How to Plan a Gender Reveal Party (An Easy How-To Guide)
Are you thinking about throwing a gender reveal party? Read on to learn how to plan a gender reveal party with this easy how-to guide.
Are you and your partner expecting a new addition to your family? Congratulations! It doesn’t matter if it’s your first or tenth, learning about a pregnancy is always a joyous occasion.
Pretty soon you’ll be busy with doctor’s appointments, picking out names, stocking up on diapers, and decorating the nursery. But, there’s one special event that shouldn’t be overlooked – the gender reveal!
It’s becoming more and more popular to host gender reveal parties. It’s the perfect way to get all your friends and family together and celebrate this huge moment in your pregnancy. Of course, an extra special moment like this will need an extra special party.
Do you want to know how to plan the perfect gender reveal party? Keep reading to discover our easy how-to guide.
Have Your 18-20 Week Appointment
Are you feeling overwhelmed with everything going on? It can be challenging to work and upkeep a home when you have a baby on the way, especially with all the changes happening in your first trimester. But, don’t let that pregnancy brain stand in the way of your gender reveal party.
Most parents are able to learn the gender of their baby around 18 to 20 weeks. During this appointment, make sure you tell the doctor that you do not want to know the sex of the baby. Doctors will typically ask before telling you but letting them know right before the ultrasound helps ensure you won’t see any clear shots of the genitals or that it won’t accidentally slip.
Bring an envelope with you to your appointment and ask your doctor to write “boy” or “girl” on a slip of paper. Have them seal it in the envelope, so there’s no chance you’ll catch a glimpse. You’ll need to hand this envelope over to a baker or other employee when you plan the reveal moment.
Create the Perfect Guest List
Before you start planning your gender reveal party, you’ll want to think about who you want to share this moment with. Some couples opt for just family and a few close friends while others want a huge bash with distant relatives and coworkers.
Keep in mind that creating your guest list will determine a lot moving forward. If you want a large guest list, you may need to pick a venue with more space and have a more formal party. By limiting your guest list to close family and friends, you can have a laid-back party and won’t need to stress as much about the small details.
Pick a Theme
With gender reveal parties becoming more commonplace, you’ll probably attend quite a few. If you want to make your party stand out, consider giving it a theme!
Think about what you and your partner like to do. If you like snorkeling or lounging on the beach, consider an ocean theme. If you like hunting, go for a woodland theme. There are tons of options that will give your party a more personal touch.
Add a Cute Saying
Alright, so you have a unique theme, why not add a unique saying too? Instead of going with “boy or girl” think of traditional boy and girl elements related to your theme.
“Pirate or mermaid”, “Superman or Wonder Woman”, and “Stag or Doe” are all great options that fit well with themes. If you can’t think of anything that goes well with your chosen theme, consider “bowties or bows”. It’s a great alternative to simply “boy or girl” and it goes with almost any theme.
Consider Going Seasonal
Do you live in a state that experiences all four seasons? You probably get excited as one season ends and another one starts.
You can use this change in season as your perfect theme. Winter wonderland, spring garden, summer BBQ, and autumn foliage are all wonderful backdrops for the perfect party. Of course, spring, summer, and autumn are great times for outdoor parties, so you can let nature decorate for you.
Do you want to build suspense? While many parents opt to do the gender reveal shortly after their 20-week appointment, you could wait until the baby’s due date is closer. This gives you the opportunity to use the baby’s birth season as your theme and will make the long-awaited gender reveal even more exciting!
Make Your Invitations
Of course, no reveal would be complete without gender reveal invitations. Even if you’re only inviting close family and friends, invitations are important to remind your guests of the time, date, and location.
Since gender reveals aren’t considered formal events, you don’t need to go all out in this step. You can make invitations at home or go with an evite to save even more money.
Design the invitations with the theme and saying in mind. You may also want to include a quick one-sentence description of a gender reveal party. While they’re popular now, that wasn’t always the case, so some of your guests may not know what a gender reveal party is.
Gifts also tend to be a big question. Make sure you put some information pointing towards whether or not gifts are expected.
Pick the Perfect Space
With the guest list and theme in mind, you’ll need to scout for the perfect location. Many couples opt to have it in their backyard since it’s free and a great way to enjoy the warm weather.
If you’re gender reveal is in the winter, you could throw it in your house or rent an affordable space, like a community center or church basement. You’ll just want to make sure it’s a good size for your guest list and easy to decorate.
Get Decorations
Alright, so you’ve picked your theme and your space. Now it’s time to think of decorations!
Balloons, tablecloths, and streamers typically make up the bulk of gender reveal party decorations since they’re affordable and easy to use. Keep in mind, an indoor party (especially one in a plain rented space) may require more decorations than an outdoor party. Of course, you’ll want to hang a large “boy or girl” banner no matter where your party is.
Decide on a Menu
Have you ever attended a party that didn’t have enough food to go around? Or maybe the selection was so small that you couldn’t find anything you liked. You know how frustrating this can be, so make sure your guests are well fed during your gender reveal party.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to offer a full buffet or a sit-down meal. But, you’ll want to make sure you have a variety of options. Consider having sandwich platters, pinwheel wraps, a DIY salad bar, along with some salty snacks and sweets. If you want to go a step further, you can make buffalo chicken dip or mac and cheese and keep it in a slow cooker to stay warm.
This is also a great place to play with your theme. You can find plastic toppers for cupcakes or fun shaped cookie cutters to help your deserts follow the theme. You can also make theme-y labels, like writing “twigs” in front of a bowl of pretzel sticks for a woodland-themed gender reveal party.
If you want to focus on a pink and blue color scheme, consider topping your cupcakes and cookies with colored icing. You could also serve natural blue and pink lemonade as a healthier alternative to soda.
Plan a Special Reveal
Alright, so you’re spending all this time and money planning a gender reveal party. You don’t just want to open the envelop and announce the gender. Planning a special way to reveal the gender will be the main part of your party.
There are tons of affordable options that will give your party that “wow” factor. You could have a baker fill cupcakes with blue or pink frosting and bite into them as your reveal. Alternatively, you could ask the baker to fill the middle layer of your cake with colored frosting and cut into it to reveal the gender.
If you don’t want to go the dessert route, there are plenty of other gender reveal ideas. You could go to your local party store and ask them to inflate either pink or blue balloons and place them in a large cardboard box. During your party, open the box and see what color the balloons are.
For something a little more fun, you could fill a balloon with colored confetti or a pinata with colored candy. These are a little messier, but they’ll add a more dramatic effect to your gender reveal.
To build-up suspense, you could fill a few balloons with white confetti and only one with colored confetti. Grab two needles and have you and your partner pop the balloons together one by one until you get to the colored one. The added anticipation will make the reveal that much better.
Assign a Photographer
It’s no secret that cell phones have become a way of life. You may think that you don’t need to worry about pictures because everyone’s sure to be watching the gender reveal through their phone’s camera.
However, not everyone is great at taking pictures. You may end up with a bunch of blurry images or videos with someone walking in front of the camera during your special moment.
Scan your guest list and pick one or two people that have good camera skills. If you have two, ask one to take pictures and the other to record a video, so you’ll have both to remember the moment by.
Do you have a large guest list and are worried other people may obstruct the images by coming closer to get their own shots? Let everyone know that these guests are in charge of capturing the moment for you and your partner. Your guests will understand and be more careful to avoid blocking their view.
Think of Games and Activities
If you’re planning on inviting family members, coworkers, and friends, there’s a good chance not everyone will know each other. Games help break any awkward tension and give your guests something to do during the party.
A popular idea is to have everyone guess the gender. They can either fill out a slip of paper and place it into a bowl or dress in pink or blue to show their guess. When the gender is revealed, you can give everyone who got it right a small prize.
Another fun game is to have everyone guess your top name choices. Get a chalkboard and write three to five options for boy names and three to five options for girl names. Have everyone guess what your top options are and give anyone who gets both right a prize.
If you’re the sentimental type, have your guests write down a piece of advice for the baby when they turn 18. Not only is this a fun activity to do during your gender reveal party, but it will make your baby’s 18th birthday a little extra special.
Don’t Forget Favors
When you’re planning your gender reveal party, you may not know if you should hand out favors or not. While they aren’t required, they’re a great way to thank your guests for being here with you.
Consider going for something small or edible. You can buy a candy mold and make your own homemade molded chocolates for simple and affordable favors. This extra step will help bring your party to the next level.
