Planning a Christening - haven't got a clue!

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

As the title says really!! We are planning to get our little boy christened before Christmas but money is tight as I am currently on maternity leave.

We recently went to a Christening and they bought gifts for all of the godparents, is this the norm??

We've only had one quote so far for catering and it was £6.50 a head which I thought was expensive but then I don't know much about catering. It was for a cold buffet for 50 people and had such things as sandwiches/rolls, pork pie, sausage rolls etc. I know doing the catering ourselves would be much cheaper but I have a tiny kitchen and to be honest, I really don't fancy rushing around beforehand as our little boy is not the easiest of babies!!

I've had a quote for the invites, pre-printed with all details except the guest name for £14.00. This didn't seem too bad to me as invites in shops are £3.50 a pack but I'm open to ideas as you can see I am a complete novice!!

Also, do we need to make a speech and toast on the day? The Christening we went to recently did this and I can't see OH wanting to do a speech, they also provided some 'bubbly'. Should we do this?

Hollie84

hi there
we had our two girls baptised in july and what we did we had the baptism then we went for a meal after we paid for only our parents,grandparents and god parents,we went for a meal to a nice place but they did a special on a sunday which was sunday roast and a pud for £8,i know people usually like to have a party but then comes an expence as you will want a dj,a cake etc,my sister and bro in law who i hda as god parents offered to pay for the cake so that was one less worry,the oufits for my girls i got from tk maxx as they do some lovely occassion dresses,one was £15 the other £12 and there shoes i got from BHS and next £11 and £6.

u dont need to make a speech neither do u need to buy gifts for god parents,also the invites could u not get some from clintons?? they do nice invites in there so u would be saving again.or could u not do them yourself on the computer,u can get cheap card and envelopes off ebay.

is there no one that can help out with doing food? some of it can be cooked the night before its mainly the sarnies that have to be done on the day. we first had a blessing for our daughter so we catered ourself,paid a dj,my sis made the cake,we bought helium and balloons and did that ourself and i bought invites from clintons.it was an expensive day so when we decided we wanted them both to be baptised that is why we chose to go for a meal after and also u get time to spend with family and friends,there was 35 of us we kept it small

cuthbert_the_octopus

I always use Vista Print for printing invitations.... normally works out quite cheap and you can personalise them.

jemtom

for my sons we never brought the godparents anything, got the invites from card factory and considering i have a very big family(needed about 40 invites) it was less than a fiver for what i needed. also we had the party afterwards at a pub and they did the food for £80(which included room hire) and there was loads, so maybe talk to a few of your local pubs to see what they can do. and we never did a speach or provided the drink either.
hth

mummyslittleboy

When my friend had her children christened there were no speeches made we all went to the pub afterwards all of the god parents got one free drink but we paid for the rest ourselves and I did a cold buffet for all the guests there were over 70 people and did it for about £60 including the cake. Godparents didnt receive presents and we didnt expect to either.

smiler34

I've had three christenings in the last 5 years and have found the following.

1. Sainsburys catering is excellent for a cold buffet and they come out between £2.50 - £3.00 a head
2. Church hall is usually a cheap reception, with an i-pod set up for the music, people don't tend to stay at christening receptions very long so unless you plan on partying into the night then a dj is an unessacary expense in my view.
3. Get picture cards printed off snapfish for your invites, add a photo of the baby and they are personalised. Think they are approx £5.00 for 20 depending on finish etc.
4. You can get some lovely christening gowns that have been used once or never on ebay a lot cheaper than in the shops. I paid £50 for the first one and about £5 on ebay for my most recent lol
5. There is no need to get godparents presents they should just be happy to have the privelege of being one.

HTH xx

irishjohn

If its a real christening you want for your child it need cost nothing at all - all that is needed is a vicar, the parents, the child and a congregation to note the committment being made by the parents to their child in the eyes of God. Makes invites, food, presents etc etc all a bit superfluous. But then again it may be just another excuse for a party?

shellsuit

Wowee, all that expense!

When my 2 were christened (9 years ago), we just went to a family pub afterwards for a meal and people paid for themselves, mind you, there were only 7 of us including the 2 kids!

We'll be getting the baby done next year, but we won't be having invites, bubbly, speeches, or even catering! We'll just do the same as last time.

Is is the norm to have a full on party???

popadom

Planning a christening

I have lots of cousin’s & siblings so have been to a few.
Invites:
Get some nice paper, tea stained colour or cream or card.
Find a nice font free style script ,Harrington, monotype corsiva people need to be able to read it but look fancy.
Print some details-not names of guests.
Leave the ink to set for a bit, then wrap the paper in to a scroll (like this)
or so single (left) or double(right) wrapped.
Then tie with a nice ribbon and hand out .
Outfit
Look on eBay- cheap if hell only wear it once.
You don’t have to go white and traditional - you can buy a nice new outfit in baby blue.
Cake
Any relatives that bake?
You can buy a cake from shops like asda with a photo printed on it? Or put “”insert name” christening “
Food
Depends how much you want to spend-
Iceland do freezer type food, cook and serve cold. They do deserts aswell.
Or tesco/asda/Sainsbury do buffets –eg Chinese buffet for about £2/3 You could easily do it for about £80-150 for quite a few people.
Buying food at the place is silly- my mum spent £300 and it was sandwiches ,crisps and sausage rolls-easy to do yourself!
Drink
Ask people instead of gifts for cheap wine? Some people will still give gifts.
Or order in bulk for cash and carry shops?
Guest book
If you want one-about £5-10 on ebay (new)
Nice if you aren’t getting gifts for the baby.

Tableware
Don’t need it in a buffet.
Decorations
Few balloons, with ribbon attatched.
Banner-“happy christening”

God parents gift
You don’t have to give a gift, but maybe thank at the christening ,a few words

Here are some links:
http://www.mybabycelebration.co.uk/Christening_Packag
http://www.buffets2go.co.uk/?gclid=CNnr-fjPiaQCFYb92Aod-w8SHQes_250.html
http://www.soraiseyourglasses.com/page/151
http://www.ehow.com/how_4554077_plan-christening-celebration-beautiful-personal.html
http://www.alivenetwork.com/2010_adv_organisingplanningachristening.asp

MultipleMumma

irishjohn wrote: »

If its a real christening you want for your child it need cost nothing at all - all that is needed is a vicar, the parents, the child and a congregation to note the committment being made by the parents to their child in the eyes of God. Makes invites, food, presents etc etc all a bit superfluous. But then again it may be just another excuse for a party?

Have to agree, our twins are being done & it will just be us & the godparents - that's it. No fuss, just a private service.

smiler34

irishjohn wrote: »

If its a real christening you want for your child it need cost nothing at all - all that is needed is a vicar, the parents, the child and a congregation to note the committment being made by the parents to their child in the eyes of God. Makes invites, food, presents etc etc all a bit superfluous. But then again it may be just another excuse for a party?

All those things may be superflous but I go to church regularly and having my children christened was about bringing them into my faith however I do feel the invites and getting together with family afterwards is important as it is an important day and in my eyes should be a celebration.