dude felt some physical pain for sure after he decked the other guy.

This sounds like the kind of drama you read about in Nicholas Sparks novels that then get made into big-time movies like The Notebook and The Lucky One. We’re gonna name this next one The Drama Queen. Who would watch it?

The slightest mishap can ruin a surprise and in this case it was going through the wrong door. Because the birthday girl’s boyfriend led her from the back door, the guests were facing the other way when she entered. Awkward much?

We just hope that things got better after that anti-climax of a start. Perhaps the cake was delicious and the guests had the best time. We’re going to tell ourselves that because it’s a better thought than the alternative.

There is nothing more disheartening than canceling a party that you have planned. So, you do everything in your power to keep the party on. In this case, this girl had to try keep her relationship afloat with this dude, even though she didn’t feel very strongly about him.

Why she wasn’t that interested in him but was still planning him a surprise party we can’t understand but that was the case. The poor guy ended up having a miserable birthday once he find out.

People think for some reason that because it’s their birthday, all of a sudden they can go around acting rude and throwing tantrums. We have yet another example of a party pooper who came late to his own surprise party.

The story gets way worse. Everyone went to such effort for him which was totally ignored and he even broke up with his girlfriend of four years on the basis that he doesn’t like surprises. Wow, sounds like she’s better off without him!

While the expression “To let the cat out of the bag” is figurative, how cute is this photo right here? We can’t stop staring at this furry princess. Now precious aside, there’s nothing worse than someone ruining a surprise party, right?

Luckily, the party organizers in this story were kept out of the loop about that detail. They don’t need to know that their all their hard work was spoilt by some silly person who casually let it slip.

Sometimes, when you are trying to surprise someone by throwing a party, you can be surprised too. So, you better brace yourselves while you are at it. Turns out the guests from this next story got more of a shock than the birthday boy himself!

Let’s just say he managed to scare the guests “shi-‘r’-tless,” if you get what we’re saying. Truthfully, we like any story that ends in copious laughter.

Remember to check that the person who the party is for actually likes and knows the theme before you go ahead and decorate everything. We saw this mistake in action with this next Breaking Bad themed party.

The wife ended up including massive spoilers throughout the venue and as it turns out, the birthday boy had only seen a few episodes… We’re laughing from how awkward this must have been. Let’s still give her an ‘A’ for effort though!

We love the concept of throwing your work colleague a party at the office. What could possibly go wrong in such a confined space? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot. We just hope that when he regurgitated, it was after everyone had already eaten the cake.

Why? Because there’s nothing better than birthday cake so we really hope it didn’t all go to waste. We also do hope the ex-birthday boy is doing okay. Sounds like his surprise didn’t end well for him!

The last thing a party planner would want to do is harm the person who the surprise is for. However, in the case of this great-aunt, the shock of her big celebration caused her to have a heart attack.

Matters went from bad to worse when she ended up passing away a few days later. We only hope the party goers don’t blame themselves as everyone only had the best of intentions to celebrate her.

Just a word of advice for all you party planners: never leave the person you are surprising alone. You should appoint someone to make sure the person reaches the venue without any inconvenience. We’ve learned this from all these surprise-party-turned-horror-stories.

We hope nothing major happened after the aunt called 911. Then again, we can’t say for sure as things seem to go from one extreme to the next with some of these surprise parties. No one is safe from horrors occurring!

Inviting a person to a surprise party that is for them takes a lot of brainwork. This, in fact, is one of the key ingredients of making the party successful. This girl was turning 16, and so her friends decided to throw a surprise birthday party when she came home.

We’re not even going to ask you the rhetorical question of “What could go wrong?” as we’ve learned better by now. The party ended with the poor birthday girl taking care of everyone else. It’s no fun when you’re the only one who isn’t inebriated!

Including the right people at a surprise party is absolutely essential. You don’t want to forget someone important. This girl threw a going-away party for her boyfriend at his apartment but forgot to invite his roommate.

So, the group of people in the apartment ending up yelling “SURPRISE” to the wrong person. Luckily, the real birthday boy was just a few minutes delayed but his celebratory chant was a lot less exciting.

If you have just started to date someone and their birthday is coming up, making an effort will create a good impression. But just make sure that person is actually free to celebrate with you. Checking in with friends wouldn’t be a bad idea.

We say this because of the next story you’re about to hear. Turns out this guy ruined his date’s surprise party by taking her out when the event was taking place. We bet her friends aren’t the biggest fan of him!

When it comes to surprise parties, the last thing you want to do is be the person who ruins it for everyone else. In this case, Marcus was that guy and he paid the price for it. Not only did the birthday dude’s girlfriend punch him, but everyone else gave him a hard time too.

Did he deserve all that abuse? Probably not but lesson learned for next time. We bet this guy was super careful and touchy about birthday parties after this incident.

Making our grandparents surprised on their birthdays is something we all love doing. Their warm smiles can light up the world like a Christmas tree. So when this family arranged a surprise for their grandma’s 70th birthday, they were probably expecting that response.

Sadly, they didn’t factor in that the grandma was short-sighted and without her glasses. Even though her reaction wasn’t according to plan, it sounds like things turned out fabulously in the end.

This lucky girl’s father planned a birthday party for her. As lovely as this sounds, it ended in dismay when she fell down a flight of stairs. Perhaps people need to stop throwing these surprise events as it sounds like more often than not, someone gets hurt.

We just hope her injuries were minimal and that she still managed to enjoy the party. Perhaps she is one of those people who are able to laugh at the mishaps and not focus on the bad.

Incase you’ve never heard of a ‘birthday bomb,’ we’ll explain. As it turns out, this explosion can arise from the birthday boy due to the shock of the surprise or perhaps from an earlier meal. Either way, it makes for some great comic relief.

Of course, the ‘bomb’ does smell very bad but with any luck all the laughter will distract the guests for long enough for it to dissipate. We’ve got to give it up for this trench-coat-wearing grandpa who provided the entertainment at his own party!

Teenagers are known to come with drama, hormones and difficulties but that doesn’t mean to say they’re all unplayable. However, after hearing that not one kid turned up for this girl’s sweet 16th, we’re having a change of heart.

Perhaps these particular teenagers are heartless. Either that or their invitations got lost in the mail because we don’t know how anyone could stand up the birthday girl. That’s beyond nasty!

Planning surprise birthday parties for friends’ has its own risks. The person everyone is trying to surprise can freak out, punch a cake or even break up with their partner. We’ve officially heard it all by now. Or have we? Get ready for yet another surprising surprise party!

This birthday boy forgot that his friends had planned a date with him and ended up going out with family. By making this faux pas, he missed his own party but luckily everybody got to enjoy the food and good vibes.

Who sits at home alone on their sweet 16th birthday? Well, either someone who is anti-social or perhaps someone whose friends forgot to invite them to their own party. The latter seems to be the case here. Imagine that?

If we were the birthday girl, we don’t know if we’d feel appreciative for the effort or angry that it didn’t go according to plan… Perhaps they should all plan a re-do party? That way, she can still experience what it’s like to be the belle of the ball.

It sucks to plan a party that does not pan out. Sometimes you can plan to perfection and then things can happen that are just out of your control. For example, having the birthday boy arrive at his surprise party only to then leave for a better party. Wait, what?

We can’t imagine the birthday person who is being celebrated by others deciding that the grass is greener on the other side. If we were his friends, we’d probably ditch him and find a more grateful replacement.

Having a girl’s group is an amazing thing. They’re there for you throughout the good times and bad. So, even when your romantic relationships don’t go according to plan, at least you have your girls to pick you back up again.

Thank goodness this broken-hearted girl had a power group of friends who were there to surprise her and pick up the pieces after her six month relationship came to a painful end. Here’s to girls supporting other girls!

When kids are in the prime of their youth, they’re maturity levels are still in development. What this means is that their judgement can be eerie and because of that, miscommunication and arguments can occur.

For example, this grade five student intentionally spilled the beans about a surprise party to the girl who it was for. The girl then decided that the over-sharer deserved to be smacked for her loose lips. Do we agree with her reaction? Nope but oversharing isn’t good either!

Best friends are known to go over and above for each other. However, sometimes it’s important to know when to throw in the towel. If not, conflict can arise which is the opposite of what everyone wants. Such seemed to be the case here during the pre-surprise delay.

We bet no one meant to get physical but somehow the birthday girl got punched in the face. What is it with birthdays and people get socked in the face? Luckily, the party still went on and everyone had fun.

Kids have the most hilarious responses to any surprise parties, especially their own birthdays. Imagine seeing someone bash their head from the shock… You just can’t make this stuff up!

Let’s just hope the concussion didn’t ruin the special day. Even though it’s hard to be present in the moment when you suffering from a headache, perhaps the excitement of the party kept the birthday boy going. Otherwise he deserves another bash. The party that is, not the smack!

There’s risk involved when it comes to blindfolding someone. In our opinion, people just shouldn’t try it. Why, you might be asking? Because accidents always happen. Keep reading for a prime example.

This family had a surprise party for their daughter and chose to blindfold her until the grand surprise. She was so taken back by all the people and party chaos that she managed to knock herself into the door. Well, at least the entertainment of the night was free!

We love our dads but when it comes to party planning, that sounds like a job for the moms. Obviously there’s exemptions to this but what occurred in this next story helps make our case.

This poor kid was expecting a surprise party on his 13th birthday and instead spent his special day doing yard work. Let’s just hope that our forgetful dad here made up for his mistake and raised the stakes for the next birthday.

Who can mess up party decorations? Well, anyone can if they’re not well aware. For example, don’t throw a party for someone based on a movie or TV series that they don’t know. Also, keep in mind sensitive subject matter when choosing the party theme.

We mention the latter point because this family tried to do a nice gesture by throwing the mom a Wizard of Oz birthday party but they didn’t take the tornado trauma into account. Cue lots of tears and face slapping.

Imagine greeting your guests at your surprise party and still not realizing it’s for you. You’d have to be pretty special to not clock that but there’s always those who can shock us to the core. This dad takes cute and naive to new levels. We can’t help but love him!

We do hope he smacked himself when he realized his foolishness. Obviously not a hard slap! Just enough to knock some sense into himself. But then again, this story is priceless and the epitome of funny family memories.

We’ve all been on those awkward dinner dates where there’s barely any talking. In those incidents, it’s best to focus on our food and listen to the sound of our cutlery. This next story is the perfect example of this ‘shut up and eat’ scenario.

This guy was trying to win back his ex by hosting a surprise dinner for her. Sounds romantic, right? Well it does until she rocks up with her new boyfriend. We bet everyone there wanted to hide under the table…

Nothing seems cuter than a bunch of freshman college girls hosting a surprise birthday for one of their close friends. The group even organized the cake and decor, so everything was handled to perfection. Well, almost. The actual surprise was rather lacking.

Imagine the birthday girl seeing a bunch of quiet friends all staring at her in the face… All of a sudden the sweet and thoughtful party sounds kind of creepy and awkward. On the bright side, we bet the cake was delicious.