Describe a party that you would like to organise in the future

One party I'd really like to organise is a surprise party for my mother's fiftieth birthday, which is coming up in about eighteen months. She has always put everyone else first, and I feel it's time that someone did something special for her.

I'd like to hold it in the garden of our family house, if the weather's good, or in a rented hall if it isn't. I'd invite about forty people, mostly relatives and her closest friends, including some old school friends she hasn't seen for years. That would require a lot of detective work to find their contact details without letting her suspect anything. I'd ask my brother to take her out for the afternoon so that we can decorate the venue with balloons, flowers and photographs from different stages of her life, and arrange a slideshow to be played during the evening.

As for the food, I'd like to have a buffet with all her favourite dishes, and a large cake, which my aunt, who bakes beautifully, has already offered to make. There would be some music, and I'd try to get the whole family to perform a song or tell a short story about her.

There are two main reasons why I want to organise this. One is to say thank you for everything she has done for us. The other is that I enjoy bringing people together, and I think seeing her happy and surprised, surrounded by the people she loves, would be one of the best moments of my life. I've already started a secret notebook with ideas!