Christening on the cheap - Ideas please

flis21

Hi All,

I am organising a christening for my son, but am going to have to do it on a real shoestring budget. I wanted to have it at 2pm, so everyone would have had lunch, but our vicar 'only does christenings at 12 Noon'. Anyway, so we have invited 65 people (we both have large families!). My Mum has paid to hire the church hall, which is only £30 for the day. Need to decorate it, feed people and provide drinks etc. as cheaply as possible.

Was thinking, do people really expect alcohol at a christening? There are tea and coffee making facilities there, so do you think it would be ok just to serve that and have one glass of wine per person for a toast.

Haven't been to a christening for years, is there anything else people expect these days (favours etc?).

Also need to dress myself and my son!! Think I will be going to ebay for that!

Thanks all,

Flis

pandas66

Take all offers of help

I would though seriously consider not having the Hall, I know its 'cheap' but if you are then going to have to consider providing alchohol (at your expense?) then going to a hotel/sports bar/venue with a bar would work out significantly cheaper.

MY brother works for a large aerospace company that have a company sports centre with bar, its free to use/hire to staff. Obviously its needs booking in advance but it may be more cost effective in the long run.
Then for food I would either consider a 'jacobs join' (all bring a dish) or nibbles.

The biggest thing to consider is time, how long do you intend it to run?

If its a an hour or 2, maybe just the local pub to toast baby that would exclude food.

JACKIEBINANA

Food
For my munchkins Naming Day-:
We offered slices of french stick spread with cream cheese (Aldi)and the smallest slither of smoked salmon on each £2.99 for a pack from( Morrisons)for canapes .We also did several huge bowls of different salads, a large Ham from a local deli ,cheese board and crackers, and loads of cheap finger food bits from Iceland. The sarnies seemed to be the most popular though.My mum cut the crusts off and did a mix of brownand white.You cant beat a nicely arranged sandwich platter egg mayo,prawn mayo,cheese and ham.My nana copied a design from an American website,and made loads of pastel iced cupcakes .We made a huge cake tower and decorated with Ivy from the garden.It looked lovely.Very chic. Food budget £70.00 including and paper plates /cups/from local Poundshop.

Drink
Drink was a nightmare, we spent £60.00 on wine offers at Tesco. If Im honest, it wasnt nearly enough for 45 people. However, we were saved by our fabulous Jamaican neighbour( we love you D) who arrived with a huge potatoe salad and several jugs of very strong rum punch.Everyone had a few sips and stopped drinking.It was rocket fuel.:rotfl:

Togs
Check out Next/Monsoon/BHS/ebay for your togs.I got little ones outfit cream linen pants, and cricket style v neck cream jumper in the Next sale for £10.00.Ralph Lauren socks £2.99 ebay. I then got him some fab little boots in a rather expensive baby shop,for £29.00 was ( £79) in the sale, but it was worth it as he looked so ,so cute.( and he can wear them again).
My Debenhams prom dress £12.24 bnwt ebay, and everyone loved it.Shoes £4.99 Matalan sale , and 2X Monsoon hairslides £3.70 ebay.
Other half wore his only suit, and new shoes £25.00 Next.Now worn to work.
I went a little over budget on some things. But you really can do it on a shoestring ,just shop around.Hope this helps.

funnyfreckle

Drinks - how about something like a sparkling cordial like elderflower cordial. Buy the concentrated cordial and then dilute with sparkling spring water. It goes a long way and you can make up jugs of it and make it attractive by decorating with slices of lemon, lime etc. Bottlegreen Elderflower Cordial is nice but you can get lots of different flavours - Tesco's Finest do a few different flavours. Also it is sparkling so great for a toast.

With respect to food, ask friends and family to help out - they won't mind being asked at all and I'm sure many will be happy to play a part in your special day. For our daughters' Dedication services we had lots of french bread with a selection of cheeses, pate, quiches and salads. Then some homemade puds. It was plenty and everyone had a feast. Friends and family were more than happy to bring along a salad, some cheese, or a pud.

I agree that e-bay would be a great place to look for outfits.

Lillibet_2

For my sons baptizm we did a huge roast which we left "resting", well wrapped in tea towels inside a insulated bag in the hall during the actual servce. We served if carved into pitta bread with a choice of sliced salads (cucumber/tomato/watercress I think) and home made relishes, and also had mozerella cheese for the veggies (all 2 of them!). Everyone got a sort-of roast Sunday lunch & were very well fed. We didn't bother with plates, knives forks etc, just napkins, so saved on a heap of washing up. Pudding was the cake. We did have wine, but none of our families are big drinkers so £50 worth of Tesco offers left us with lots of leftovers. We also offered mineral water & OJ, and tea & coffee afterwards.
Oh, and when I say a huge roast, I mean really HUGE, a 7 bird roast prepared by our local butcher, cost £69 & enough to feed 50 hungary people & leftovers for us for a week. Mind, I had to get up at 3.30am to switch the oven on! It could easily have served 65 & even nearer 100 if we had been frugal with it ; we weren't, we stuffed those pittas!
We used paper table cloths to minimize clearing up, and "posh" plastic wine glasses. The only washing up was serving platters & tea cups. For table decorations I bought a pallett of tiny minature daffadils in pots & wrapped a ribbon around the pots. Other decorations included a couple of vases of Daffs in stratigic places, balloons, streamers & a huge St Georges flag (It was St Georges day & my son is called George!)
I printed the orders of service on the computer at home, and tied them in with the home printed invites. (Noahs ark theme).
Spuds 1st outfit came from ebay but he outgrew it before the date so I re-sold it for more than I paid & bought him a lovely boys white cotton Christening romper from Bentalls from £25. My dress was a bit of an extravagance at £95 but I have since worn it to 3 weddings, which was the plan so I felt it was OK to spend a bit more on it as it was for 4 occasions.
Total cost exculding my dress worked out at just under £4 per head. It could have been cheaper if ;
1)I had taken the time to plant up the daffadils myself in advance, but with my gardening skills they probably would have all been blind!
2)We had served bucks fizz or spritzer insterad of wine. I think this is perfectly acceptable for a Sunday lunch occasion so don't be shy to do this!
3)We had used "real" glasses, table cloths & napkins instead of paper/plastic.

The roast idea worked because no-one felt they had only had a light meal, they got a real roast (allbeit in posh sandwich form) & it worked out much cheaper & easier than a buffet.

We also gave a donation to the church & a bottle of whisky to the Vicar.

HTH;)

sethsgran

Don't forget that the glasses can be hired free of charge from your local supermarket eg Morrisons if you buy the drink there. We only drink soft drinks like OJ but they still let us use their glasses free of charge. Could you ask close friends/family to help provide the food. We always take savoury and a dessert to family gatherings like this. I have taken lasagna and choc fudge cake etc to family/friends celebrations and all our friends do it in return. A good way is to ask if they will make their speciality that you love like Aunty Jeans trifle!!

rainmac

There are some great ideas on here already. Given the fact that it's a Christening and it's at lunchtime I think serving tea, coffee and bucks fizz (OJ & sparkling wine or buy ready made) for a toast would be fine.
I certainly wouldn't go to a Christening expecting glass after glass of alcohol.

Also think asking people to bring a dish is a great idea and fun for all the guests. A little something to eat & cup of tea would do me fine as it would most other people!

JACKIEBINANA

I bought a pallett of tiny minature daffadils in pots & wrapped a ribbon around the pots. Other decorations included a couple of vases of Daffs in stratigic places, balloons, streamers & a huge St Georges flag (It was St Georges day & my son is called George!) Quoting Lillibet


Ohh thats such a cute idea, wish I had though of it, for our naming day.:T