Your loved one just asked you to be the keeper of a very big secret. Now, you're holding an envelope with an ultrasound photo in it and the answer to the question of whether they are going to have a boy or a girl. What an honor! Your friend or family member trusts you with one of the biggest surprises of their life. You should feel a tremendous amount of pride in the fact that you're such a good and loving human being. 

  After your excitement wears off a bit, you're probably trying to decide what you have to do next. Luckily, we have the answers you are seeking and a few tips to make the gender reveal party a little bit easier for everyone involved. 

Talk to the New Mom and Dad

  The first step you are going to want to take is to talk to mom and dad. Ask them questions about what they want to do at their gender reveal party. 

  Here's a list of questions you should ask the soon to be parents:

• Do they want you to open the envelope? They might want to order a cake so that you will be surprised too. In that case, you'd just hand the envelope to the bakery and they'd look at it to determine what filling should be inside of the dessert.
• What theme would the parents like the party to be? Knowing this will help you decide what gender reveal prop to purchase. 
• Who would they like to invite? Finding out whether or not it will be a small or large party is critical information for the next question as well.
• What is their budget? Unless you are okay with paying for the party, this is a critical question. 
• What kind of food do they want? Do mom and dad want to have finger foods, or are they looking for a more elaborate dinner/lunch spread? Then get an item of food they'd like at the party. 
• When do they want to have the get-together? You’ll probably want a couple of weeks to plan and purchase everything.

  You might have other questions and gender reveal ideas as you go along. Be sure to jot them down somewhere so you don't forget them. 

Start Gathering Gender Reveal Essentials

  After you've hammered out all of the details with mom and dad, you can start planning the party. For some of us, this is almost as much fun as the actual big day. I mean, who doesn't love shopping, right?! 

It’s a ……!

  Finding the best prop to reveal the gender of the baby is tough because there are so many cool ways to do it! You could, for example, send mom and dad on a scavenger hunt by leaving clues around the venue of the party, then have a gender reveal confetti cannon at the final spot. The expecting parents point the cannon in the air, twist, and Pop!! Colored confetti burst out of the cannon revealing the gender of the baby. Let it rain in pink or blue confetti cannons as the parents savor the moment.

•   If mom and dad are big sports fans, there are a lot of fun props for that too. For instance, you could buy a gender reveal soccer ball or gender reveal football. 
•   Do they love racing? A gender reveal burnout might be exactly how they want to learn the gender of their little one! 
•   If the new baby-to-be has siblings, either the human or fur kind, you can even get them involved. A gender reveal balloon kit is fun for the whole family. 
•   Just make sure you are filming so you can get the look of surprise on everyone's face when they use whatever prop you have chosen to let the secret out!

Yummy!

  You can order the food for the gender reveal party in advance, and it will make the day of the party go a lot smoother. If you want to make the food yourself, there are lots of party food recipes floating around. These are just a few ideas:

• Cucumber sandwiches
• Teacakes
• Stuffed jalapenos 
• Mini subs
• Cocktail sausages
• Little meatballs 
• Fruit and nut pinwheels
• Cheese platter

  You could also have the party catered, and not necessarily just from restaurants. A lot of supermarkets have party platters, and many of them will even deliver the food to you on the day of the gender reveal celebration. 

  If you are going to have a cake or other treats are the party, be sure to order that in advance, as well. Also, you can buy a gender reveal cake topper to add some pizazz to the top of the dessert. 

Don’t Stress