While a traditional baby shower has been a right of passage of sorts for expectant parents for many decades, the last few years have seen the rise of a different kind of celebration: the gender reveal party. Held in conjunction with a baby shower, or as a separate celebration altogether, the aim of a gender reveal party is to reveal the sex of the unborn baby to family and friends. Often, the parents are also kept in the dark as to the baby’s gender, with a big reveal planned towards the end of the party. This celebration often takes place earlier in the pregnancy than a baby shower, around the 18 to 20-week mark when the baby’s gender can be detected on an ultrasound.
Gender reveal parties often make use of traditional pink and blue tones to denote the genders. You can incorporate both tones into your decorations as well as drinks and food.
For your decorations, use these colours in equal measure as to not give any hints either way. From bunting to balloons, make sure to have an overarching concept in mind when decorating your space. Pink and blue can be quite a contrast when paired together, so keep the other colours simple—silver and white are the perfect complementary colours and keep the decorations looking refined. You can spread out the décor as much as you would like, hanging balloons from trees and theming cushions, or keep it restricted to a small corner or table if you’d prefer. This will depend on your budget and the number of people you have attending the party. No matter how extensive and elaborate, a few key decorations can have a large impact and ‘wow factor’ on the overall look and feel.
In terms of the food provided, it’s nice to keep things sweet (just like your new bundle of joy will be). Kmart, Coles and Woolworths have plenty of lollies in stock in both pink and blue colours. Combine the two into glass jars to showcase the colours. For beverages, you can add a few drops of natural food colouring to soda water, serving up mason jars with both pink and blue drink options.
You can create beautiful, brightly coloured doughnuts to serve alongside the sweets. While you can bake doughnuts and cupcakes yourself from scratch, hosting a party can be stressful, so take some of the pressure off by purchasing your nibbles. You can decorate these sweet treats yourself, to make sure they work cohesively with your theme.
During the day, have your guests take their pick of the gender. Create an easy and fun game out of this guess, using coloured safety pins and ribbons. Guests and the expectant parents can pin their guess to their clothing and wear it throughout the party. You can also put together a name suggestion jar for both genders (and even beautiful gender neutral names that will work no matter what the gender is!
There are so many ways to structure the actual gender reveal. From a confetti balloon, streamers popping out of a cardboard box or a coloured layer cake—select whichever method of reveal suits your personal style best. While it’s not unusual for the parents to already know the gender before the party, sometimes the mum & dad-to-be find out at the same time as all their relatives. Let your obstetrician know to fax or email the results to a trusted friend, who can then organise the ‘reveal’ part of the occasion for you. An ombré layer cake is one of this year’s key Pinterest trends. You can trust a friend to bake this for you or order it in from your local bakery.
For an extra touch, you can create custom signage to place around your party with instructions for guests and celebratory phrases. There are so many designs available on Pinterest and Etsy, or you can design your own using traditional design programs or free online software like Canva.
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Products Featured
Adairs: Keepsake Robot Toy $39.99, Keepsake Pretty Ballerina Toy $39.99, Baby Swan Rattle $14.99, Baby Sloth Rattle $14.99, Kids Twinkle String Light $19.99
Kmart: Bunting Flags $3ea, Letter Set 42 Piece $12, Musk Sticks Packet $1ea, Jelly Bears Pack $3ea, Pascall Marshmallows $2.50ea, Message in a Bottle 4 pack $2ea, Oak Frame $2ea, Blue Polka Dot Balloon 6 pack $1ea, Pink Polka Dot Balloon 6 pack $1ea, Message in a Bottle 4 pack $2ea, Sour Shapes Bottle $2ea, Large Stem Leaves $3ea, Peonies Bunch $5ea, Single Stem Hydrangea $3ea
Coles: Red Velvet Swirl Cupcakes 4 pack $4.50, Polka Dot Patty Pans 100 pack $3.50, Schweppes Lemonade Soft Drink 2L $2.15ea, Queen Food Colouring 50mL $1.20
Woolworths: Dollar Sweets Sprinkles Pirate Toppings 145g $6
Robins Kitchen: MC Maison Embellished Bowl 9cm $5.99, AB Zest Cake Stand 30cm $49.99, AL Linea 2-Tier Cake Stand $5.99
Big W: Favours Safety Pin $4, Paper Lantern $15, Kaleidoscope Colour A4 Pad $8
Target: Framed Print $15, Brass and Glass Hurricane $10, Vintage Straws Pack $1, Letter Balloons $2ea
The Reject Shop: Clip Top Jar $2ea, Apothecary Jar $3ea, 1L Bottle $2ea, Fan Decorations $5ea, Glass Lolly Jar $2ea
Bed Bath N’ Table: Flared Cylinder Vase $24.95, Battersea Vase with Neck $19.95, Set 6 Glass Milk Bottles $9.95, Baltimore Tablecloth $39.95
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