Baptism - Am I expected to provide a gift?

Molanole

Hi all,

Hoping you can help. I'm going to the baptism of my friends baby (about four months old) in a fortnight and I am wondering if I would be expected to take a gift with me or if a nice card will suffice?? The friend was a very close friend at Uni but I've only seen her a couple of times since we all left Uni. These last two months have been a nightmare with birthdays, weddings, car tax, insurance etc and I'm not sure I can stretch to yet another present.

Can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks
Mola x

crossleydd42

You would be expected to take a gift, but it doesn't have to be an expensive one.
How about something like this coin set?

http://www.24carat.co.uk/2005babypacksframe.html

ysoskint

Yep, you would be expected to take a present. Have a look on ebay, or charity shops for childrens bibles. Often they haven't been opened!

jockettuk

i invited the people to my childs christening/baptisim that i wanted to share in this part of my childs life.. my close friends and family and friends that i had been close to in my life.. I didnt expect a present for her and would have been grateful that they had made the effort to turn up.. If money short a nice card would do..

Presents are nice but to be truthful you end up with a load of the same stuff that is useless..

if your strapped for cash and you really want to take something why not put a note in the card saying that you will buy something for the baby in a few months time as they probably got a lot ot things anyway..

You could also buy some clothes for the christening as it doesnt have to always be ornamental stuff if your not close to the baby

MommaCC

Other gift ideas

Religious:
A rosary, St Christopher medalion, cross & chain, bible

Non Religous
Tooth box, silver first cutlery set, silver bangle, silver money box, book of nursery rhymes or childrens stories, photo frame, christening cup, teddy bear


Maybe you could make something? I'm not to handy at this sort of thing but if you are you could do a "Day you were born" poster. DOes anyone else have any ideas on this?

tranmererovers

If you are good with a camera, offer to capture the day and put it in an album at a later date. We got very few photos at the Christening of the boys and wish we had asked someone to taks some for us.

Have a nice day

Broken_hearted

Anything will do we got bibs, baby grows, soft toys, money boxes and others. The main thing is to show you care and if it was me a card would be just fine too.

1012donna

I think the photo idea is fabulous. We don't have very good photos from both our dd's christenings. I would have been over the moon if someone had offered to take nice photos for us. Fab idea - well done!!!!

lisa_75

The sales are on at the moment so nip into Next or similar and you will be able to pick up a whole baby outfit for around a fiver. If you do get an outfit make sure it is a bit bigger than the babies age now, say 9-12 or 12-18 months, as they will probably have loads of stuff in the babies current size already.

Lillibet_2

A gift is traditional but I wouldn't have been offended at my sons baptizm earlier this year if anyone had not bought one. In fact I would have been relieved! A child only needs so many money boxes, bibles, silver tat.........:rolleyes: Give a card & maybe send a nicely framed photo of the day if you can capture one later would be my advice;)

Lavender13

How about making a memory box of the day. Choose a nice box(or cover a plain box in pretty paper), put in things like order of service, a few photo's,and write on some pieces of card memories like "Granny looked beautiful in .......", " daddy smiled throughout" etc. You could include a nice poem or prayer and a guest list. You will need a good memory or a note pad and pencil on the day to jot down a few pleasant memories.