The Gender Reveal Party: Tips (and Opinions) for How (or How Not) to Throw One

Gender Reveal Parties are getting more and more popular, 2013 is definitely going to be their "coming out" year (pun intended- duh). Before we go any further- for those people living under a rock, or out of the baby and toddler loop- a "Gender Reveal Party" is what new or seasoned parents host for friends and family when they've gotten the news about whether they're having a BOY or a GIRL. Usually they are finding out the sex of the baby at the party as well, which is half the fun! I realized not everyone knew what kind of party this was when a good friend's husband heard I was throwing a GRP and had an entirely different "reveal" in mind, please don't make me say it...

I remember a few years ago when I heard of a friend of a friend doing a Gender Reveal Party and I thought, "Are you kidding me? You think people care THAT much about the sex of your baby?!" Well, I was wrong.... people care. I am now one of those people. These parties are fun, fresh and give you a reason to get together with those you love to celebrate a new life. Now I'm like, "Why WOULDN'T you have a Gender Reveal?"

As some of you may know, I just threw a GRP for a good friend after she and her husband were surprised with a 3rd pregnancy. I thought this would be a fun way for them to welcome the idea of a third baby with their closest friends finding out with them.

Before I show off the pictures from that party, which was featured on Amy Atlas shortly after I threw it (uh, ya I'm gonna name drop!)...OF COURSE I am going to give a few opinions I have on current Gender Reveal Parties, so if you hate opinions, skip forward to the pictures...now.

#1. A few themes/ideas to get over: 
-The "What Will It BEEEE?" theme. Unless you have a crazy bee fetish or the baby's nursery is going to be buzzing with bees (figuratively, not literally I hope) OR you or your husband is a bee keeper (I'll totally give you this one), please find a new theme.

-The Mustache/Bow theme... in case you don't know how I feel about mustaches, I loathe them- especially in party planning. The ironic mustache is done, move on. I wrote about this here, and from this point on I refuse to ever say the word "mustache" again.

-Please don't even think about having HERsHEy Bars at the reveal. Even your great grandma is over this idea, she saw it pinned one too many times and told me to tell you, "NO!" Oh, she's dead? Well her spirit told me then.

-The box full of pink or blue balloons. It was a great idea. Key word: was. Lots of new ideas out there (everyone loves biting into a color, trust me).

-The question mark (?) is an obvious Gender Reveal graphic and while I'm not saying you can't use it anywhere (it definitely has its place at the end of a question), an entire theme around a "?" is just weird. And yes, I've seen it done. Also keep in mind that question marks tend to look like sperm if not used carefully... and while I know... oh never mind, I'll let you take it from here...

#2. Choose a fresh color palette/graphic. There are a ton of colors in the world- you don't need to use pink and blue, I promise. There actually doesn't need to be "designated" colors for each gender at all. A fun and unique gender neutral color palette is all you need... your options are endless and gray is always a great color to throw in the mix, this is the year of the gray!

I recently saw a black/white and gold Gender Reveal done by IDEA! event + style based on the couple's love of the New Orleans Saints. And it was perfect! I love that they rolled their favorite sports team into it- now we're talking! For my recent GRP- I chose to use silhouettes, but instead of just using standard ones, I also used silhouettes on bicycles and then threw some different bicycle graphics and an actual bicycle decoration in the mix and a "theme" was born!

#3. Have something to entertain your guests. You've invited people over and because there's a good amount of work put into these parties, you don't want your guests to walk in, watch you cut a cake/pop a balloon and leave. So give them a few options for fun:

- Provide sweets, everyone loves to raid a good dessert bar.
- Have at least one "game."

For this GR, the couple wanted to ask their friends' opinions on their name choices for a boy and a girl. People loved this idea and it made them feel important that their opinion on the baby's name mattered. Now if you are like me and would never want anyone giving you name opinions- you can always have people "suggest names"... and then make fun of all the ones you'd never use...

Idea by Paging Super Mom!

#4. Vote on the gender. A must. There are a few ways to vote on the gender of the baby: public tally (think chalkboard), private tally (ballot style) or wear your vote- pin/sticker/colored clothespin, etc. Whichever you choose- this should be a BIG piece of the party. It is always fun to get a picture of each group either before or after the reveal, depending on when everyone says how they voted. Essentially there is a winner and a loser group and hopefully the losers do it with grace...

Cute chalkboard idea by Paging Super Mom!- see entire party here!

#5. How will you reveal? So many options. We chose the simple colored cake for the couple to cut into. I've seen colored cake pops and cupcakes too. Just be sure the entire outside of the "reveal dessert" is neutral because the surprise inside is the fun part and shouldn't be given away until the proper "Everyone bite NOW!" time. Aside from desserts, I've also seen people have a friend buy them a cute outfit based on what the ultrasound says. Just make sure the outfit screams BOY or GIRL. No denim rompers if you get my drift...

Another popular idea is to pop a confetti-filled 36" balloon and let it rain down blue or pink colored confetti. This actually sounds amazing, I would love to dance in confetti falling from the sky. Just make sure the balloon is a matte color so you can't see through it- again, remember the surprise factor!

Shop thegenderreveal.com for balloons

And now on to the photos from the Gender Reveal Party I threw March 2013 for my good friends, the Klosek Family... enjoy!

TO PURCHASE THE "PARTY-IN-A-BOX" COMPLETE SET OF THIS GENDER REVEAL PARTY, find it listed in my Etsy shop >>>here<<<

                                                                   

   xo  Party or Die xo

   kenna

(Wrong!)

                                                           Excited to add ANOTHER little girl!

Vendor Credits:

Purchase a "Party-in-a-Box" of this Gender Reveal! MissPartyMom on Etsy
Styling by: Miss Party Mom
Photography by: Jen McGinn
Printables by: World Wide Party by Elena
Cookies and Desserts: Hannah's Cookie's and Treats
Girl's Chevron Dresses: NorahZariah
"Dream Big Little One" Print: Target