Sunday 22 February 2015

Organising A Christening

 Two week's ago my baby boy Jacob, was christened and we had a wonderful day with all of our family celebrating his special day with around 100 guests. A lot of people think that to get your child christened you need to attend church or that it will cost a lot of money and take a lot of organising, but it really does not at all. So I thought that I would do a quick guide on how we organised Jacobs day. This was the second time we had organised a christening in just over a year as we had Sophia christened in September 2013.

Jacobs christening


1.) The first thing to organise is the church. You do not have to attend church to get your child christened, all three of my children were christened in different churches and I have never attended church before. We just rang up a local church and asked about booking a christening, they then asked some details over the phone and booked in a date for us. We were asked if we wanted the minister to come out or if we wanted to do everything over the phone, the minister came to visit us at home and just asked about godparents and it was just an informal chat and she was absolutely lovely. You do not need to pay for a christening service either they are free of charge, however, they do have donation boxes in the church for you and your guests to leave some change in if you wish which we did.

2.) Book a venue for afterwards. Every christening I have been to there has been some kind of celebration afterwards with my oldest I just had it in my mum's house, but as both, myself and the other half have big extended family's we booked a function room for Sophia and Jacobs christening. We just booked a function room in the local social club as it was close to the church and it allowed children in. We only paid a  £25 deposit for the room and we had our own room with a bar and two bar staff.

3.) Food. If you are having a party then you are going to need food, we were going to book a caterer for the day but the other half works for a well-known bakery and gets a discount, so we got a lot of the food like cupcakes from his work. My dad also made some pies and we just brought about £100 worth of ready-made party foods. So it was quick and easy and it worked out cheaper than having a caterer.

4.) Christening cake. We wanted a cake and I can not bake at all so we ordered a one from a local cake maker where we also got Sophia's birthday cake from. We opted for a two-tier blue and white cake with a train on,  the christening invites we had also had a train on so it tied in nicely. It was a vanilla sponge and it was delicious, much better then shop bought cake.

Jacobs christening cake

5.) Godparents. Jacob has four godparents, Chloe has three and Sophia has six. You can have as many godparents as you want. With Jacob, we had the other half's brother, my dad's partners daughter, Lee's cousin and a family friend. We wanted godparents who we knew well and who we knew would like being a godparent, so that is why we had family and close friends.

6.) Baby's outfit. All eyes will be on the baby, I know it is traditional to put baby's in christening gowns but Jacob is a little boy and I did not really want him in a frock. So his grandma brought him a little suit, its a little pair of trousers with a white shirt and cream tie and waistcoat and little cream socks. He looked adorable in his little outfit and he was comfortable in it too. He also had a christening shawl, which was his sisters and his great grandma brought him a special christening bib to match his outfit. The minister told us you can put them in any outfit you want and she sees anything from traditional long gowns and smart outfits to a baby grow. I have seen some lovely christening outfits on Teether Baby Wear website which you can view here.

7.) Guest list. We had around 100 guests, as we both have big family's my mum was one of eight and my dad was one of five and Lee also has a big family too. We invited both of our family's and we also invited some close friends and we let Chloe invite some of her school friends too. The church was full with no spare seats and so was the room afterwards. I think christenings are lovely for spending time with all your family and friends celebrating your child's special day. We ordered personalised invites with little trains on and sent them to everyone a few weeks before the big day.

8.) Entertainment/  Decoration. I have been to christenings where there have been discos and where there have been children entertainers. But we did not book any entrainment as there was a jukebox in the room we booked for music and most of the children at the christening were too young for entertainment and were happy just toddling around. We did have a sweet table with lots of jars filled with sweets and little blue paper bags to put the sweets in. We also brought some decorations but we did not go overboard we just had a few blue christening banners and some blue christening balloons.

9.) Mum and dads outfits. We brought the girls new dresses and shoes for the christening weeks in advance but both myself and the other half typically left our outfitted to the last minute with Lee buying his shirt and tie from Next the day before the christening. I ordered my dress online from New Look and hated it as it was shorter then I thought it would b,e so I would recommend getting mum and dads outfits in really early so you have an outfit you are happy with.

10.) Take photos and enjoy the day! I took my camera with me for photos but I totally forgot I had it and only took a few photos on it, I did have my iPhone though and took quite a few photos on there but my iPhone has died, something to do with the graphics chip (I have no idea what that is) and now I have lost all my photos and all Jacobs baby photos and I could cry that I have lost them all. So I would recommend taken loads of photos and getting them printed off ASAP. Also, enjoy the day as it is so nice to spend the day with family and friends.

So that is how we organised Jacobs christening, it was really easy to organise, was not too expensive and we had a great day celebrating our little boys big day with all our family and friends.




SHARE:

14 comments

  1. Sounds like it went perfectly Lindsay - congrats to you and Lee. Tina (from his newborn shoot!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really was a lovely day Tina. I can not believe it has been six months since we had his newborn photo shoot, i will be booking his first birthday one soon as his newborn ones were so amazing x

      Delete
  2. Wow - there is a lot to organise but it looks like you did a perfect job (well apart from leaving your outfit to the last min but I think all mums leave them self at the bottom of the list of priorities). It looks like you all had a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had a really lovely day thanks Sam. I know i always put myself at the bottom of the list such a typical mum trait. xx

      Delete
  3. Sounds perfect! Great advice, I love organising events (it used to be my job) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh wow i bet that was a great job to have! i would be useless at it though as i am so disorganised xx

      Delete
  4. Sounds like it went perfectly, great tips on what you need to organise. The cake looks fab

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great planning tips :) Cake looks delicious! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cake was so delicious , i want to eat it again xx

      Delete
  6. I never knew you didn't have to go to church to have a Christening. I thought it was a bit like a wedding, when you have to attend a certain number of services beforehand. I haven't been to a Christening in years, or even a naming ceremony. I don't get out much, obviously!! x

    #thelist

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always thought that was what you had to do aswel , i think maybe in some churches they like you to but we have never had to. I have never been to a naming ceremony ever, i don't get out much either haha xx

      Delete
  7. There is just so much to organise with anything it can be so overwhelming so these planning tips would be so helpful for someone! Looks like it went really well, a day to remember with family and friends! Thankyou so much for linking up and hope to see you again tomorrow! Sorry I'm late this week has been crazy. Thanks again! #MummyMonday xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really did go so well and is a day we will always remember . There is no need to apologise , i am always falling behind with commenting on blogs lately too xx

      Delete

Thank you for commenting I read and reply to every single one.

Blog Design Created by pipdig