Gender reveal parties are all the rage right now, according to newly-pregnant Natalie Bell, which is why she wanted to have one.
The couple hosted 30 members of the family and closest friends at their Canonsburg, Penn. home to find out if they would be having a boy or girl come March, having first dropped off a sealed envelope from their doctor with the gender of the child at a local bakery. The idea is that the bakery puts either pink or blue icing on the inside so that when you cut into the cake, the gender is revealed.
“We cut the cake and it was pink icing and we were so excited – you can tell by all the screaming that everyone was thrilled,” Natalie told ABC News.
Wanting to share the moment with family and friends from afar, Natalie took a picture to share on social media.
“I noticed when I took the picture that the icing of the cake was kind of light and looked whiteish, so you might not able to tell,” she said.
So she asked her husband Ben to get the extra card the couple had taken home themselves in case they had wanted to open it before the party. Natalie wanted to set it up next to the cake so people could see that it clearly read, “girl.”
Except it didn’t. The card said, “boy.”
Not being able to believe what was happening, the couple got the card the bakery had sent back with the cake, which also read, “boy.” That’s when they knew the bakery had made a mistake.
“It didn’t make any sense,” Ben told ABC News. “Natalie almost passed out from being overwhelmed with the news. She was just in complete shock. Everybody was so confused so I had to yell, ‘It’s a boy,’ because nobody understood what was going on.”
It was a moment Natalie is glad they captured on camera.
“This is stuff people joke about! It’s made for a really interesting, hilarious story,” she said. “I feel like I’m finally recovering from the shock of it all.”
The couple has since forgiven the bakery, which apologized and refunded their cake, but they’re unsure they’ll go back anytime soon.
“I think they were as shocked as I was, but it’s sort of hard to get past that. They could tell in my voice I was very upset, but they tried to make it right as much as they could, but once the damage is done it’s done,” Natalie said. “I’m not quite laughing about it yet, but someday I think I will be. It’s definitely a memorable experience to have for our first child.”