Gender Reveal Party!!

One of our really good friends is pregnant!  Jessica just passed the halfway mark in her pregnancy and is looking great!  Seriously, she is one of those women who look adorable pregnant, just glowing! Not to mention she is tiny with just a little belly bump!  

Anyway, about a month ago I shot her the idea about doing a gender reveal party and she and her husband were very excited about it!  If you haven’t heard the concept of a gender reveal party, a lot of friends and family come together to reveal the gender of the baby.

I have seen a box open and balloons (pink or blue) come out, cakes being cut, and cake balls being bit into with the color reflecting the baby.  We chose the cake ball method!  I hosted another gender reveal shower in April of 2013, so click here for more ideas!

The couple found out on Thursday what the baby’s gender was, and she reported to me so I could make preparations for the party on Saturday.

(Hey - looking for more ideas? Check out my friend Emily's Burlap Bridal Shower or check out the April 2013 gender reveal party!)

To greet our guests at the front door

We then covered the place in balloons in the entry way (ooops.. didn’t take a picture), we also put balloons hanging from our ceiling.  Who needs helium?

We had lots of food, but my favorite was the “Jessica Craves it table”.  During her pregnancy, she has craved a lot of different foods, but these are her favorites:

Perfect snacks for the Mom to be!!

I also made sausage balls, cookies, and tons of other foods for those not pregnant and craving odd snacks!

We set up some activities, including a voting board where each person could guess the gender.

Then we had a name suggestion spot… this was mostly funny names.  My favorite was “Jacob” as our friend Jessica loves Twilight, and is on Team Edward :)

Then came time to reveal the babies gender at the dessert table.  Each person took a cakeball and ate one…

other snacks included pepperoni bites and chicken poppers

IT’S A GIRL!!

Pink Cake Balls!  (Again... sorry for the blurry picture.. there was a lot of movement and excitement)

The happy couple revealed her name… Mackenzie Lynn…. What a cute name!

We then presented the couple with a book that each guest passed around and wrote in messages for the baby.

This was my favorite part of the party.  People wrote funny, serious, sentimental things, or a combination.

Here were my responses:

I hope you learn another language
I hope you aren't afraid of failure
i hope you love Jesus
I hope you get all you wish for
I hope you laugh every day
I hope you never forget to pray
I hope you ignore negativity
I hope you become self confident
I hope you respect your mom and dad
I hope you grow old with the one you love.

Love,
Aunt Marina

It was a great night!  I can’t wait until December to meet little Mackenzie!!