Gender Reveal Party

Lately this blog has turned into baby central. And I'm not sorry to say that today will be more of the same :) It's time to share the gender reveal party details, which there are lots of. So if you love photos, parties, and all things baby keep scrolling!

When planning this party, I knew I wanted to incorporate the traditional baby colors, but in a not so traditional way. So I went for fuchsia and turquoise, then added gold for a little extra flair. I loved the trio of colors, and stuck with that for everything.

Husband and I wanted the party to be wonderful, and on a budget. So we opted to make all of our decorations. Not only did it turn out how I imagined it, but so perfectly for the feel I wanted.

We started with making tassels from tissue paper. People, this is the cheapest way to make some spectacular garland that really pops! Combing the metallic gold added just the right texture.

After the tassels were made, we moved on to making paper rosettes to create a wall centerpiece. Again, we stuck with shades of pink and blues to combine the traditional with the not so traditional. I absolutely loved the way it came together. Using an ombré effect really brought the wall to life. So if you're going to make a rosette background, use various shades of a color or multiple patterns. It makes the wall pop!

Next on our décor to-do list was transforming some blue and green paper lanterns. I wanted to bring in some more gold, so I had husband spray paint them with leftover gold paint from two New Year's ago, when we used the spray paint to make a city scape. Again, changing up their original color and adding more gold to the party was exactly what the decorations needed.

I kept the gold theme going in the little details on the table, and I added some gold tassels and text to the chalkboard in our kitchen that we typically keep our weekly dinner menu on. 

Once the decorations were checked off, we finished the menu. Because the party started at 10 on Saturday morning, I wanted to stick with brunch foods on a miniature scale. So we served (all in size mini) chicken 'n waffles, two types of quiche, a yogurt parfait bar, and cake pops. 

For the waffles, we just made homemade waffles and then quartered them. Each waffle was topped with a Chick-fil-A nugget and there was honey mustard sauce and syrup for dipping.

The quiche offered up a ham and cheese option or a spinach and mushroom option. As for the yogurt parfait bar, well that explains itself. We set out a honey Greek yogurt and a vanilla yogurt. There was granola, kiwi, strawberries, and blueberries for topping.

The cakes pops were just a classic golden cake with cream cheese frosting coated in blue and pink melted candies. Outside of the nuggets, husband and I made everything to save on the cost.

One of my favorite parts of the menu was creating a faux mimosa bar. We offered three different juices (orange, mango peach, and black cherry cranberry), which you could combine with either sparkling apple cider or sparkling white grape. I'm a sucker for carbonation, especially during this pregnancy. And I love a good mimosa. So I combined two favorites that were pregnant-friendly to enjoy as the drink refreshment. Ice water was served in a pitcher on the side.

The party was perfection! Really it was, and we loved sharing such a special occasion with our people. Before sharing the news, we had everyone vote for what gender they thought Baby Hill was. Everyone, including those that couldn't be there. Boy won the vote, but by just one!

And here are those that thought baby was a boy! Husband and I originally thought that baby was a boy, so we jumped in this photo. We threw some people off! (And don't mind me, I'm squatting and hunched so I don't block the back row #tallgirlproblems)

The girl voters! Little did they know that they were right! Also check out how my mom (on the far right) and I matched. It was not planned might I add. Think this girl of mine and I will ever have our dress alike moments? Yeah we will!

To share the gender, husband made a cannon of sorts. That engineering husband of mine is quite impressive when it comes to that type of thing. He let me add my touch by suggesting we spray paint it gold. He obliged :)

We filled the cannon with pink confetti and topped it off with white crinkle paper so that no one could see the pink. When the time came, husband topped the cannon off with more air. And with a countdown from three he fired it, sending pink confetti all over the yard. The cheering and smiles was enough to make me explode with joy. Our little girl is already loved so very much! 

Besides keeping our secret for a week, there is nothing I would change! If I could suggest anything to you for planning a gender reveal party, it would be to make all the decorations before finding out what you're having. This keeps the decorations from being biased...as in you don't feel tempted to make more of the gender's color. And second, make what food you can and ahead of time. Husband and I made everything the night before, with the exception of the waffles. It makes everything so stress free the day of!

And what would be a gender reveal without a video?! Here you go....

How did you reveal your babies gender?!

p.s. Don't forget about the baby booties giveaway going on right now! 5 more days to enter!!