Brunch Etiquette: Birthday Brunches

I almost always cry on my birthday. And not always because I'm sad -- at least 50% of the time I cry because I'm happy. Crying is not a particularly special phenomenon for me  (I cry every time I watch Love Actually or when the Boston Celtics lose a post season game), and since birthdays are rife with either disappointment or pleasant surprises, it's not shocking that I often find myself crying. That said, I have made it a rule to hide on my birthday.*

But not this year. This year I am going to do something that I love with people that I like a lot: Brunch.

There are different options for having Birthday Brunch, here's a basic break down:

• The At Home option, which entails me cooking and cleaning more than I want to on any day let alone on my birthday.
• The Private Room at a Restaurant option, which entails me spending more money on people I like a lot than I'd be willing to spend on people I love.
• The Standard Reservation at a Restaurant option, which is the perfect balance of choosing where & when without the clean up, cooking or cost.

While there's likely to be a few hiccups (waiting to be seated, dealing with the bill, etc), I'm planning a standard reservation brunch for a group of 10+ people at an undisclosed venue. After all, what better way to celebrate me than by having people come to a restaurant, sing me Happy Birthday, and pay for their own food?

Once this birthday brunch actually happens in a few weeks, I'm going to revisit the topic, but a few tips on planing a standard reservation birthday brunch for yourself:

• Get a head count before you make a reservation. You don't want to modify a large reservation multiple times, especially at the last minute. 
• Make a reservation early. It's brunch in San Francisco (or any other major US city nowadays), the closer it is to the date, the fewer options you'll have.
• If you have special requests, accommodations or want to pre-purchase something for the group, call ahead. Not an email, not a comment on the reservation form. An actual phone call.
• If you do pre-order/purchase or something for the group, give your credit card when you call so it can be charged ahead of time separate from the group bill.
• Ask people to bring cash if you're going to be splitting the bill. 

I'm debating whether or not to add "bring party hats" to the suggestions list, though for now I'll hold off until I see how they go over...

*How do you hide on your birthday? Easy, make your birthday invisible and disable your wall on the Facebook, so the few friends that remember your birthday without a reminder can't write an impersonal note to the world congratulating you on living another year. When you're at work, field all phone calls from family and friends in private, do not open any packages you receive in the office. Staying home sick is also an effective tactic.