What Will It Bee? A Gender Reveal Party

A few weeks ago I helped my friend Stephanie host a Gender Reveal Party in my backyard. When I say helped, I mean she planned EVERYTHING and I was purely her minion assistant, which was perfect. She came up with the cutest theme of "What Will It Bee?" Which goes perfect with her blog, The Bloom Diary, documenting her life and story of this pregnancy journey.

I love details. Love-love-LOVE details and Stephanie is very detail oriented. So excuse me while I post almost every dang picture I took. I just want you all to see and soak up her creative genius. Stephanie used a mixture of her stuff and mine to create this beautiful tablescape--complete with a little beehive she made. On the menu were basil+tomato flat-bread, watermelon+feta, mini wedge salads and mini berry cobblers+ice cream. All absolutely delish! Plus, it was super fun spending the afternoon cooking, baking and decorating with her. I'll be her assistant any day!

So here's where the reveal started getting exciting and how it all went down. The Smiths had their ultrasound a few days before the party and looked away while the gender was being found. They came over immediately after the appointment and delivered a sealed envelope with the top secret results. I shared this secret with our friend Rachelle who was in charge of helping create this surprise. First though, Stephanie loved the idea from this gender reveal to have the guests add a drop of food color to their drinks with their gender guess--that way we could see what everyone had guessed before the reveal. 

 Christopher singing opera in the background? :)

 We guess girl!

 We guess boy!

So, here's where the reveal begins. Rachelle (who is INSANELY talented. You guys--it's ridic) created this backdrop of canvas, strategically placed tarps, and black balloons filled with paint (to be popped with darts--revealing the gender) AND whimsical hand drawn art throughout the yard. Rachelle really did an incredible job bringing Stephanie's idea to life. T'was amazing. 

 Go time! We all gathered around to see the darts fly. This next sequence of photos is super blurry. Sorry. I was taking pics sooper-dooper fast to capture their reaction. 

 IT'S A GIRL!!!!! After the surprise, all the guests took turns throwing darts and popping the rest of the balloons on the canvas. It actually turned out beautiful! Now they have a meaningful and colorful work of art to hang in the nursery! 

 We ended the evening with sparklers. Aaron looks thrilled. For reals though, who doesn't LOVE sparklers?!? 

 My kids busted out of their bedroom for sparklers and cobbler then were sent back to bed.  

 Stephanie had the girls trace the letters G I R L and took pictures super fast. I'm interested to see if they turned out when she posts about it!

 Lots of us stayed late chatting around the fire and then I almost forgot to give Stephanie my gift with the ultrasound picture and her FIRST girls clothes--I WIN! Ha Ha! Total perk of being the first to know :)

It was a total blast. I really hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Stephanie once again killed it with her amazingness. I'm so grateful I could help and be a part of it. After all, they're family and I love them SO SO very much! 

The End.