Deciding to Have a Gender Reveal Party

One of the most exciting pregnancy milestones is finding out whether you’re having a baby girl or boy. A very popular trend for expecting parents is the gender reveal party. Inviting your friends and family to get together and cutting into a cake or releasing some balloons can be a fun way to find out and announce the sex of your baby.

Some people can’t wait to learn the gender of their baby, while others choose to stay in the dark completely until their newborn comes into the world. Your ultrasound technician should be able to determine the sex of your baby around week 20 of your pregnancy.

If you’re trying to keep baby’s a gender secret, even to yourself, request that your ultrasound technician write down the gender of your baby rather than tell you. Then, make sure that information gets passed on to a trusted friend or family member who can keep a secret and help with arranging the surprise. Then you’re ready to plan your gender reveal party!

Having a party theme will make decorating easier. Use the elements of your theme in the foods and desserts you serve, games for your guests to play, and in the reveal itself! Here are a few fun gender reveal party theme ideas:

• Ties or Tutus
• Hair bows or bow ties
• ‘Staches or lashes
• Prince or princess
• Super-he or super-she

Of course, there’s always the classic “pink or blue” theme as well, which is cute and simple!

Fun Gender Reveal Party Ideas

You can find a wide variety of gender reveal ideas online as many parents post photos from their reveal moments on social media. Here are a few favorites:

• Balloons. Blowing up pink or blue balloons and placing them in a big box to open into the sky is an easy and classic gender reveal.
• Cake. Another gender reveal classic is the mystery cake. Give that slip of paper from your ultrasound technician to your favorite baker, so when you cut into the cake at your party, the inside will be pink or blue.
• Piñata. Though you usually see candy-filled piñatas at birthday parties, they can be perfect for gender reveals too.  Just replace the candy with pink or blue confetti.
• Baseball. If you’re having a sports-themed party, you can find pink or blue powder-filled baseballs online. Toss the ball to your partner to hit with a bat and reveal what’s inside!
• Smoke bomb. Also available online are pink or blue smoke bombs to set off in an open, outdoor space.
• Silly string. If you don’t mind a mess, cover the cans of silly string so you can’t see what color is on the label and have your guests spray the string at you and your partner!
• Darts. Fill black balloons with pink or blue confetti, or paint, and arrange them onto a wide wood surface like a makeshift dartboard.
• Scratch offs. For a mess-free and unique reveal, order gender reveal scratch off cards or make them at home!

If you don’t want to plan a party but still want to arrange a cute gender announcement to post on social media, hire a photographer to take photos of you and your partner doing your baby’s reveal at home.

Get Your Guests Involved

Make your party even more exciting by adding some game elements for your guests.

• Gender guesses. This is where your theme comes into play. Get creative and make pins for your guests to wear that show their gender guess, like a crown for a princess or a sword for a prince. Give prizes to those who guessed right!
• Name suggestions. Set up a jar and notepad with a pen so that your guests can write down potential boy and girl baby names for your little one.
• Time capsule. After you reveal the gender, have your guests write short notes of love encouragement to give to your child when he or she grows up.

Moms Share Their Experiences

“We did one for a couple reasons. We love hosting people and we’ve been redoing a house so it was a way for the people in our family to see our new house. We didn’t do anything elaborate or expensive, just had food and shot some tannerite to blow up. It’s completely up to you and how you want to tell everyone!” –Jennifer Hinsley

“I think an intimate celebration with close friends and family is fun. I don’t see the need to have something elaborate since most families already throw a baby shower. I feel like combining the two would be cute. Like ask for gender-neutral gifts but then have a cake or pop a balloon. We never had the money to do more than just have people over and a surprise cake.” –Rachel Peters

“We loved doing our gender reveal party. It was an opportunity to bring our family and friends together and to celebrate the halfway point of each pregnancy. After having a miscarriage first I was happy for these celebrations. We also had our babies 16 months apart and had a baby shower for each of them. We hosted all four gatherings ourselves, three of which were in our own home. We pay and provide the snacks and food ourselves so if people want to come great if not oh well. It’s just another party for fun with a reason to celebrate.” –Germana Hale

“Each time we knew the sex of our babies and did the reveal for our family and friends and followed it up with a baby name reveal as well. Our first was a Gryffindor baby reveal and second was a baby pumpkin reveal.” –Lindsay Harrison

“I think they’re fun. I didn’t have one for my second because we decided to wait till he was born to find out, but with my first baby we did a reveal with family when we got together to celebrate my birthday because I found out the week before. I got a bunch of pink and blue balloons, poked the pink ones with a pin, so people picked what they thought it would be, but only the blue ones inflated — it’s a boy!” –Courtney Stephens

A gender reveal party is another fun way to celebrate your little one before he or she even comes into the world. Take plenty of photos during your special day and enjoy it!