Finding out the gender of your baby is an exciting moment! Is it a boy or a girl? At gender reveal parties, the guests (and sometimes the parents as well!) wait eagerly to learn the answer to that question. When a smoke bomb is lit or cannon bursts, friends and family celebrate!

At Gender Reveal Supplies, we’ve made a guide to help you plan a great gender reveal party. Stick around to figure out the who, what, when, where, and how of throwing a gender reveal celebration that no one will forget!

Needless to say, in order to throw a gender reveal party, you’ll need to have an ultrasound to find out if the bun in your oven is a boy or a girl! You can do this during your second trimester — around 18 or 20 weeks at the anatomy scan. Or you can do the blood test used for certain genetic testing at an earlier time. But, in order to throw a gender reveal party you will need to find out the gender.

Once you’ve scheduled your ultrasound or blood test, decide who will be surprised at the gender reveal party — you and your guests or only your guests.

If you want to wait and be surprised right along with your guests, ask the doctor or ultrasound technician not to tell you what they find when you go for your ultrasound. Instead, have them write the gender of the baby on a piece of paper and slip it into an envelope for safekeeping or you can have the doctors office email over a copy to whoever they need too.

You can also have a "secret keeper", who is in charge of...you guess it, keeping the secret! They will be the ones in charge of ordering the product of said reveal and making sure everything is the correct gender for the party.

Before you send invitations, go ahead and pick a theme. That way, you can incorporate the theme into your invitations.

This is your party, so do whatever you want and get creative! Let pink and blue be your theme and decorate everything in both colors. Or if simple is your style, go with neutral colors and whatever decorations you want.

If you want a more unique theme, consider one of these:

A Little Cutie (clementine party)

Baby in Bloom (think flowers)

What Will It Bee? (bumblebees and honeycombs)

Ties or Tutus?

Boot or Bows?

When it comes to picking a date for your gender reveal party, it might be best not to plan it for right after your ultrasound.

If the baby isn’t in the right position, there’s a chance that the ultrasound may not show whether it’s a boy or a girl. In that case, you’ll have to go back a different day for another ultrasound. It will also give some time to get what needs to be ordered or bought at the store to announce the gender.

Where you host the party is totally up to you. Depending on how many people you want to invite and the atmosphere you want to create, anywhere you feel comfortable will do the job!

(Read below to discover ideas for hosting a virtual gender reveal party.)

Send electronic invitations or head to the post office with old-fashioned cards and stamps. Either way, be sure to include all of the information your guests need on the invitation.

Since gender reveal parties are a relatively new tradition, some of your guests may have never experienced one and it may be helpful to include a short explanation of what a gender reveal party is or what you’ll be doing at yours.

Sometimes the host asks the guests to come dressed in pink or blue depending on what they think it could be. So in your invitation, you’ll also need to let guests know if they should wear anything special.

As far as gifts, what should you expect?

 Usually, the gender reveal party is separate from baby showers, so it’s not typical to give gifts. But, some want to combine the gender reveal with the baby shower, so you don't have to plan to much while expecting. Just make sure to let your guests know and include your baby registry information on the invitation.

If you go this route, your guests will need to bring gender-neutral gifts. Make sure you put plenty of gender-neutral items on your registry.

Some people don’t enjoy party games, but if you do, opt for games that will get everyone even more excited about finding out if you’re expecting a boy or girl.

For example, hold a guess-the-gender raffle or have everyone guess your favorite boy and girl names from a list. Ask your guests to bring diapers and wipes for a chance to get their name into a raffle. Or you could also frame a photo of your ultrasound and have guests play doctor and take a guess at the gender. Prizes for the winner make games like this even more fun!

First, decide if you’ll be serving a meal or simply appetizers, desserts, or drinks.

Then get creative! If you’ve chosen a theme, serve food and drinks that go along with it, like cookies shaped like boots, bees, flowers, etc.

This is why you pick your theme. Decorate, set out the food, and get ready for guests. Don't forget to get some ask for help, just because you are in your second trimester (and hopefully feeling good), doesn't mean you should be doing too much.

This is the most important moment of the party. After all, it’s why your guests have come! Is it a boy or is it a girl?

There are lots of ways to divulge the secret. Here are a few of our favorites:

We have 3 kinds of cannons to choose from for your big day. All you have to do is twist to pop out the secret.

Powder Cannons are cannons that pop out just a quick dusting of powder in pink or blue.

Confetti Cannons are ones that when they pop they throw out an impressive amount of confetti strips, once again in pink or blue. Our confetti is all biodegradable and totally safe for the environment.

Mixed Cannons which are exactly as they sound, a combination of Powder and Confetti. These once again come in pink and blue, but unlike the previous two types of cannons these come in both 12" and 24" sized cannons.

If you have an older child, consider letting them twist the cannon for your reveal. It’ll make their big brother or big sister status even more real to them. Plus, they’ll feel so special that they were the one to do the reveal!

**Please note they can be a little hard to twist, so they may require some parental assistance.

Another option is to have one for each one of your guests. This will make a bigger reveal and fun for everyone.

For a sports-themed party, sports fans will love throwing, kicking, hitting, etc. an exploding ball to find out if it’s a girl or boy inside! We have a wide range of sports to choose from. We have Basketballs, Volleyballs, Footballs, Baseballs, Tennis Balls, Pickle Balls, Hockey Pucks, and Golf Balls.

Our Baseballs, Tennis Balls, Pickle Balls, Hockey Pucks, and Golf Balls are all prepacked and sealed with either pink or blue. Our bigger balls (Basketballs, Volleyballs, and Footballs) are all kits and come with 7 different colors to choose from.  You can choose the traditional pink or blue, but we also have red, green, purple, yellow, and orange.  After you place your order just email us to let us know what color(s) you would like.

Our 5g Wick activated smoke bomb can be a perfect way to surprise your guests. All you have to do is light the wick and sit back and wait for that colored smoke to appear. We also have smoke balls which is a smaller smoke that lets out a little bit of colored smoke for a quick reveal.

For all the car enthusiasts, we have something for you too. Our burnout bags are perfect for those car lovers. The bags come in a completely discreet black bag with a super sticky tape attached to it, so you can stick it right on to the tire. They come in a lot of different colors, perfect for matching your party theme.

Break a color powdered stuffed piñata open in front of your guests. Have someone else fill the piñata if you want to be surprised as well.

For the gender reveal, have the expecting parents wear white shirts. Blind fold them and make sure they don't peek! Here’s the big moment they’ve been waiting for!

Have the guests at the party walk up and throw colored powder all over their white shirts. Or if you want the guests to find out the same time as the parents have the guests turn around and get those cute kids involved at the party and have them throw the powder all over the white shirts. On the count of 3 have everyone turn around and the parents take off the blindfolds to unveil the color.

You can't have a party without a cake. Order a cake with the gender color on the inside but neutral on the outside. Slice into the dessert when you’re ready to find out!

At the end of your party, thank all of your guests for coming and enjoying this special moment with you.

One way to thank your guests is to give them little party favors or a small gift that reminds them of the day.

Another fun way is even rewarding the people who guessed the gender correctly with a fun prize. To determine the winner of this prize, have each guest place their name in a pink or blue jar upon arriving. If they think it’s a girl, they would put their name on a piece of paper, fold it up, and place it in the pink jar. After the reveal, go to the correct colored jar and pick a name out of it. The name you choose is the winner. A gift card, scented candle, soap, wine, or lotion make great gift ideas for the winner.

Maybe your family and friends are spread out all over the country — or even the world — and coming to you for a party just isn’t in the cards right now. While we know you want to be with your loved ones in person, we also know that sometimes this just isn't a reality, especially with these ever changing times. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun celebrating your new little one!  Instead, throw a virtual gender reveal party!

We want to help you make this event just as special as an in-person party, so we created a few ideas to help get you started planning your virtual gender reveal party. Take a look!

First, send out your invites via email or social media and make sure all of your guests have internet access. From here, you can create live events or send out a link for your party.

Determine whether you want to have your gender reveal outside or inside. From there, have some fun with it. Create a decorative background with balloons or back drop that fits perfectly with the theme of your party!

Is the big reveal for everyone (including you), or is it just for your guests? If it’s for everyone, you’ll need to recruit a friend or family member to help with the surprise. But if you’re already in on the secret, plan and prepare ahead for your big reveal. Take a look at our gender reveal ideas to really nail down your decision!

This is one party you don’t want to be late for! There could be technical difficulties, so get everything ready early before your guests start hopping on.

We want to make your guests feel known and welcomed, greet them one by one when they hop on.

When you are starting the party, give everyone a chance to chime in and say hello one at a time that, way they can introduce themselves to everyone.

**PRO TIP** If your party is quite large, you have the option to mute all of your guests if you wish because it will be hard to hear everyone with all the background noise.

Tell everyone beforehand to have a snack prepared — like popcorn, chips, a fruit and veggie tray, or cake — to make your party more interactive. It will be just like you’re eating together as you would in person!

Before your big reveal, build up the excitement by playing a virtual game. Just because you can’t be together doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun!

Take a look below at some virtual game options.

Guessing the baby weight

Let each guest guess what the baby will weigh when he or she is born. Keep the paper you write all the guesses on and find the winner after the baby is born and send them a sweet prize.

Old Wives' Tales Questions

Give each guest a turn to ask you questions about your pregnancy based on old wives’ tales and myths. Record each answer so all the guests can follow along. See if any of the guests change their minds on their gender guesses when they hear all the results of this game.

Eventually, this will lead up to your big reveal!

After everyone has their snack and plays a game, it’s time for the big reveal. Choose from our list of gender reveal ideas above to surprise your friends and family virtually. Your guests will be so excited that they were able to celebrate this special moment with you!

Don't forget to record their reactions! After all, you might miss the reaction of your friends and family from being caught up in the moment. This allows you to go back and watch after it’s all said and done!

Sending out cards is a sweet gesture in a technology-based world. Your guests will love getting a personalized card in the mail. Just because this is a virtual gender reveal doesn't mean you can't mail all of your guests a little party favor as a way to express your appreciation too!

We can feel the excitement!