Birthday surprise ideas for your boyfriend

A private website only he can open. Load it with the photos where you are both laughing, the song he claims he hates but always sings, and a letter that sounds like you, not like a card. He unlocks it with a PIN and walks through it like a little museum of the two of you.

One page. First half, lovingly roast him, his three worst takes, the way he tells the same story every time. Second half, tell him what you would never say out loud on a normal day. The roast earns the toast. He will read it more than once.

Not a generic fancy dinner. His thing. If he games, set up a proper session with his favourite snacks and no interruptions. If he is a football person, build the evening around the match. Being taken seriously about his hobby is the gift.

The songs from when you started dating. The one from that road trip. The embarrassing one he loves at full volume. Order matters, start with the oldest and walk him forward in time.

His friends will not organise anything, but they will show up if you do. Collect short clips from them, the dumber the better, and put them somewhere he can watch in one go. Guys rarely hear their friends say anything sincere. It hits harder than you expect.

His comfort food, the exact order, arriving without him asking. If you cook it yourself, even a simple version, that is the story he tells people later.