Gender Reveal Party with Paint!

I think there is a rule somewhere about how many photos are allowed in a blog post… I don’t know, maybe 5 or 6 tops? Well we are about to blow that rule out of the water.

Sunday afternoon 30 of our friends and family members drove from near and (mostly) far away to find out the gender of #BabyMagotes! Oh, and we cannot forget the 10-ish people who joined us online! They say it takes a village to raise a child… We are truly blessed to have such an amazing village of folks who care so much about us and our little baby!

And with that… I bring you a trillion pictures and the big blog announcement of #BabyMagotes’ gender!

As a professional event planner, I know every shindig needs a Plan A and a Plan B. Our Plan A included the back deck, a fire pit, tons of space for tons of guests, a canvas in the middle of the yard, sunshine and eggs filled with either blue or pink paint. Plan B? Well Plan B involved a cake with either pink or blue on the inside and a lot less space in the house… My parents knew how much Plan A meant to me, so when the forecast was terrible we tried to work around it!

The gal who made our wedding cake (Cake Delights in Virginia Beach, VA) made us an amazing gluten free gender reveal cake. When I told her about my Plan A, we decided a white cake with pink and blue paint splatters all over it would be 100% fitting! Don’t ya just love it?! At the very last minute I added the cake topper to match the other rustic decor I made for the party. I was simply obsessed. And if I had to go with Plan B, inside, in one room - this was exactly how I envisioned it! Along with a ton of other sweet treats, delicious food and the pink/blue rustic decor that my mom and I put together…

Easy, gender reveal treats included: Pink and Blue gum balls (from Target), M&Ms with nuts and no-nuts, trail mix with extra blue m&ms, puppy chow (or garbage, depending on what you call it) with extra pink m&ms and cute little pink and blue party cups (from Hobby Lobby) for guests to carry around their treats!

I made Gender Reveal gifts for all of our friends and family members who are not local or who were unable to make it to the party. There were quite a few extra so these then became party favors! (Detailed post on these later…)

In addition to the wine and beer for the non-preggos, we had blue hawaiian punch and pink lemonade. Not paleo but easy. And fit the pink and blue theme. I had clear plastic cups and colorful straws for guests to continue to show off their vote!

The Mommy’s Been Craving Buffet included nothing paleo, but almost everything gluten free! Buffalo chicken dip, a baked potato bar and toppings, veggies with ranch, chicken salad, fruit, chips and salsa… NOM.

Above is my college bestie who drove a total of four hours in the rain to be with me for this reveal.

Below, my previous neighbors who are my Newport News family! We miss them terribly and were so thrilled they were able to join us now that we live an hour away!

I was super impressed by my grandmother’s commitment to Team Pink. From head to toe she was wearing pink! Even her earrings! Way to go Narn!

This was a first attempt with Google Hangout for me. And I learned A LOT. Like tell everyone to put mute on their laptops! Apparently my online guests spent most of the time watching my cousin in Switzerland instead of the actual reveal! Whoopsie! But I was told that they were able to see the important parts! Above, J and her hubby in ATL. Below, my friend of 25 years, Cait and her husband-to-be, and actually #BabyMagotes’ Godparents (!!) in Charlotte! And then we had some family from Switzerland and several friends in Northern VA too!

Before we did the actual gender reveal, we took team pictures!

My Plan A included eggs filled with either pink or blue paint. About an hour before the party my husband, college roomie and I filled them with paint and then glued pink and blue tissue paper on top of them so our guests could not see the color of the paint inside.

Plan A was supposed to take place outside, in the sunshine. But because of the rain, my dad generously opened his garage up for us to all cram into! We put the canvas just outside the door, underneath an umbrella. Then I reminded them all that they needed to throw the eggs HARD. (When I practiced this several weeks prior, the first time I threw a paint-filled egg, it didn’t crack at all! So in order to get the splatter, you gotta THROW IT!)

And then, it was time for the egg toss and actual reveal! Look closely at everyone’s facial expressions! These pictures are priceless!

I’d say, based on the pictures above, my folks were over the moon when the eggs revealed several shades of pink! I really wish my in-laws could’ve been there to enjoy this fun moment too!

(If a gender reveal with paint eggs is something you plan on doing, keep in mind that you can pick the half-broken eggs back up and toss them again! They still had quite a bit of paint left!)

Once the eggs were tossed and the gender was revealed, Michael and I shared that we are going to be naming our little girl Lorelei Elizabeth! I was so happy that, despite the rain, we still had the opportunity for our family to create this fun piece of art to go in Lorelei’s nursery.

Then, the gals of the fam celebrated the fact that there will be yet another strong, amazing woman in this family! Four generations in one picture!

And of course, we still ate the Plan B. 🙂

Many thanks to the family and friends who joined us in person and online to celebrate this sweet little girl who we are all anxious to meet! I cannot believe we are 21 weeks into this… we know it’s a she, and now she has a name! While I’m no where near ready, there’s no turning back now!

(Photo credit goes out to my amazing sister Leslie Benjaminson Photography!)