Gender reveal parties are in a nutshell an original way to reveal to all the guests attending the event the sex of the unborn child.
We owe everything to the improvements of technology and science which have made it possible to find out precisely whether the baby will be a girl or a boy very early in the pregnancy.
This celebration takes place before the birth of the baby and more specifically towards the middle of pregnancy, that is, after the expectant mother has overcome the greatest risks of miscarriage in the first trimester.
As you can already guess, this trend started with Social Media. It seems it started in 2008 when a blogger told through her social channels of her cake thanks to which she had discovered the sex of her baby. Her story hit the web like a lightning and was immediately an inspiration for many mothers.
Today various influencers, celebrities and common women alike compete to reveal their baby's sex in the most original way: from sumptuous cakes worthy of a wedding ceremony to fountains ready to explode to reveal pink or blue jets of water.
The Gender Reveal Party and the Baby Shower Party are often confused and considered the same party, but that's not really the case. The Gender Reveal Party is generally held after the first trimester of pregnancy, and much before the Baby Shower Party. This is because in the first celebration much of the fun lies in trying to guess the sex of the baby all together, while in the second the goal is to literally overwhelm the mother and her little one with a shower of gifts.
Baby shower parties are normally attended by girl friends of the mom-to-be whereas Gender Reveal parties are usually organised as a barbecue here in OZ which everyone can attend.
When I attended a Gender Reveal party for the first time I came to know that this is how it works:
the mother-to-be’s doctor places the results of the ultrasound or prenatal test in a sealed bag.
This way she can give them to someone she trusts and who, knowing the long-awaited revelation, will help her organize the preparations for the party.
At this point, the mother-to-be decides whether she wants to go with the classic “Boy or Girl?” with decorations in pink and blue or try to give the party an original theme like Ballerinas vs. Car Drivers or Barbie vs. Ken…I have seen many.
What cannot be missing are decorations for the room and the table, objects to reveal the baby's sex, food and drinks (which can also be used to reveal whether the baby will be a boy or a girl like a cake, cupcakes, pies), games and entertainment.
For these you can go to shops specializing in parties and ceremonies, or search in the various online shops which specialize in Gender reveal events.
Given the usual good weather here in Sydney almost year-round, most gender reveal parties are held outdoors with the classic shrimps-on-the-barbie type of barbecue or as a pool party.
Back in Italy this tradition does not exist and as for baby showers it would be considered bad luck to throw a party for a baby who is not born yet.
I think nevertheless that it’s a great idea and great fun for the couple as well as a nice future memory for the baby to be when he (or she?) will look at the photos of the event in his honour.
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