Gender reveal parties have become quite popular over the past few years. Oftentimes, gender reveal parties are held in the place of a baby shower, and both men and women are invited to the event. However, there are couples that will hold both a gender reveal party and a baby shower. At the gender reveal party, the guests, and sometimes the parents, will find out the sex of their unborn child. The purpose of the party is to share the news and celebrate with close friends and family.

If you plan on throwing a gender reveal party, there are a number of ways you can do it. You’ll want to decorate your party space with both blue and pink decorations. Every party needs food, so get the event catered, or decide on the type of foods you want to serve. If your gender reveal party will occur during the spring or summer months, a backyard barbeque—or "BaByQ"—adds a fun little twist to your party theme. Another fun idea is to serve all of the foods that the mom-to-be is craving. Create a menu that lists all of her cravings and serve those foods—or variations of those foods—to your guests.

images via catchmyparty.com and blog.hwtm.com

Generally, the gender reveal happens towards the middle or end of the party. You’ll want guests to talk amongst themselves, have a few refreshments, and maybe even play some games, leading up to the big reveal. You can have your guests write down their gender prediction, split them up into teams based on their prediction, and play a variety of exciting and competitive games. Once it’s time to reveal the sex of the baby, there are many ways you can do it. Just be sure to have a camera man, or two, around so that you can always cherish this special memory. Here are ten ways to throw a gender reveal party!

1. Cut Open a Cake

This is probably one of the more popular ways to let your guests know the sex of your baby. Have a local bakery bake your cake—or do it yourself if you already know the sex of the baby—with blue or pink frosting or cream inside. The frosting on the outside of the cake can be white, or a mixture of pink and blue to tie in with the rest of your party décor. During your party, after everyone has had a chance to mingle and eat, gather everyone around the cake while you and your significant other cut open the cake to reveal the sex of your baby. Serve everyone a piece of the cake on pink and blue paper plates.

2. Hand out Individual Cupcakes

Instead of one big cake for everyone to crowd around, you can have each of your guests participate in the gender reveal by giving them their own individual cupcake! Bake the cupcakes in the same manner that you would with the cake, with blue or pink frosting inside, and topping them with pink and blue question mark toppers (you can easily make your own using cardstock and toothpicks). Hand them out to each guest, making sure that everyone waits to take a bite at the exact same time so that the gender can be revealed to all at once. This method is ideal for those parents that already know the sex of their baby. They get to witness all of their loved ones find out the news.

3. Balloons out of a Box

Another popular way for soon-to-be-parents to reveal their baby’s gender is to fill a bundle of pink or blue balloons with helium and stuff them into a box. During the gender reveal party, the expecting couple will open up the box in front of all their guests and blue or pink balloons will come floating out of the box, revealing the gender of the baby.

4. Pop a Balloon

Instead of floating balloons, a giant neutral colored balloon, such as a black balloon, can be filled with blue or pink confetti. The couple will pop the balloon once it is time to reveal the gender of the baby, and out will trickle pink or blue confetti!

image via thegenderreveal.com

5. Balloon Toss

This gender reveal idea is rather fun and will get the guests of honor to interact with each other! A small black balloon should be filled with pink or blue paint. Both parents should be wearing all white. The parents will begin a balloon toss in the yard in front of their guests, taking a step back each time they complete a toss. Eventually, the balloon will break and blue or pink paint will splatter onto one of the parent’s clothing, thus revealing the gender of the baby.

6. Silly String

When it comes time to reveal the gender of the baby, the parents of the baby can silly string their guests in the color of the sex of the baby. The silly string cans should be wrapped with construction paper so that no one is able to see the color of the string. Guests can crowd around the couple while the couple may give a short speech, then the couple can blast their guests with the appropriate silly string to reveal the sex of the baby.

image via simplybrittany.com

7. Revealing T-Shirts

Another way the expecting couple and reveal the sex of their baby is to wear pink or blue t-shirts underneath a black t-shirt or sweatshirt. In the invitations, the couple should request that their guests wear pink or blue depending on what sex they believe the baby will be. The hosting couple will be wearing black t-shirts, which can be custom made to fit the theme of the party, and will take off their t-shirts when it is time to reveal the gender. However, this method only works if the couple knows the sex of their baby beforehand.

8. Gifts for the Guests

One way to reveal the gender of your baby is to gift each guest with something that clues as to what the baby’s gender will be. For example, you could wrap up a pink bow or an item printed with a mustache and give one to each guest. The guests can open their gifts all at the same time to find out the gender of the baby.

9. Fill a Piñata

Another way to get guests involved in your gender reveal is to fill a piñata with all pink or all blue candy and/or confetti. Each guest will take turns whacking the piñata until it breaks, revealing the sex of the baby.

10. Gift Yourselves

Rather than gifting with your guests with a little something to let them know the gender of your baby, you can gift yourselves with something for the baby and open it up in front of everyone at your gender reveal party. After your doctors find out the sex of your baby, have them write down the gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Visit your favorite children’s clothing store and pick out an outfit for both a boy and a girl (it would be best if the girl’s outfit was pink and the boy’s outfit blue so that guests will be able to see from afar). Go up to a salesperson and tell them you would like to purchase the outfit according to what it says in the envelope. They will gift-wrap the outfit for you, and you can take it home. Open it up at your party and share this special moment with all of your loved ones. 

At Windy City Novelties, it’s our hope that this article inspires you to create a fun and unique party for your loved ones. For more helpful tips on organizing your event, email our dedicated party planning experts at [email protected]. You may also subscribe to our emails for weekly party planning ideas, featured products and more at https://www.windycitynovelties.com/customer/account/create/