Gender reveal parties are one of the hippest trends with new parents. However, throwing one of these parties could leave your baby budget in the hole if you’re not careful. Between special ordering cakes and keeping everyone entertained, you may find your gender reveal party costs more than you realized. There are a few ways you can enjoy the same fun without spending a fortune though. With these ten tips, you’ll be ready to wow your guests, and maybe even yourself, with a huge gender reveal that will let the world know what your bundle of joy is. So choose a party that will leave you rejoicing the gender of your baby without stressing out the budget.
1. Pick a Side
One of the best ways to keep your guests entertained is to actually make them choose sides. People love debating over whether or not they’re right, which will bring laughs to the party. You can ask your guests to show up in pink or blue clothing to see who is on which side. This type of game can help you separate guests for other games too. Another way to have fun with this is to have people carry balloons for their choice in gender. The correct balloons can be released after the gender or taken home as a party favor. You may even have people give reasons as to why they believe it is a specific gender. Of course, you may not like all of the answers you receive, so if you don’t have an open sense of humor then you may not want to open up this can of worms!
2. Make Your Own Cake
When it comes to a gender reveal party, the gender reveal cake can be pretty expensive. It all depends on the type of cake you choose for your party, but most can cost a pretty penny. The best option is to make your own cake. This isn’t as hard as you think though. You can easily do it with your favorite cake batter, food coloring and icing. Simply mix up the food coloring with a basic white cake batter and bake it like you normally would. Then cover it in the frosting of your choice and make sure the cake is entirely covered. You can also follow the same recipe with cupcakes if you want to keep things simple, or if you have more than one gender to reveal. You can take on your own recipes too, including adding your cream filling and other clever ideas. Of course, if you want to wait to know the gender then ask a trusted friend or family member to help out. The job shouldn’t be hard and will be the highlight of the party.
3. Use Balloons
Revealing gender doesn’t have to be all about the cake though. In fact, if you’re looking to keep away from sweets during your pregnancy, or you just want to show off the baby’s gender in a new way, then there’s a whole lot you can do with balloons for fairly cheap. One idea is to buy a lot of black balloons. You will have to make sure they aren’t see through when blown up though. Fill these balloons up with the confetti of your child’s gender and let everyone have a blast popping them. You can also make a wall full of balloons. Fill some up with regular confetti and then add a couple with the gender of your baby. Then, let people pop the balloons using darts. The person who hits the balloon with your child’s gender in it, wins by being the honorary person who shared the news. You might also find large cardboard boxes and fill them with balloons with your child’s gender. When the box is opened, the balloons will float to the ceiling or the sky. This is probably one of the easiest and cheapest ways to reveal the gender of twins. There’s many other things you can do with balloons too, so browse around online or use your own creativity.
4. Hold a Raffle
Everyone loves to join in on the chance of getting a prize, which is why raffles are a great way to add to the fun of your party. There’s a whole lot of ways you can have fun with a raffle at a gender reveal party. For starters, you can hold one for the gender itself, but you’ll have to find a lot of cheap prizes for this one, because more than one person will win. Another idea is to hold a raffle for anyone who brings diapers to the party. This will allow you to stock up, even before the game is repeated at your baby shower. With any luck, you won’t have to purchase many diapers at all. Of course, one of the most competitive raffles is having the group guess the actual birthdate, day of the week, weight or height of the baby. This raffle will have to be for a future prize, but many people really get into guessing.
5. Functional Decor
You shouldn’t run out and spend a fortune on decorations with a new baby on the way. Instead, take this time to buy a few of the basics and use them as decorative items. For instance, if you grab some baby bottles and fill them with candy, confetti or beads then you’ll have a cute look that can be used when baby finally arrives. Pacifiers are also a great decorative idea as they can be hung from the ceiling or placed on tables for a cute look. Even soft baby toys will do the trick! Of course, you’ll probably want some of the classic party decor around too. So, try to find solid colored streamers, table clothes and other supplies that can be used for parties in the future.
6. Go Through Predictions
If you were dying to know your baby’s gender before your doctor was able to tell then you probably know there’s a whole lot of predictions that can be found on the internet. This is a great way to keep your guests entertained before you actually reveal the gender of your baby. In fact, you may want to ask your guests what gender they believe the baby is before and after you go through the predictions, just to see if anyone changes their minds. The predictions can be a lot of fun to go through anyway. From spinning your wedding ring over your belly to doing some simple math for the Chinese gender predictor, you’ll find people will have a blast trying to sort out which gender you’re having. When it’s all said and done, compare your results to the gender the sonogram revealed and see how close they really were.
7. Onesies
When it comes to having fun at a party, nothing gets the creativity going like making your own onesies. You can ask your guests to bring a blank onesie along, or you can buy them in bulk to make life easier. This activity will help keep people busy for quite a bit longer than games and other activities. However, you will have to be choosy as to when you plan this activity. If you’d like to keep your child’s clothes more on the gender neutral side of the spectrum, then you might play the game prior to the gender reveal. This will allow people to think outside of the box and come up with ideas that are more personal. However, if you don’t care about little princess or Mr. Fixit references then plan the activity once the gender is known. This will give you a chance to bulk up on baby clothes before your due date too.
8. Finger Foods
There’s no need to go all out when it comes to food for your gender reveal party. Sandwiches are always a great idea to keep people happy and you can cut them into cute shapes or smaller pieces, so they will be seen as snacks rather than a full meal. If you’re feeling ambitious, then a fondue station is typically a crowd pleaser. You can set up cheese and chocolate to appease everyone with an assortment of cheaper items to eat with dip. Vegetable platters are also an easy choice and will help promote you to eat healthy as well. Of course, stork and other baby inspired cookies are also a hit if you have the time to make them. There’s lots of great recipes online too, but try to go easy on yourself as you already have a lot planning to do.
9. Advice Book
New parents could always use a little advice, but sometimes its best given when the parent feels like they need it the most. Thus, an advice book might be a great way to help out a new parent while keeping guests busy at the reveal party. You can always wait to do this activity after the big reveal though as it might come in handy to have gender related potty training tips or even tips for the days when your bundle of joy begins to date. Either way, parents will love swapping stories as the book gets passed around to help out a parent-to-be. The group can even work to decorate the book, which will help make the project even more exciting for everyone involved.
10. Invitations
A lot of people go all out on invitations when it comes to their parties. They’re cute, fun to fill out and will make everyone excited about your party. However, they also cost a lot of money to mail out if you have a long list of guests and buying them can cost a fortune too. The invitations sold in stores usually only come in small bundles as well, which means spending more to get the number you need. Instead, you may want to consider sending out e-vites. You can still find cute cards to send out, but they won’t cost you a penny. Another option is to set up an event on social media and invite people this way. This will also make it simple to find out who has RSVP’d for the event. Word of mouth is another great option that won’t cost you a cent.
Having a gender reveal party can be a great way to celebrate your baby and its gender with family and friends. This amazing experience can be emotional for all involved, which is sure to create memories that will last a lifetime. These memories don’t have to be laced with the burden of finances though thanks to these simple tips that will keep your party on the frugal side, without skipping out on the fun.
