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Did you hear the news? We recently announced that we are expecting Baby #3!!! [Read on to see our official pregnancy announcement…]
And obviously, either you or someone close to you has some super exciting news to share. So let me be one of the first to wish you a big, humungous CONGRATULATIONS!!!
This is such an exciting time and I know you are bursting at the seams to share this beautiful news with the world. But it has to be just perfect, right?
Well, that’s where I come in!
CREATING A VIRAL PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
I did a TON of research on this before we made our recent announcement. Since this will be our last baby, it had to be just right. You can’t just throw something like this together.
You can definitely find some cute ideas on Pinterest, but that’s really better for finding inspiration for sharing with specific individuals like your significant other, your parents, your siblings, and your older children.
In fact, that is actually the topic of my next post, so stay tuned!!
But Pinterest isn’t the best place to find inspiration for a full-on social media pregnancy announcement to the world. But Instagram is…
So that’s where I headed. Of course, I’ve noticed certain trends over time and became hyper-aware once we decided to start trying.
But when it came time to actually plan our announcement, I put my MBA research hard-hat on and went to work.
And I found some trends that the most adorable and popular announcements had in common.
MUST HAVES
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- Giant Gold Balloons
- These things are everywhere, I know. But they are so fun!! Who doesn’t love a balloon? And now it’s acceptable for adults to play with balloons again! Enjoy this trend while you can! They really are great for conveying a quick message on social media!
- Giant Gold Balloons
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- Letterboard
- Need I say more? If you do not yet have a letterboard you are behind the times + need to buy one now! The best are by Letterfolk. They have a huge variety available directly from their website. But the convenience of purchasing mine on Amazon won out. So I ended up with the 10X10 Letterfolk Poet and I LOVE it!! Simple is lovely, but some people come up with the most clever things to say on their letterboards. [See inspiration below]
- Letterboard
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- On Trend Baby Gear
- There are specific baby gear items that we are seeing a lot of these days. And they are perfect for your pregnancy announcement! Items like a Moses basket, pacifier + clip, bonnet, booties, swaddles, and a stuffed animal(s) are super popular right now!
- On Trend Baby Gear
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- Perfect Hashtags
- Yes, you need hashtags. And you can use up to 30, so why not get the biggest bang for your buck? I like to use about 3 relevant hashtags in the body of my post. Then add the rest into the 1st comment slot. You can find some really great ones in the posts below, but things like #pregnancyannouncementideas #pregnancy #secondtrimester #inspirepregnancy #ohbaby #babyontheway and #bumplife are fun ones! You can do them for the number of weeks along you are, the applicable fruit size for the week, and things that are unique to your family. Just have fun with it!
- Perfect Hashtags
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- Pets/Kids
- If you have older children or pets who will become older siblings again (or for the 1st time) then they are the best props available because they add that super cutesy element that everyone loves. They can also hold onto & display your other “props” [BONUS]!
- Pets/Kids
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- Tiny Calendar
- These are super cute for the darling flat lay announcements that we’re seeing a lot of these days. You can find a great selection on Etsy, most of them are affordable digital printables so you don’t have to wait for shipping!
- Tiny Calendar
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- Ultrasound Photo(s)
- This is the most obvious and, I think, critical prop that all pregnancy announcements should include. It is obvious immediately what the post is about, no ambivalence, and gives the viewer an immediate connection to your actual baby. Like the little photo card says, it really is “Baby’s First Photo”.
- Ultrasound Photo(s)
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
The following are a curated collection of pregnancy announcements from Instagram that really hit the nail on the head and are doing quite well! Use these as inspiration when planning yours!
Bre Duncan – The Mama Mantra ATX
@theboobieninja
This pregnancy announcement is darling! I love the clever use of the letterboard! She also included some neutral baby items like the bodysuit, natural wooden rattle, and super cute baby mocs! It includes a very personal note regarding her announcement and both popular pregnancy hashtags as well as some that were relevant to her story. This one already had 369 likes and 67 comments within 19 hours of posting.
Gus The Golden
@gusthegoldenboy
This is one of those adorable announcements including the older fur baby siblings. The way they set it up is so clever with the “How To Be A Big Brother” book cover and the glasses! And of course, they included the little ultrasound photos. This one received 5,760 likes and 348 comments within 7 days.
Jessica Di Bella
@jessica_dibella
Simple, but so impactful. This pregnancy announcement includes our favorite: the ultrasound photos. But what really makes a statement are the needles proving just how hard they worked to get to this point. All tastefully pulled together in a lovely flatlay with a wood background and a flower. They’ve already gotten 1,241 likes and 68 comments on it.
View this post on Instagram
Morgan Linney Clelland
@morganclelland
This pregnancy announcement is far from typical, but it is super cute and totally original. And what they don’t yet realize is that this is exactly how their grocery cart will continue to look for the foreseeable future! I love it! This one got 221 likes and 38 comments within the first day alone!
View this post on Instagram
ALEA FRANKWICK
@frugalnesting
And this one is ours…we just posted it! You’ll see we’ve got the requisite huge metallic balloons, letterboard, kiddos, stuffed animals, and all the hashtags. Oh, and of course we were in front of the garage – totally IG! Let’s see how many likes + comments we can get on our pregnancy announcement!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnXLBdkhJUh/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
BEHIND THE SCENES
I know that the photo looks somewhat simple and natural despite the props. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
This photo was a beast to get!
First, I tried ordering the balloons as a set of 0-9 on Amazon, but when I opened them up they didn’t even look like numbers – just strange shapes. That’s what I get for trying to be cheap frugal I guess!
So I had to buy each individual balloon from Party City. And they were out of gold #2, so we had to buy silver instead. And that was just the beginning of the fun at that store.
Did you know that there is a helium shortage? Or at least there is in the Seattle area. Apparently, some helium plant had an explosion & they couldn’t ship it by freight due to the wildfires burning in Eastern Washington.
So Party City was technically out of helium! Thankfully they had those tiny tanks that they sell to customers but were almost out. They had to switch tanks like 3-4 times just to fill my 3 balloons!
AND THEN…
After that ordeal, I finally got everything + everybody together and ready to go. Until Logi had a meltdown because the bear was going to sit in his chair instead of him. We had to bribe him with candy [#sorrynotsorry].
Of course, there was a slight breeze. Just enough to prevent the balloons from cooperating. So we tried tacking them to the garage with painters tape, but that was a fail. So then we used packing tape, which worked just long enough to get the photos.
And then there was the bee. The little jerk terrorized the boys relentlessly while we tried to snap the perfect photo. Nobody would listen to me when I reminded them to just stand still and it wouldn’t hurt them. They all just freaked out.
I would have loved to have been one of the neighbors watching the spectacle. It was crazy and took way longer than any of us expected. Plus I was a sweaty, frazzled mess after the whole ordeal. And that’s what it took to create our perfect pregnancy announcement!
I thought you might get a kick out of that story!!
PS \
You can even have your post featured on some bigger sites to give it a boost. Check out @theollieworld for “Announcement Monday” and @howtheyrevealed for more information.
And don’t forget to check out all of my favorite things on my recommendations pages for the best things to make your life easier whether it’s parenting, budgeting, family living or blog related. Thanks again for visiting…I hope to see you again!!
LIKE IT? PIN IT!
DID THIS HELP?
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