BABY GENDER REVEAL - A GREAT REASON TO THROW A PARTY

I love a good excuse to throw a party; how about gathering with friends and family to announce the gender of your new little bundle?  You can combine this with a baby shower or have a separate party - why not?

Decorations are simple – think lots of pink AND blue - balloons, flowers and food. Have attendees wear in Team Blue or Team Pink gear and plan a couple of games (check out whattoexpect.com or babyshower101.com for a few ideas).  

There are many ways to pull off the Big Reveal:

Cut the Cake – have a cake prepared that has the caked dyed either pink or blue, and iced with a neutral icing.  Cut into the cake, and taa-daa – a baby boy or baby girl is on the way!  Another option here is to have individual cupcakes with a pink or blue treat baked into the center – a jelly bean, gumball, or a mint.

Balloon Release – get a BIG box and fill it with helium balloons with the appropriate color; unwrap it and watch the sky fill with the happy news.

Pinata – fill a pinata with boy things or girl things (small toys, socks, pink or blue candy, etc.) and watch everyone cheer when they spill out all over the ground.

Keep it a REAL secret - if you really want to make things interesting, keep the secret from yourself – have the sonographer put the evidence in a sealed envelope and enjoy the surprise with your loved ones.

Have other fun ideas for a Gender Reveal Party?  Share them here!

THE SHOW WILL GO ON!

     At every event I’ve ever organized, the people in attendance have shown up wanting to have a good time, and therefore have been pretty forgiving if everything wasn’t 100% perfect.  I’m sure that you’ve attended lots of events where everything wasn’t necessarily going according to plan, and you didn’t even realize it!  That’s because everyone was having a good time in spite of the glitches. So, strive for excellence, but don’t freak out if something goes wrong – keep breathing, and improvise!   It helps if you try to anticipate the potential roadblocks, and formulate a contingency plan to overcome it or work around it.

There are a lot of things that are within your control, but many others that are not. Weather, technology glitches, vendors or others who don’t come through are potential threats to your success. A successful planner plans what she can, and anticipates the rest.

If you’re having an outside event, know what your backup plan will be in case of bad weather.  If you’re relying on technology for a presentation, test the system ahead of time, find out if the venue has backup equipment, have a copy of your presentation on a flash drive, and have a handout available for photocopying.  Confirm your third-party vendors once, twice, three times if necessary until you’re comfortable that they will be on time and on target with their product or services.  And if you’re relying on volunteers, stay in constant contact to measure progress and assign more help if you’re not confident that they’re up to the tasks they’ve been given.