Want to combine a gender reveal party with a baby shower and wondering how to organise the perfect celebration?
While some people may only do one or the other, or want to do both but separately, it can also be fun to add your gender reveal to your baby shower.
It becomes a fun part of the party so you get the best of both worlds, without having to organise two different parties and try to get all your loved ones together on two separate dates.
You may also like to check out my gorgeous baby shower games bundle – featuring 15 great games and activities for your special celebration.
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Can you combine a gender reveal party and baby shower?
Yes you can combine a gender reveal and baby shower – the two things may have some differences but there are lots of advantages to holding a party that ticks both boxes!
A gender reveal party is where you find out the gender of your baby in front of family and friends -sometimes aided by a visual stunt such as cutting into a cake where it has been coloured blue or pink inside.
The reveal can be a surprise for everyone at the party, including the parents, or just the guests.
For a party where the parents want to find out the gender at the event alongside their friends, the scan technician can provide you with a sealed envelope with the gender written down.
You can then hand this over to certain companies – such as boxed up balloon sellers – to get them to produce your gender reveal prop for the big moment.
A baby shower is where loved ones celebrate the mother-to-be and give her gifts for the unborn baby and the mama.
So as you can see the primary focus of the two events are different, however they do fit together quite nicely!
Both are a celebration of the impending arrival and if you want to add a nice feature to your baby shower then a gender reveal can be a really fun!
Baby shower vs gender reveal
There are a few key differences between baby showers and gender reveals.
But as you’ll see from these, although there are some big differences, such as timings, none are insurmountable to prevent you from combining the two!
Timing
Gender reveal parties tend to happen when the mother is around five to six months pregnant – after the 20-week scan has taken place and the gender has been determined.
The timing of baby showers tends to be close to the due date but before the mama has reached full-term, which is 37 weeks. So a baby shower would usually be at around 30 to 35 weeks.
Gifts
While gifts are a very important feature of a baby shower, there is no expectation of gifts at a gender reveal party.
Guest list
A baby shower is typically attended by the close female friends and family members of the mother. The dad doesn’t traditionally attend however many people like to take a more modern approach to baby showers and include male loved ones too.
A gender reveal party is open for all close friends and family members.
Activities
A baby shower usually involves a few games or activities – such as baby bingo, decorating onesies or guessing the key stats for the baby when they are born.
The gender reveal is more of a typical party – with drinks, socialising and some party food – where people gather round for a stunt that reveals whether the baby is a boy or girl.
Tips for a gender reveal baby shower
So you’ve decided you want to combine your gender reveal with your baby shower? Try these tips for organising the perfect event.
You can also check out my tips for organising a baby shower to help you plan!
Picking a date
Even though a gender reveal party would typically take place shortly after the 20-week scan when the gender can be confirmed, there’s no rules on how soon after you have to do a gender reveal.
You’ll want to hold it some time between 20 weeks and 35 weeks. Don’t forget to check with your most important guests – such as your parents and best friends – before setting the date and sending out invitations.
Send out invitations
The benefit of having a combined party is that you only have one set of invites to send out!
You could also mention on the invitation that there will be a gender reveal at the party so they are aware of what to expect, and that you don’t know the sex of the baby yet. This will help them with choosing gifts too.
Get the invitations sent out four to six weeks before the event.
You can find fantastic invitations online to download and personalise – such as these gender reveal invitations.
Enlist help
It’s tradition for someone else to organise the mama-to-be’s baby shower – usually their mother or a close friend.
And if the parents-to-be want to find out the gender at the same time as everyone else, then it’s much easier if someone else plans the big gender reveal stunt or prop.
So get a close friend or relative to help out with key elements of the planning. They may become the person who does everything, including sending out invitations.
As combining a gender reveal with a baby shower isn’t a traditional thing, you can write your own rules with this. It’s always smart to get a little help, especially if you have a big guest list.
Pick some activities and/or games
A baby shower typically has games and/or activities.
Some people prefer a chilled out baby shower with creative activities such as decorating wooden blocks to be baby toys.
Or games include blind tasting of different types of baby food.
You can check out my ideas for baby shower activities here and these modern baby shower games.
And don’t forget to check out these baby shower games prizes ideas.
Plan the itinerary
As you will be combining two different events it’s important to have an idea of the order of events.
It doesn’t have to be planned down to the minute, however if there are certain things you want to get to then it’s a good idea to agree in advance among the party planners and guests of honour (the parents) what will happen and when.
So you may want to plan for 90 minutes of baby shower activities – such as onesie decorating and games.
Then you may need to allow 30 minutes for the gender reveal. Don’t leave the gender reveal to the end of the party, as your guests will want to stay and celebrate the news, not leave right away! Have it around a third of the way through the event.
A good itinerary for a gender reveal baby shower may look like this:
- 1pm – Guests arrive, have drinks and eat party food laid out as a buffet
- 1.30pm – Baby shower game/activity
- 2pm – Gender reveal
- 2.30pm – Opening gifts
- 3.30pm – Baby shower game/activity
- 4pm – Guests head home
Have a longer event
The gender reveal will add some extra time to your event, and you may well have more people at a combined event than you would at just a baby shower.
So allow an extra hour or so for your event. A baby shower typically lasts around two hours, so plan for three to four hours for a gender reveal baby shower.
Create a gift list
Having a gift list makes it much easier for your guests to choose the right present for you and reduces the risk of duplicates.
Amazon is a great place for your baby gift list – you can set up an Amazon baby gift list here – as it stocks a huge range of products and it’s easy for your guests to order from there.
You just create a list with the items you need, share the link with guests and they shop!
Gender reveal baby shower ideas
What can you do to make the big moment exciting for you and your guests? Here are some great gender reveal baby shower ideas that work brilliantly whatever your theme for the party.
Cake
This is a gender reveal classic but it’s a crowd pleaser.
You can either do this with cupcakes – where you bite into the cakes and the gender is revealed by the colour of the cake – or with a big cake that the parents cut into while guests watch.
Balloons
A balloon gender reveal is really fun and easy for all guests to see. It’s good if you have a party with a big crowd!
It can be done either by having a giant balloon filled with confetti that gets popped. The colour of confetti reveals whether you are having a boy or a girl.
Alternatively you can get companies that will box up lots of balloons and when the moment comes you open the box and the balloons all get released and float up into the sky.
You can also check out these gender reveal balloons.
Piñata
Get a piñata and fill it with confetti that is coloured blue or pink to reveal the baby’s gender!
Someone will need to know the baby’s gender in order to put this prop together for you. This is where a close friend or relative acting as a co-organiser or overall organiser of the party can be really handy.
Confetti
A compressed air confetti cannon will fire out confetti (safely) to shower you with blue or pink confetti depending on the gender.
Again, you need to get someone who knows the gender to organise this for the party.
Benefits of combining a gender reveal and baby shower
Gets all of your loved ones together
Unlike a baby shower on its own, a gender reveal includes both parents’ sets of friends and relatives.
It creates a bigger event that is a really nice way to celebrate your pregnancy.
More modern approach
It’s a far more inclusive celebration that includes the male and female members of the family – as a baby shower is traditionally only attended by female relatives.
Includes both parents
Both parents are involved in the celebrations of a gender reveal so it’s a fun way to get you together as a family.
Creates a special memory
A gender reveal is a big moment and doing so with a party with loved ones means you’re creating a lasting memory for everyone.
Drawbacks of combining gender reveal with baby shower
Buying gifts can be trickier
If you don’t know the gender of the baby then buying baby shower gifts is made ever so slightly more difficult as you’ll need to buy gender neutral clothes, toys and other items.
This isn’t really a dealbreaker, as gender neutral items are great anyway because they can be used for younger siblings in future years.
Some people may prefer a surprise
There may be certain people who don’t want to know the gender of the baby in advance of the birth.
More planning involved
As you will need to plan some kind of stunt for the big reveal – even if it’s just opening an envelope with the gender on – it’s going to require some additional planning.
Final thoughts
A gender reveal baby shower is a fun way to bring all of your family together to create a memorable event where you can celebrate.
Planning is key – so consider loose timings so you can get round to the key events such as the big gender reveal and opening the baby shower gifts.
