How to Celebrate a Gender Reveal Over Dinner
I don’t really go-in for gender reveal parties. For me, what seems to work best is the “surprise the special people in your life over dinner” gender-revealing method.
This works for spouses, grandmas and grandpas, best friends or pretty much anyone. No matter who it is, Celebrating a Gender Reveal Over Dinner is so easy–no party hats required!
First, you need to set the scene. For me, it totally worked-out for my most recent baby that it was Lobsterfest at Red Lobster. I love a good lobster, as does my mom–the surprisee! About once a month, we do a regular dinner together with my older daughter for “just us girls”.
On this semi-special occasion, though, Lobsterfest made it a little more special. We ordered the Lobster Lover’s Dream® and Dueling Lobster Tails as well as a virgin Lobster Punch each–I also insisted we have dessert. My mom thought I was being so silly and going quite over the top since we normally just order a main dish each and have iced tea, but she didn’t know what was coming!
Just by adding those two elements, though, made our dinner a celebration. Setting the scene is a total must.
Second, you need to decide on a gender reveal option. There are thousands of options for being all cute in your reveal, although, with my first baby, I just dropped the bomb randomly during conversation–short, simple and sweet.
To get you thinking creatively, though, here are my favorite ideas, including the one I ultimately chose to use for my youngest daughter’s gender reveal.
7 Easy Surprise Gender Reveal Ideas:
- Wrap the silverware in a gender-revealing onsie. There are a ton of cute little onsies that you know you’re going to buy anyway, so this is totally do-able. You can ask your waiter to replace those on the table–they’ll love being part of the game.
- Tack the appropriate gender-colored bow on a sonogram. Pink hair bow for a girl or blue bow-tie for a boy–either way, it’s so cute and when the surprisee pulls the sonogram out of the envelope, they’ll also be getting a cute souvenir of the event. This is what I did with my mom. I just handed her the set of sonogram pictures out of my purse and the last one had a little pink bow. She loved it!
- Bring dessert. Just like with a birthday cake, most restaurants are fine with you bringing-in a cake for a gender reveal. And how adorable are these perfect little gender reveal cupcakes? I want to make a batch of them just for fun–much less for such a special surprise!
- Tie your shoes. Buy a set of girl or boy -appropriate sneakers and tuck them in your purse, then, when there’s a lull in the conversation, pull the shoes out and ask for help tying them. The puzzled look will totally turn into a gasp of glee!
- Have the waiter deliver balloons with dessert. If you have some time before the lunch, it should be easy to run to your local supermarket for some pink or blue balloons and drop them off with the restaurant manager before dinner. Just show up early and order your dessert before your guests get into the parking lot and they’ll be none the wiser.
- Change shirts in the bathroom. I love this gender-revealing t-shirt idea, but instead of photos and announcements (because I’m so not that type of girl), just arrive at the restaurant with the t-shirt under a pretty cardigan all closed-up. When you’re talking about baby and ready to reveal, just open the little jacket and be prepared for the excitement.
- All around the mulberry bush! Pull a a super surprise by popping a cute note in a jack-in-the-box. Have your surprisee turn the crank and viola!
Finally, just have fun with the reveal–that’s the point, right?! My mom and I had a blast. She had no idea what was coming, but over my Lobster Lover’s Dream® with its succulent rock lobster tail and sweet split Maine lobster tail (which was my FAVE), and lobster-and-shrimp linguini Alfredo (no really, it was a huge meal, I couldn’t finish), I dropped the envelope on the table. Mom looked so puzzled, she set aside her Dueling Lobster Tails with its two Maine lobster tails, one roasted and topped with tender shrimp in a creamy garlic sauce, the other golden-baked with crab-and-seafood stuffing. There were tears in her eyes as she realized the surprise and we were giggling all through dessert (and yup, the cheesecake was awesome). Totally fun. The best ever.