Breakfast in bed is one of the best ways to surprise your partner. There is no better feeling than the one you get upon seeing a well-prepared breakfast seconds after waking up, and then sharing the breakfast with a special person. It is also a surprise you can prepare without going to a lot of trouble.

If you are thinking about preparing breakfast in bed for your partner, planning ahead is a must. There are a few things you need to prepare for the surprise to work. These six tips and tricks are what you need to successfully pull off a romantic breakfast in bed.

1. Get Breakfast Trays

You want to make sure you have breakfast trays big enough for the breakfast you want to serve. Ideally, you want nicely designed wooden serving trays, 20 x 15 inches or 20 x 20 inches in size, to fit everything perfectly.

Go for walnut serving trays for that extra warmth and gorgeous texture. Wooden serving trays are also easier to store and maintain, making them great investments as a whole.

2. Shop the Day (or Night) Before

Pick a breakfast menu for the surprise and prepare everything beforehand. You want to make sure that the ingredients you need are all available and that personal touches – such as flowers and handwritten notes – are ready to go.

3. Keep It a Surprise

Yes, the surprise element is important. Try not to spill the beans as you shop for ingredients. More importantly, don’t use your alarm to wake up earlier in the morning; that alarm will most likely wake your partner up too.

4. Watch the Portions

Eating in bed is a challenge, which is why we use wooden serving trays in the first place. Aside from choosing trays that are big enough for the breakfast menu, you also want to make sure that you leave some room on the plate and cups.

Filling the coffee cup to the brim will only make carrying the tray difficult. You may end up with a messy tray even before you surprise your partner, which isn’t what you want.

5. Watch the Menu

Speaking of avoiding unnecessary mess, you also want to choose the breakfast menu carefully. Some food items are easier to eat in bed because they can be consumed with one hand and don’t leave crumbs and other messy things behind. Think about the eating process as you prepare for the surprise.

6. Add Sweet Touches

There are a lot of ways to make breakfast in bed more special. Adding flowers to the tray and closing the breakfast with some sweet treats are two things you can try.

You can also add some reading materials – like the morning newspaper – or simply prepare some intimate things to talk about during your romantic breakfast. These sweet touches help elevate the surprise to a whole new level.

One last thing to keep in mind: don’t forget to clean up after. Taking the breakfast trays back to the kitchen and allowing your partner to simply enjoy the moment are parts of the surprise. With these tips in mind, your breakfast in bed will be as successful as you imagined.