FLOWERS or FIRE Gender Reveal: What will BABY C be?

Unique and different that describes me and Brandon… CHECK! I am so excited to share behind the scenes of Flowers or Fire Gender reveal for baby C! Working on a very small budget we spent around two hundred dollars for everything. I recycled a ton of Wedding décor and used Fire Fighter themed nick nacks from around the house which saved us a bunch. Given that my Wedding was purple florals and part of this event resembles me it worked out perfectly. Given that our home represents a lot of Brandon’s passion for Fire and this event is half him it yet again worked out perfectly.

It started with creating the private Facebook event page where we invited close family and friends, made the description with the time and place, and of course a banner that resembles the upcoming event! After this I made my first trip to certain stores that I knew I could get certain things I wanted from. At that point I honestly didn’t have a vision and was kind of lost. I was relying too much on my friend who was supposed to come with me because she knew exactly what she needed to create the DIY projects that was pretty much 70% of the event. The only thing I was sure of was the BABY letters for the backdrop and the Fire hydrants on either side. I felt much better after I was able to get home and take a trip to my attic where Brandon helped me take down half of the Wedding decorations. We pulled out signs, the reception centerpieces, and the purple hydrangeas that were tied to chairs down the inside isles. After I got a view of what I had and what I knew I could make, it all started to come together and my stress level went down a notch.

DECORATIONS:

Starting with the CENTERPIECES I took the vases that were used for my Wedding that still had the purple glass rock in the bottom and added red glass rock that I ordered from Amazon and then placed the purple Hydrangeas that were used down the isle at my wedding and paired them with one or two purple fake Lythrum (or what looks like it) from Walmart floral section. The last addition to make the recycled centerpiece perfect was glitter flame cake toppers that came in packs of four from Hobby Lobby. I put together 8 vases in total, two for each guest table. Continuing with the table theme another recycled item from the Wedding was purple floral garland that went down the middle of each table having the vases on either side of the vine. This saved us money from having to purchase something different to add to the tables so they weren’t plane other than the vases. Lastly we randomly added minnie plastic fire trucks and hydrants also from the party section of Hobby Lobby. These packs were two dollars each and a nice cheap addition to add something small to a space that looked sparse.

The main focus of the party was the BACKDROP and by far my favorite! Originally we were going to have this against out backyard fence, but once plans changed do to a possible weather situation larger tents were added where my Husband had the brilliant idea to build a wooden backdrop that would be at the end of the far tent, the first thing everyone sees when walking out into the yard. The wood was stunning and this helped us cut down on time and prep because the original idea for the letters was scrapped. Instead of gluing balloons all over the letters we decided to just hand the plain white word against the wood because the picture it made was stunning! We did add 2 of the flame garlands down the left and right sides and a purple floral garland across the top to add some color. On the ground next to the backdrop on either side stood two real Fire Hydrants we borrowed and tied helium filled balloons to the top. This made the entire look come together and could not have asked for anything more… it was PERFECT!

Lastly we placed RANDOM DECOR in the form of streamers, balloons, floral garland, flame hanging garland, and fire fighter nick nacks anywhere we thought it needed some color. Along the top of the tents we added twisted purple and red streamers and randomly placed. We hung two of the flame garland up against the bay window of the house and we can’t forget the sign and balloons used on the Mailbox to show, “Hey the party is here!”

GAMES:

As far as I know, there aren’t a lot of games held at Gender Reveals. Those are saved for the Baby Shower, but we did have the normal GUESS THE GENDER and added backyard games since it was themed and set up as a cookout.

Obviously GUESS THE GENDER was the first thing we had out to guests. After coming in the front door the first thing seen on the entrance table was a sign that prompted the guests to take either a red flower pin that represents a BOY, or a purple flower pin that represents a GIRL. These pins were homemade and DIYed by my friend and one of the Gender Keepers. I purchased the purple daisy’s from the Walmart floral section and purchased the red daisy’s off of Amazon. The red was a little smaller than the purple, but they still worked out perfectly. The stems were cut off and a safety pin and foliage was hot glued to the bottom of each and turned into a beautiful and very unique way of guessing what the guests thought the baby would be! It was also a very cost effective, a win win situation if I do say so myself.

The next game on the same entrance table was very easy and simple and also something that most themed parties like this have. GUESS HOW MANY GUMBALLS was an easy addition to add activity, color, and take up space. A cookie jar with large pastel colored gumballs was set on one side and a fire hydrant piggy bank to place the cut out purple and red construction paper with the guesses was on the other.

The last thing placed on the table, wasn’t a game but another fire hydrant piggy bank with a sign stating DONATIONS TO PUT OUT FIRES. In other words any money guests would like to leave as a gift to help us out with the many costs a baby brings with them.

On to the outside backyard BBQ games we had BEER PONG with clear plastic cups with red and purple colored water to represent BOY or GIRL teams! CORNHOLE with purple and red bean bags ordered from Amazon that once again represent team BOY or GIRL and the boards Brandon got for Christmas a few years back. I also put out a TIC TAC TOE BOARD I have had for years, needless to say I think everyone had something to do!

FOOD:

The food was the easiest and the first thing decided on. What was going to be the most expensive part of the party became the cheapest thanks to Brandon’s family who offered to cover the meats, sides, and plates and napkins. My husband’s grandparents are big on deals and stock up on paper plates and napkins so that really wasn’t anything, but the food his parents and grandparents decided to split was definitely a big deal. The only thing me and Brandon had to pick up was drinks, chips, and condiments. The hamburgers, hot dogs, assortment of pasta salads, chips, and deserts went perfectly with our theme and guests absolutely love it! I thought the floral and fire fighter themed cookies I had made by an old co worker were stunning and delicious. I had always wanted to try them out, but always too scared to put up the money, but because a lot of our cost was taken care of I decided to splurge for baby C and guests. The cake was also somewhat DIYed by my galfriend. She purchased a Nothing Bundt Cake and spooned out the icing in the middle and filled it with the colored confetti that represented the Gender of the baby and then scooped the icing back on top. It was the kind of cake I wanted, but no bakery will make these at a decent price so my girl had a great idea and it worked out perfectly!

THE REVEAL:

I want to start with the MOM and DAD DIY florals my artistic friend made for me and Brandon to show us off as the parents. Instead of picking a purple or red floral pin like the rest of the guests I was made a CORSAGE with a light purple tulip with foliage laid out in a circle at the base, red shear ribbon in loops, and pearl pins. Brandon was made a BOUTONNIERE with the same light purple tulip with red ribbon and purple glass rock. The two pieces came out beautifully and were a perfect addition to spoil “mom and dad”.

Around 5:30pm it was time to do the actual reveal! The excitement in the air from everyone was palpable! Sticking with the different and unique theme we did three different reveals at the same time! Silly string, confetti cannons, and smoke bombs made for an unforgettable and no mistaken experience of BABY C’s Gender being revealed. My parents and Brandon’s parents were on either side of us each couple with a silly sting can and a confetti cannon ready to spray us with the long awaited color. The smoke bombs were set and placed inside the side cap of the fire hydrants where it would cascade out around us. The scene that played out was stunning, picturesque, professional… I have so many adjectives! It was more than we could have ever asked for.

THE PARTY:

We had close Family and Friends come to see who BABY C is, they showered us with love, and everyone was excited. People began to arrive while I was still upstairs getting ready and made their way outside to the covered tables and chairs. It was definitely scorching and the portable fans we had hanging from the coverings were not doing much. I came downstairs to a lot of my immediate family in the living room then helped direct guests to the small inside game table. We all visited for a few and conversated before food was announced that it was ready for eating. I will say it was a bit chaotic with everyone there in a smaller space and my nerves started to act up at this point. I could barely get down the plate of food I had made myself after the line had died down because I was so nervous as time got closer to the reveal. My Mother-In-Law was constantly looking at the time counting down the minutes until we could see the color fly. At 5:15 we lined up and the reveal was starting. Standing there in front of everyone we love most made me even more nervous and anticipating how Brandon was going to react if the color was blue and not pink. My tiny fear was put to rest when I looked up and my brain registered that the silly string was pink! My head shot to Bandon with a huge smile and said, “You got your baby girl!” Screams erupted from the guests and smiles were all over our faces. There were only about 4 people in our family that did not think it was a girl. Ever since our first appointment GIRL has come out of almost everyone’s mouth. One of our Gender Keepers was Brandon’s best friend and he had been trying to trick him all week into believing our little girl was a boy. To the point Brandon was 70-30 in favor of boy and even convinced his Father the day of the party that BOY was the answer. I do believe part of it was because he was preparing himself for the fact that he may not get the baby girl he always wanted. God had other plans! After the reason for the party was over, I was able to relax and started to enjoy myself more. Some guests started to file out which also made it easier to relax because I was not having to entertain everyone. Brandon and his guy friends made a B-line for Cornhole and multiple games were played. Our parents cleaned up the backyard and we all socialized for a bit and finally close to 8pm Brandon and I were able to go in and climb in bed.

Thank you to everyone who made it out to our special day to the revealing of BABY GIRL CROSSON! We love and appreciate all of you. Baby girl is so loved and we cannot wait to welcome her into our lives in October!