Welcome back! I am so excited for today’s post because it means I get to relive such an amazing celebration. A few weeks ago Shane and I held a gender reveal brunch at our home for friends and family. If you follow me on Instagram you already know what we are having. Obviously it is no longer a secret or a surprise, but this awesome party deserves a post.
Spoiler Alert
Before I get into the party details I should let you know that Shane and I knew the gender for almost two weeks before the brunch. That is TWO WEEKS of keeping this crazy secret! There was no way I could leave that anatomy scan and not find out, though. I am a planner, an organizer and a “need-to-knower”.
I wanted to find out in a way that was a little more special than just laying on the doctor’s table and having the doctor say, “It’s a…”, and I randomly stumbled upon the cutest idea on Pinterest. I bought a baby gender reveal kit online (ask them for a coupon code!) to bring to the anatomy scan. The stuffed animal comes with a small plastic heart that is used to record the baby’s heartbeat, a tutu and a bowtie. The nurse took the box out of the room to dress the stuffed animal with the tutu or the bowtie and then sealed it back up so we could take it home.
THE SECOND we got home we were on our couch opening the box. We just could not wait any longer! Now, to keep this a secret for two weeks…
Party Preparation
I started decorating our house about a week before the party. First, I was too excited to wait a week to get everything together. Second, every little task left me exhausted so I needed to spread out the work. I made check-lists, cut out confetti, made streamers and paper puffs, started taking dishes out of cabinets, and printed pictures. Let’s go step-by-step…
The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is our tv stand. I decorated this with baby pictures of Shane and me, confetti, an old wives tale frame and pink/blue beaded necklaces for our guests to show their predictions.
I covered up folding tables with white tablecloths, confetti and paper puffs. I made the confetti out of colored paper and circle/heart-shaped paper punches. I followed this tutorial for the paper puffs. I made my own little adjustments like using twist ties instead of floral wire (because I already had them). All in all it was super easy!
You’ll also notice streamers in the doorway made out of the confetti pieces. These were super annoying to walk through the week leading up to the party but effective in keeping everyone out of that room during the party 🙂
Let’s ignore the mismatched chairs…
Food Prep
Onto the kitchen… The island was completely dedicated to dessert! Our cake was the reveal so that had to be the focal point. I LOVE how it turned out. I ordered the cake (and cookies) from a local bakery, the “boy or girl?” cake topper from Etsy and the booties from Dollar Tree.
Of course we couldn’t have a celebration without chocolate covered pretzels. These are the first baby-themed pretzels I’ve made so I’ll have to add them to my Etsy shop.
I made the rest of the food as much in advance as possible. Brunch is great because most of the prep can be done ahead of the party so you can enjoy the time with your guests. We served:
- Bagels
- Assorted cream cheese and butter
- Tomato/Onion/Lox toppings
- Chicken/Egg/Tuna Salad
- Kugel (aka noodle pudding courtesy of my grandma)
- Fruit
We also put snacks on our coffee table like veggies and dip as well as chips and dip. The best part about all this food is that we had leftovers for almost a week!
Brunch Time
It was so great to catch up with family and friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Everyone enjoyed the food and had fun selecting their pink or blue necklaces. I’d say our guests were about 50/50 with their gender guesses.
When it was time to cut the cake everyone gathered around the island to watch Shane and I make the first cut. There were cheers and tears of happiness. In case you haven’t figured it out by now…
