Gender Reveal Party

Yesterday, we had our gender reveal party with a small group of family and friends. There was a lot of contemplation for me on whether or not Jake and I would know the gender before the party. Ultimately, we decided that we wanted to be able to find out together, just the two of us. So, we had to keep it a secret for 5 long, agonizing days.

All of my decorations were based around the invitation. I loved this one here but wanted to put my own twist on it and add some more color. I told you last time about my obsession with the chevron stripes, so it’s only natural that that was part of it. Plus with our short timeline, I wanted to design and print my own. So, I bought plain white stock paper and envelopes from Target (they came 50 invites and envelopes in a box) and printed them on my printer . Here’s what the invitation ended up looking like:

I was also very indecisive on how to do the “big reveal”. I had only seen a couple of different ideas on how others have done it (like cutting into a cake/cupcake and the frosting was either pink or blue or a box filled with pink or blue balloons that would float out when opened) and , frankly, I just wasn’t really feeling any of those. They’re great and fun ideas, but I just didn’t want to do that. So after some more researching and thinking a little outside the box, I decided on doing a scratch off ticket. I found directions here. It was super easy and the most time-consuming part was cutting the paper. I also didn’t think about how messy it would actually be once they were scratched off. Nothing a broom and vacuum can’t handle though. I was happy with how it turned out in the end anyways.

So here’s some pictures of the party:

My pom making skills from our wedding came in handy for the party!

My friend, Kelsey, couldn't make it to the party so she sent us a card with her vote 🙂

In order to not give it away, I wore pink and Jake wore blue.

My sister loved the mustaches!

Luckily, since our party was so close to Valentine's day, there was plenty of pink colored candy to choose from. These are Hershey's Milk Chocolate hearts and the blue and white candies are York Peppermint Pieces.

I picked up a package of Starburst All Reds and some Cookies 'n' Creme Hershey's Kisses .

To add some color and save on money, I bought fake flowers at the dollar store and used blue food coloring with water. Turned out just as I had hoped!

I'm not a big cake person, so Funfetti cupcakes are the only cupcakes that I like. Our wedding cake was even Funfetti!

Blue raspberry jell-o topped with whipped cream and strawberries! So yummy!

Even made Funfetti cookies! I could have eaten the whole plate!

I printed labels on my printer to match our invitations and the other decorations for our popcorn bags. Then, I used a decorative scissor to trim the tops of the bags. I loved that they matched perfectly!

I even did my nails so that they would match the party! Too much time on my hands?!...perhaps! 🙂

Unfortunately, Jake's grandparents couldn't make it, but here's a shot of us and my grandparents. I was so happy that they could all be there! Grandma and Grandpa Hannaher thought boy, while Grandma Sako thought girl!

My Dad and Grandma...my Grandma has said that she's thought it's a boy from the very first time she found out we were expecting.

This is me with my Grandma and my Mom. Even though Baby hasn't made his/her appearance yet, this is four generations!

Jake and I with his parents. A good amount of pink in this picture!

Henry, Jake, Ross, and Brittany. Brittany wore blue and pink because her vote was that "he's going to be a ladies man!"

Me with some of my best girlfriends that could make it, Mollie, Ashley, and Steph.

Matt, Aaron, Al, and Phil

Mollie giving us some name ideas! We had a lot to go through that were all really good!

Time to find out! Everyone scratching away!

And we’re so happy to announce that….

When I was younger, I always said I wanted a boy first!

A very happy Mom and Dad!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our party! We wish that we would have been able to have all of our friends there. We feel so blessed to have such a great group of family and friends surrounding us in this new and exciting chapter of our lives. We know that Baby O has so many people who love him sooo much already. Now, just another few short {or long} months until we get to meet the little guy – we can’t wait!