Christening and alternative naming ceremonies (merged)

finc · 26 February 2006 at 9:01PM

She's fab and I've been recommending her to everyone! I told her roughly what I wanted on it and she came up with loads of ideas. She also makes greetings cards as well that can match the gifts.

Lillibet_2 · 26 February 2006 at 9:24PM

Thank you so much everyone:A

Finc, I love the memory album :T& will def. be looking into one of these, will be lovely to keep with the time capsule which one of his soon-to-be godparents did when he was born. Also thanks for the alternative gift list company:T. We really just want to pick 2 or 3 charities and ask for donations to be made in sons name and it looks like this site would work.

I have found some fab Noahs ark note paper which I plan to print the invites onto. Food and a Noahs ark cake are already in hand (mum is a chef:D) We are having a seven bird roast (ordered, total cost £50 will feed 50 generously & all organic:money:) carved into hand held pitta breads with sliced salad & mozerella to add if wanted, followed by cake for pudding. All in napkins, no plates, knives or forks to minimise clearing up & mess. I will check on whether there are any restrictions on serving alochol in the church hall but as we won't be selling it I assume not. I thought sherry as there will be a few oldies there who I am guessing don't drink wine at sunday lunchtime & I already have a bottle in the cupboard going spare!

I know the vicar slightly as I attend the church but hubby doesn't. Do we invite him to the bit afterwards?
Has anyone been to a christening where there hasn't been a speech or toast as neither of us are feeling brave in this regard at all, or would that be rude?

Thank you so much;):A

Frugal_Fox · 26 February 2006 at 10:04PM

Hi,

When we Christened our two we didn't invite the vicar to come afterwards. Also - the only 'speech' DH did was to say thanks to everyone who came! It doesn't need to be some big 'formal' affair. The day is for 'Spud'. We didn't give Godparents presents either, and we requested no gifts from those invited, and let Godparents disobey us!

Whatever you do - enjoy the day.

FF

across · 26 February 2006 at 10:13PM

your plans sound great but i do think you should say a little thankyou to everyone for coming along and it wont be that bad because theyd be close family and friends my husband did it and it's on video!!!!!!!!!! he hates watching it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hates giving speeches ("so he says!!!")
when i mentioned the alcohol possibilty it was because i once had a vicar who wouldnt have alcohol in the church hall even if it was not being sold!!!he wouldnt even let us have tombolas at church fairs to raise money for the church because he regarded it as gambling! so it is worth checking to be polite!
have a lovely time i love the noahs ark idea it is really nice!

Counting_Pennies_2 · 26 February 2006 at 10:18PM

We invited the vicar back afterwards, they tend to thank you and come along for the first hour or so, mine did and it was a nice touch to the day, sort of reinforced it, he brought his wife along and they circulated with the guests who were sitting in corners, which was a lovely thing for them to do, and helped us out enormously. We also gave a contribution to the church extension fund as a thank you for hosting the service.

If you are a little concerned about standing up and thanking everyone for coming, the godparents for taking on their role and saying a little toast to the future health and happiness of little one, you might want to see if a godparent wants to do that, ours did, or a grandfather, etc.

Spendless · 26 February 2006 at 10:18PM

Never had a speech with my two nor have I ever been to one where a speech was done.
The ones I've been to including my own kids,the service has either been with the church service in the morning or on its own in the afternoon. From there we've either gone back to relatives house or a hall (depending on house size and size of party). We've put on food, the place has had a paying bar. Never gave a god-parent a pressie or received one when I was a god parent. Never gave a list either nor have I ever seen anyone else give a list out. Photos have always been pictures from family cameras.

jellyhead · 27 February 2006 at 12:09PM

i've been to christenings but not been christened myself, nor have either of my children (although mum-in-law is champing at the bit to have it done my husband absolutely refuses). i don't think i've ever seen gifts for the godparents but most people will want/expect to give a gift to the baby. even if you hate them the child might like having them as a keepsake i suppose. i loved having a silver necklace kept on a shelf from when i was born but then that was just one gift, not a mountain of piggy banks.

in my stepfathers family a christening is planned like a wedding and is taken to ridiculous lengths but this is not the norm and a lot of the guests do think it's all silly - i doubt you'd be criticised if you missed out something regarded as 'etiquette' unless your own families take things this seriously, and if so they can give you advice on how to plan.

the vicar tends to get invited to the 'do' because in many cases he is a friend of the family. if you never go to church and are not having the christening for christian reasons he probably won't expect to be invited.

jockettuk · 27 February 2006 at 12:18PM

just a pointer some churches etc were you get your child christened sometimes do a little something for the godparents.. when i was godparent i got a lovely card all abt the day and the name of the child etc, when my daughter got christened all the godparents got a candle as did my daughter.. my dad gave a speech on the day as it was the first family occasion since my mum had died and it was very emotional for me.. photographes all i wanted was pics of her with the godparents but she got passed around quite a bit and eventually got fed up ..

bargainaddict · 27 February 2006 at 12:49PM

It is usual to invite the vicar along for tea and they usually only stay for a short while, especially if you know him as well. Even if he declines the invite at least he has had the offer.

Maybe if you and hubby are too nervouse someone else could say thank you to the guests for you, maybe one of the grand/God parents?

I love the Noahs Ark theme. Have a great day. come back and let us all know how it all went.

x

Spendless · 27 February 2006 at 1:29PM

jockettuk wrote:

just a pointer some churches etc were you get your child christened sometimes do a little something for the godparents.. when i was godparent i got a lovely card all abt the day and the name of the child etc, when my daughter got christened all the godparents got a candle as did my daughter.. ..

Actually now you've said that yes I do think a card/candle has been given out by the vicar to the god-parents.

No offence here but just another view on the giving money to Spuds CTF, if you were considering mentioning it. The reason why I wouldn't feel comfortable giving to it, wouldn't be anything to do with the giving of cash. It would be cos my youngest also has a CTF and I totally refuse to add anything to it. My own personal reason for this is because there are a lot of teenagers in one side of the family and without exception they would have blown the money on something I wouldn't approve of. For this reason I am not prepared to take the gamble. Now that's not everyones view and I respect that, but it's mine for my child, so I wouldn't be happy to give money to someone elses CTF when I won't add to my own childs.

Christening and alternative naming ceremonies (merged)

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free