Selected as Party of the Day on September 1st!

Bow Tie or Bow?

Shana D By Shana D  in Gender Reveal

Drinks

Party Recap

Hubby and I are expecting our second little one in mid-December. On the 1st we didn't learn the gender, but on the 2nd my hubby really wanted to learn it so we compromised and I said I'd go along with that along as I could hold a fun and memorable gender reveal party with our families where we also learned the gender with them.

Idea

Party Highlights

  • Desserts

    Dessert was the Gender Reveal Cupcakes with either aqua bow tie fondant toppers or red bow fondant toppers. The cupcakes were red velvet with cream cheese frosting (our favorite!).

  • Party Favors

    We didn't have official favors, but I did hand make coordinating bow ties and bows that matched the cupcake toppers. Upon arriving, guests were able to pin on a bow tie if they thought it was a boy or, they could pin or clip on a bow if they guessed it was a girl. Many wore both including my parents - they didn't want to play favorites.

  • Activities / Games

    On the day of the party, we requested that everyone wear blue if they thought it was a boy and red if they thought it was a girl. (A few were perplexed as to why I didn't select baby blue and baby pink for the colors - to put it simply - I'm just tired of those traditional colors for babies so I wanted a more fun and unique color combination.) When guests arrived, we had them vote on the gender by putting a hash mark on the huge chalkboard that sits above our buffet.

  • Budget

    Less than $300, including food.

  • What People Ate

    For the food, I kept it simple. I originally wanted everything to either be bow/bow tie themed or aqua blue or red, but the foods just became too limiting (there aren't many aqua colored foods!). So, since it was a lunch time reveal we served simple sandwiches (chicken salad, shrimp salad and turkey and Swiss roll-ups), bow tie Italian Pasta Salad, Fruit Salad with Granola, and an assortment of chips. Instead of eating off traditional paper plates, guests ate off of red deli baskets (the kind you get at diners, drive-ins, and cute hamburger joints).

  • What People Drank

    For drinks, I did a build your own flavored lemonade buffet where guests could add fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries to their lemonade.

  • Oops!

    As mentioned in the initial party details, my hubby and I didn't want to learn the party until the day of the party - which happened to be 2 weeks after the ultrasound (the torture!). Roger isn't from Indiana so all of his family is out of town, so we decided to mail his close family gender reveal cookies - they would bite into the center of the cookie and the color would reveal the gender. His parents also planned on joining us on PlayStation video chat the day of the party - they were to bite into their cookies at the same time we bit into our cupcakes. So, to have everything come together so that neither Roger/I found out the gender ahead of the party, we hired a local baker to bake both the cookies and the cupcakes. She got to take a peek at the gender card (which the ultrasound tech slid into a sealed envelope) before we knew. But, to make a long story short there was a snafu with the cookies. The baker baked them too thin and when I went to package them to ship, I accidentally saw the color and thus learned the sex. Huge disappointment - was in a minor depression all day while I awaited hubby getting home from work. Although he really wanted to wait until the day of the party, I told him that there was no way that I could hold onto the secret from him for 5 days. So, he and Gabe split one of my freshly baked replacement cookies (which were oatmeal and super thick so no one would find out the gender on accident).

Hand

Party Helpers

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6 comments

  • Brittany S

    Brittany S wrote:

    Great theme! So cute!

  • Brooke N

    Brooke N wrote:

    Very cute ~ I'm going to use this as my gender reveal theme in February. Do you have any of the templates available?

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    Teqoya R wrote:

    Hi I would LOVE to get the info for the invitations and etc. Please email me at [email protected]

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    Keilah B wrote:

    So cute..where can i get template to make invites and cupcake holders to match? please email me where you got invites and cupcake cups that match... Great idea. [email protected]]

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    Samira N wrote:

    So creative! Planning a shower and would love to use this theme. Can you email me information/templates etc? [email protected] Thanks, Samira

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    Jennifer G wrote:

    Love this! Can you please send me the information of where you got your invitations. My email is [email protected]