One of the most exciting things about being an expectant mother is finding out whether the child you are carrying is a boy or a girl. A gender reveal party provides you with a suitable opportunity to share the gender news of your baby with your close family and friends.
What Is the Right Time to Hold a Gender Reveal Party?
The expectant parents can know the gender of their child in 10 weeks. Once you have identified the gender of the baby, you can decide to host a gender reveal party. The gender reveal party can be done as early as two and a half months of your pregnancy.
Besides, you can host a gender reveal party before a baby shower or after a baby shower. Still, some parents prefer to host a gender reveal party together with a baby shower.
Hosting a Gender Reveal Party Before the Baby Shower
After you have determined the gender of the baby, you can decide to hold a reveal party before a baby shower. The excitement of the news may force you to reveal the gender of your baby to close friends and family as soon as possible. However, it is not advisable to hold a reveal party too close to a baby shower. Typically, a baby shower should be hosted around 28 weeks to 34 weeks of pregnancy.
If you have determined the date to hold a baby shower, then it is advisable to hold a gender reveal party at least one month before the baby shower. When you space the two events appropriately, it will give you more time to do systematic planning. Besides, your guests will also need time to prepare well for the two events.
Owing to technological advancements, it is now possible to know the gender of the baby in the early days of the pregnancy. Thus, it is now possible to hold the gender reveal party right away, long before the baby shower day.
Some advantages come with holding a gender reveal party before a baby shower. For one, your guests will choose appropriate gifts to bring during a baby shower. It will also give you hints on the proper items to put in the registry.
Hosting a Gender Reveal Party After a Baby Shower
If you prefer getting gender neutral baby shower gifts, then you may want to reveal the gender of your baby way after a baby shower. When guests don’t know the gender in advance, they will be forced to bring gender-neutral items. In most cases, you will benefit from useful and practical items such as diapers and bottle warmers than specific gender items like toys or clothing.
However, hosting a gender reveal party after a baby shower comes with its downside. Most of your guests may fail to show up, especially if you space the two events close to each other. People won’t see the need to come soon after a baby shower. They may also feel financially constrained, especially if the gender reveal party requires another gift.
Hosting a Joint Gender Reveal and Baby Shower
You may also prefer to host a joint gender reveal and baby shower party. If this is your option, then a lot of planning and organization should be done to make the two events a success. You will need to coordinate well with the hosting party to come up with the best reveal strategy at your baby shower.
The joint event comes with various benefits. For one, you will be cutting a lot of costs that come with hosting two separate occasions. Besides, most guests tend to show up when the two events are held jointly. Besides, if you are an expectant mother and you prefer not being at the center of attention for long, then you may prefer holding the two events side by side.
Hosting the two events jointly will also help in preventing gender themed gifts that many mothers prefer to avoid by all means.
Can the mother wait until the gender reveal party day to know the gender of her baby, too?
Many future mothers want to be surprised at a gender reveal party, too. If you prefer being surprised at a gender reveal party, then you need to make prior arrangements to keep your baby’s gender secret. You may need to involve a close family member or friend to help you keep the secret until the big day.
Once you get the results, you should inform the medical personnel that you prefer not knowing the gender just yet. You may request them to hand the gender results to a close friend or family member who will keep it until the day of gender reveal party. The results can be written on a price of paper, folded, and sealed in an envelope.
If your trusted friend is the same person who is organizing the event, then it may be wise to let them open the envelope secretly to know the gender of the baby. However, they should not reveal the gender to the mother. The trusted friend needs this information to help him or her in the ordering of the cake with a special icing on the inside. He or she will also need to know the gender of the baby when purchasing colored balloons, which will be trapped inside a cardboard box.
Can Parents Get Disappointed at Gender to Reveal?
If you prefer a particular gender, then it is wise to know the gender of your child way in advance before you host a gender reveal party. In the past, some gender reveal parties have ended badly after the mother or father gets upset when they fail to get their preferred gender.
If you are vulnerable to getting disappointed quickly, then it is wise to know the gender of your child as soon as possible. This will accord you enough time to adjust to the news to enjoy and have fun at a gender reveal party.
Just remember that you don’t have much control in deciding the gender of your baby. As such, you don’t have to be disappointed if you don’t get a boy or a girl you were hoping for. Whenever you are hosting a gender reveal party, it is essential to relax and have fun with your friends and family. Celebrate the new life regardless of whether it is a girl or a boy.
Gender Reveal Party Ideas
If you are planning a gender reveal party to know the gender of the unborn child, then the following are some of the ideas you can use.
- Come up with a gender reveal party theme
Choosing the party theme is one of the first things you need to do. Gender reveal themes you choose should be unique. The best theme should suit your preferences and tastes. It should also have a connection with the invitations, food, and decorations. Some of the popular gender reveal party themes include mustaches and lipsticks, quarterback or cheerleader, touchdown or tutus, pirates or mermaids, bows or bowties.
- Set the date and time
You should also choose an appropriate venue and a date. The date you choose will be determined by the time you get mid-pregnancy ultrasound results. This usually happens in the 20th week. Ensure you set a date that is most appropriate for the guests. A weekend date is more suitable because most people have little schedules for weekends. The best time of the day to hold a gender reveal is during day time.
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After you have determined the day and time of the event, you should send out the invitations early enough. The invitations should be sent out about one month in advance. You can shop for appropriate invitations in the stores near you. Alternatively, you can design your cards.
Other options include sending email messages or inviting guests through social media. Emails and social media are a lot cheaper. Besides, your guests will get the invitation in real-time.
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It is recommended that you use blue and pink decorations. The food you buy should also come in a blue and pink food dye. Other ideas include:
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- Hanging a banner at the front door asking the question ” He or She”.
- You can also use one specific decoration as a game.
- The ‘’what will it be theme’’ can come with little honey bee themed sweets
- The lipstick and mustache theme can come with bowls of fake mustaches, as well as bright pink lipstick to enable the gusts to pop one on.
- Decide on gender reveal game ideas
Gender reveal parties involve the playing of games. These games include:
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- Guessing Games — the guests will present with ultrasound images and ask to guess the gender. Those who get it right are given prizes
- Matching of Theme — the guest is asked to put on attire that matches the party’s theme. A present is given to the most dressed guests.
Finally, a suitable time to hold a gender reveal party will depend on several things. Get more gender reveal ideas here.