Where to Hold Your Baby’s Christening

Much like a wedding, a christening or naming ceremony isn’t just about the ceremony. It also includes a party – or reception – afterwards. It’s a chance to catch up with friends and for everyone to meet your baby. It can be a simple afternoon tea with cakes right through to a three-course sit down meal. The question is where to hold it?

For church ceremonies, it’s best to use a reception venue that’s easy to reach from the church, either by foot or car. Many people use their local church for the ceremony making their own home, local pub or restaurant obvious venues. But options like nearby hotels, golf clubs or even outdoor spaces like a beach or park could be used. The key is to make it close to the church so that guests don’t have to drive a great distance.

Naming ceremonies using a registrar usually need to be held in an approved venue. Very often these are hotels or golf clubs, which means the reception, can be held in the same place as the naming ceremony. If you’re not using a registrar, you can hold the ceremony and reception anywhere, including your own home. However, bear in mind that the celebrant might have to visit in advance to check for health and safety purposes.

Number of Guests… And Don’t Forget The Weather!

Who do you want to invite? Is this going to be a small family gathering with just your close friends? Or is it a chance for the entire extended family, neighbors, friends and baby group buddies to get together?

The number of guests you have will largely determine where to have it. Unless you have a very large house and garden, holding a reception at home for a big group is probably not a great idea. Equally, hiring a large reception hall for a handful of people to rattle around in will make the day feel awkward.

Find a space that fits the number of guests you’ll have. Don’t rule out restaurants, hotels or golf clubs if you have a small party – many of these venues have small, private dining or function rooms. Call around to get minimum and maximum capacities allowed. Equally, don’t think that just because you have a large party you can’t go to your local pub - you might be able to hire it out for the afternoon. But don’t expect to be able to squeeze a big group in comfortably while sharing it with regular Sunday lunch-goers.

If you’re holding a naming ceremony, consider whether the ceremony takes place in a separate area or if you’ll need to convert the space for the reception afterwards. And if you’re planning on holding the ceremony at home, think about using a marquee to expand the useable space into the garden.

Wherever you choose, remember the changeable weather. Do you have a wet weather back up plan and equally, do you have shade – particularly for older and very young guests – on a hot summer’s day? If you’re having it at home, do you have outdoor shading, rain cover and might you need heaters? If you’re using a venue, how far in advance do you need to let them know about a change of weather plan?

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History of Godfathers

The first step to understanding your duties as a godfather is to become familiar with the history of the position. The origin of godparents is distinctly religious. As infant baptism took hold in early Christianity, there was a need for someone to step in as a sponsor and provide the required confession of faith before baptism. In the beginning, biological parents often took on this role, but the Council of Munich in 813 required natural parents to pick other people to be godparents. In addition to sponsoring the child’s christening, the godfather was charged with the duty of overseeing the child’s spiritual instruction.

As with many Christian traditions, the role of godfathers went through some upheaval during the Reformation. Many Protestant sects continued with the practice but loosened up a bit on the pre-Reformation requirements.  The Roman Catholic Church has pretty much maintained the status quo on godfathers up until the present day. In order to be godfather in Catholicism, a man must be a confirmed Catholic in good standing and not be the natural parent of the child.

The concept of godfatherhood isn’t exclusively Christian. In Judaism, parents often pick a man to be the sandek at their child’s bris. The sandek holds the baby boy on a pillow while he is circumcised by the mohel. According to Jewish custom, the role of sandek is given to a single Jewish male, usually a close family member or some other man who is a good example of the faith. Also tradition dictates that a man can not serve as a sandek more than once. Like the Christian godfather, sandeks also have a responsibility to help guide the child’s spiritual upbringing.

Godfathers Today

For many people today, the spiritual aspect of being a godfather is still very important. But as Western society has become more secular, many families have held on to the tradition of naming godparents for their children, but have expanded the responsibilities beyond taking part in religious ceremonies or in the child’s spiritual development. For example, some parents ask that the godfather be a special mentor for their child or to foster their kids if they die. Most parents pick a sibling or close cousin to be the godfather. But it’s now not uncommon for a good friend to be selected.

Whether your role as a godfather is the traditional religious one or a more secular one, being asked to be a godfather is a big honor. By asking you to be a godfather, the parents are showing that you’re a man they can trust to help raise their child. Let’s take a look at a few tips on how to be the kind of godfather a kid will feel lucky to have.

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Christening Gifts From Godparents

If you are standing for the child as a godparent, your gift needs to be something special and unique to commemorate the beginning of a new, special relationship between the two of you. Consider giving your new godchild a piece of jewelry, a baptism keepsake box, a hope chest, or a framed picture of the two of your together. Whatever you choose, get the gift engraved or personalized in some way so the baby knows in the years to come that they have always been a special person in their life.

In addition to a more solemn token that will be more appreciated by your godchild later in life, it’s a nice touch for godparents to give a more fun, childlike gift as well, that the little one can appreciate now.

www.christeningessentials.com
christening gowns, christening outfits