Discovering the gender of your child is just one of the many exciting stops along the road to becoming a parent. You finally get to start decorating the baby room, pick out their first clothes, and select their first crib.While it used to be traditional to not find out the gender of your baby until their birth, today, prospective parents can learn their baby’s gender as early as 18-20 weeks into pregnancy. And that means an excuse to throw your very own gender reveal party to celebrate! To make it easier, we’ve pulled together some brilliant gender reveal ideas to make it an even more special occasion.
A gender reveal party is a great way to include close friends and family in commemorating such an important stage in your life; and it also lets your other children feel like they’re involved and adjust to the idea of having a new sibling.Of course, a gender reveal party doesn’t have to just reveal your baby’s gender to your friends. If you can bear keeping it secret from yourself, then it can be an exciting surprise for you too!
If you’ve never hosted a gender reveal party before, or you’re looking for inspiration for your next one with some fresh gender reveal ideas, here’s how you can plan the perfect party to celebrate finding out whether it’s a boy or girl!
What is a gender reveal party?
Before we start, if you’re sat reading this and are wondering “what is a gender reveal party?”, that’s okay – gender reveal parties are a pretty new phenomenon.
So, what is a gender reveal party? Well, they’re exactly what they sound like. A party to celebrate discovering your new child’s gender!
A gender reveal party is typically a small affair reserved for close friends and families, never lasting for more than a few hours. Expect standard party food, games and cute decorations all building up to the big moment!
It’s also important to note that a gender reveal party is not the same as a baby shower, although you can combine them if you want. If you’re combining then bear in mind that any gifts you’re given will likely be gender-neutral, but don’t be surprised if guests want to bring apregnancy cardornew baby cardto help you celebrate the occasion.
Planning your gender reveal party
To begin planning your gender reveal party, there’s one important step you need to take before you set a date. And that’s to actually find out the gender of your child (or not if you want to be surprised too).
The earliest you can usually find out the gender of your child is 18-20 weeks into pregnancy by going for a mid-pregnancy ultrasound. If at this point you don’t want to know the gender, you can have the staff write it down and seal it in an envelope for you instead.
The main reason you should wait for this ultrasound before setting a date and planning is in case the ultrasound technicians are unable to determine your baby’s gender. This will only be the case if the baby is positioned in such a way as to hide the genitals, such as having its legs crossed. If this is the case, then you’ll have to book another ultrasound, so it’s best to plan only once the ultrasound has been a success.
If you’re choosing to be surprised at the party, then pass the sealed envelope to a trusted friend or family member – they’ll need to sort the reveal itself, whether you’re going to use a cake, balloon or just a good old-fashioned announcement!
Once the gender of your baby has been determined, you can set the date and start planning gender reveal ideas and themes. Set the date well in advance so everyone has time to make it and give yourself plenty of prep time.You can send the invites out electronically or let your creative side out by making them yourself. However you choose to send them, just be sure to include a short explanation of what a gender reveal party is in case they’re unaware.
Choosing a gender reveal party theme
A gender reveal party doesn’t necessarily need a theme. It’s perfectly fine, even traditional, to hold a gender reveal party where everyone simply comes round for the reveal, sends you theircongratulations cards, and enjoys a few casual drinks.
But does that mean you can’t theme a gender reveal party? Absolutely not!
There are countless gender reveal ideas out there that focus on using a specific theme to celebrate the day. This could be something as simple as incorporating blue and pink into your decorations, clothing, and snacks. Or you could really push the boat out with swanky outfits, seasonal decorations, or a specific historical theme.
An incredibly popular gender reveal theme is to have guests wear either pink or blue in a sort of wear-your-guess theme. You can then base any party games around these two teams and see who wins at the end when the gender is revealed.
Choosing your decorations
Another big part of any gender revel party is your choice of gender reveal decorations. Naturally, any gender reveal decorations should go hand-in-hand with your chosen theme in terms of colour and style, as should your gender reveal party invitations.
When it comes to the gender reveal decorations themselves, banners, balloons, confetti, rosettes – anything you want is on the table. You could also think about how these decorations could be melded in with the gender reveal. Balloons could be popped to reveal coloured confetti for either gender, or a piñata could be broken open for the same effect.
As for gender reveal decoration colours, blue and pink are very common, but so is a neutral colour scheme of whites and grey. Whatever gender reveal decorations you go for, just be sure to they go with the whole gender reveal aesthetic.
Gender reveal cake and drinks
What party would be complete without cake? A gender reveal cake should definitely be the centrepiece of any gender reveal party and should certainly match your theme with its colour and icing.
But if a big cake seems too much, you can always go with cupcakes instead. You can decorate them beforehand or let guests decorate them when they arrive with blue or pink question marks, baby feet, or the words ‘boy or girl’?
Drinks-wise, you could even create themed mocktails or co*cktails for either gender – and since you don’t know the gender yet, you could create a whole menu of themed drinks. How about a blueberry-flavoured mocktail and a glass of pink non-alcoholic fizz for a cute boy/girl look?
You can also use your gender reveal cake to reveal the gender of your child. Whether you know beforehand or if you’re trusting a family member, get in touch with a baker who makes gender reveal cakes and they can fill your gender reveal cake with appropriately coloured icing. When you cut the cake, the gender will be revealed by the icing inside. This is a great gender reveal idea if you want it to be a surprise for you too!
Gender reveal party games
And finally, a gender reveal party would not be complete without gender reveal party games. Common gender reveal games include having a prize for the best-themed guest or the ever-popular peek and guess.
Peek and guess involves showing a picture of your ultrasound to your guests and having them guess which gender it is. Those who guess correctly get a small prize when the gender is revealed.
For a more unique guessing game, you could try gender reveal games that revolve around using old wives tales to predict the gender of your child. There are numerous ones you can find online, and even if they’re not accurate, they’re sure to bring a laugh or two.
There are plenty of other gender reveal ideas out there that you can try, and it’s fairly easy to take classic party games and theme them around your gender reveal.
Now you know everything you need to plan your gender reveal party, you can give yourself a memorable day and truly celebrate your journey to parenthood. We hope we’ve given you plenty of creative gender reveal ideas, but for a look at what not to do, check out our article onhow not to do a gender revealover on thethortful blog.
Or maybe you’ve been invited to a gender reveal party and just need a card for the occasion? Well, we’ve definitely got you covered. We’ve got hundreds of funny, snarky and adorablenew baby cardsby unique creators that you can pick from!
