What in the World is a Gender Reveal Party? - Part 1

My daughter is pregnant with her third baby. She almost immediately began talking about gender reveal parties. And then, voila, she requested a gender reveal party.

Here is my journey with gender reveal.

1. First and foremost, figure out what in the world a gender reveal party is!

Simply put, a gender reveal party is a fun way for the parents-to-be to let family and friends (and the world) know if the baby is a boy or a girl.

Some do it via photo opps and social media, others plan out parties and elaborate schemes to surprise attendees or viewers. Either way requires that the mother find out the sex of the baby during an ultrasound and keeping it secret until the reveal. Really, that secret is the hardest part of the entire event.

2. Pinterest. This so far has proven to be the best source for ideas for all parts of a gender reveal party.

3. Plan for: decorations, games or activities, food, photo opportunities, location, scheduled date, invitations, and reveal plan.

4. Enlist help. In order to do this, either the person helping is in on the secret, or the one-in-the-know keeps the secret as themes of blue and pink are interspersed throughout the event and keeps said helper in the dark.

5. Send out invitations. I used a Facebook event invitation.

6. Shop for and collect necessary items. Party and craft stores have many cute options for boy and girl babies.

7. Bake or prepare whatever it is that you choose to use as the reveal.

We used cupcakes. I baked 48, half in pink cupcake papers, the other half in blue. I found a cool tool at Micheals that let me take a core out of the center of the cupcakes. I then filled the hole with the correct color of icing (blue for boy, pink for girl) and iced them in a neutral color. Sprinkles of blue and pink plus a blue and a pink plastic diaper pin were added to the top of cupcakes.

8. Decorate. Seriously, this is why my sister helped me. Decorating is not my strong suit. She's the girl with the gift. Some of the things we did for decorations will be featured in Part 2. But a few examples are balloons, a big yellow question mark on the door, a banner hanging from the fireplace, and a cupcake tree.

9. Charge the camera battery.

10. Celebrate!

Angie Quantrell blogs about life, love, family, and kids. She appreciates all of her readers. Thank you for reading!