A Fiesta-Themed Gender Reveal Party

Last Sunday, we celebrated our growing little family. And had all our friends over for a little fiesta-themed gender reveal. Our He-Or-She-esta was a blast and it was full of love and excitement as our family and close friends braved the rainstorm to be with us. (Scroll to the bottom to see the gender reveal!)

Our gender reveal for Caroline was a little over-the-top, so I knew I wanted to keep it simpler this time, which is exactly what we did. We didn't rent out a private room at our favorite Italian restaurant, we didn't go all out on decorations, and we didn't invite 50+ people. Not because we didn't care as much, but we wanted to keep it more intimate and light-hearted. At our gender reveal for Caroline, we knew it was a girl before our party (Hubs' hates surprises!), but I convinced him to find out at the party this time with our family and friends.

I scoured Pinterest for ideas and didn't want to do a Pink vs. blue, Ballet-or-Baseball type of gender reveal, so when I found a few ideas for fiesta-themed parties, I knew that was a perfect idea. Hubs and I both love Mexican food and were totally on board with a simple menu.

Decorations were simple, bright, and incredibly cost-effective. There were a few Mexican paper garlands on Amazon, but nothing that really stood out, so I went to the Dollar Store and stocked up on brightly colored streamers and paper pom poms. We had a buffet-style table set up next to our bar set up, and that was the most decorated corner! (Like I said, s-i-m-p-l-e)

Part of what kept this party so cost-effective and simple was that I keep a box of generic party supplies - full of basic chalkboard signs, hors d'oeuvre skewers, table signs, chalk markers, neutral garlands and banners, and simple cake stands. I also have simple, while, ceramic serving dishes and bowls that are easy to use for any kind of party. They are easy to dress up and easy to use casually. This helps keeps party costs lower, since I don't have to keep buying party staples.

Being as it was a fiesta, we opted for all Mexican-inspired cuisine. Chef Hubby whipped up some incredible sous vide chicken and carne with tomatoes and onions, and we created a Build-Your-Own Taco bar to accommodate everyone (the vegetarians and some picky kiddos). Just like every good Taco bar, we had cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream... the works (it was like our very own Chipotle!). We had 7-layer Taco Dip and a Tomato and Corn salsa for appetizers, which were devoured pretty quickly.

My grandmother brought the desserts - Tres Leche cake, Cajeta-filled cupcakes, and Mexican Chocolate cupcakes. Everything was to die for!!! I love Mexican chocolate anything and the cupcakes were no exception - rich with a hint of chile powder. Even though the Tres Leche cake didn't look exactly how my grandmother wanted, it tasted delightful! And I couldn't possibly eat a 3rd dessert so I didn't get a chance to try the Cajeta-filled cupcakes, but I heard they were to die for. I didn't get snag any pictures before they were scarfed up! That's how good it all was!

It was really just special to have our family and closest friend there to see the reveal. It's not common that we have both sides of the family together and even more rare to have all the grandbabies on Hubs' side of the family together, so naturally, we had to get some group pictures!!!