Christening and alternative naming ceremonies (merged)

financial_filly

Not much advice to offer i am afraid as i had my ds christened in a church very special to us. My mum married there and so did i and i felt it was important for ds to be christened there (especially after everything we both went through before he was born).

Alleycat i have to say how fantastic and beautiful your day sounded and what a gorgeous picture what a cutie she is .

Whatever you decide on for your day hobbesy I'm sure it will be perfect for you,hubby & two little ones and be a very special occasion.

robnye

not much to add........ but hope it all goes well.

welcoming a child formally into a family is a great idea, leaving you with memories/photos of the event in which ever way it is done (church/not church, religion/non religion) long after they have grown and flown......

pdoff

just wanted to say it is a lovely idea & i would much rather attend one of these than a christening where nobody believes but are just saying the words for the sake of it. we get a lot of these at our church & they say oh yes we will come to services after but never do. much better to be honest about it & have an enjoyable day where u r not worrying about being hypocritical.
ds2 will be christened on mother's day as ds1, ds2 & i regularly attend church, but dh doesnt believe & he feels uncomfortable saying the words so he will just stand there. he is doing it because of my beliefs, which does make me feel bad, but i feel it is right for them to be baptised. if they decide later on that they no longer wish to attend that is fine but at least they will have seen both sides & can decide for themselves.

anyway, hope u have a lovely day.

pdoff

when ds1 was baptised 3 yrs ago i believed in God but didn't go to church. we chose Godparents cos they were friends / family not cos they were christian. we had the do in the pub - paid for buffet. no speeches or anything. after that i started attending the church (anglican) as having baby made me think more about faith. dh not believe so just me & baby went. now regular & was confirmed last year so ds2s baptism on mothers day will be different. same service (ds1 was on mums day too - they do as part of service) but will mean a lot more this time. we have been more careful with Godparents too as we hardly see 2 of ds1s even thoughn they live really near! the local vicar will be one! he married me & dh where i lived then & when looked into ds1s baptism it turned out he had moved to our local church! God moves in mysterious ways. having do in church hall after - think they reduced rate cos we members so i paid more as i know they need the money! ok to have alcohol as long as not selling. have got some wine & lager & put on invites to bring their own if they want more than 1 drink! church gives godparents a card so we wont get them anything.
if u r unsure of anything ask the vicar - he will prob have more experience of christenings than most.
most of all enjoy the day!

gooismeid

We had naming ceremonies for both of our kids - for DS we invited family & friends to a barbecue in our garden, had a little ceremony under the apple tree and formally gave him his name. Ceremony included why we called him what we did, and we also asked everyone to write down a piece of advice for him for when he's older (or speak it to video camera). Grandmother read out her favourite poem - the "Wear sunscreen" thing - and Dad read out something by AA Milne (I forget the title, how awful!). Then everyone got a glass of champagne and welcomed him with a toast. It was lovely.

For DD we did a similar thing, combined with a ceremony for her cousin who's only 2 months younger. This time we asked great-grandmother (93!) to give them each a scroll with their names on. She made it extra special by giving our daughter (who was born in Holland) a silver bracelet made by her late husband containing Dutch coins, which he'd made when billeted in Holland during the war. She'd never told anyone she was going to do that and it made nearly everyone cry!

As long as you make it meaningful to you, it doesn't matter what you do - family will always find something to criticise so just ignore them and do what YOU think is right.

cousinjack_2

I have been invited to a friend's baby's naming ceremony next month and I know that there will be a book of wishes there for the guests to add their wish for the baby. I want to write something other than " We wish you happiness". Something a little more unique. Any ideas?

louise35_2

Yesterday Is History, Tomorroow Is A Mystery,today Is Gods Gift Thats Why Its Called The Present.

pavlovs_dog

may all your dreams come true and may happiness follow wherever you go

fannyadams

Irish Proverb
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies, quick to make friends, but rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.

Stompa

What's a baby naming ceremony?