A dear friend of mine is expecting a baby girl. We (a group of her friends) wanted to assure she gets an unforgettable celebration, not just an ordinary parade where cars drive by and honk loud.
Since it was a surprise, we made a copy of her baby registry, that way she didn't receive notifications when an item from the list was purchased. Once we had the date/time defined, we sent out the invitations. Her husband was in charge of keeping her busy while we setup the decoration in front of the house.