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Christenings

Hi there,

My daughter is 15 weeks old and we are really hoping to have her christened soon, but we have to do it on a tight budget.

I was hoping for some tips and ideas on cutting costs, where to get things cheaply etc.

Also if anyone can tell me what they did for their lo's christenings/naming ceremonies and what different things are likely to cost ie. decorations, clothes, invitations, food, venues and anything else i've forgotten Do you have to pay for the church?

With family and close friends we are probably going to have 80+ guests. is this a lot for a christening?

any info would be much appreciated, thank you :\?

Replies

  • thanks for the reply MrsAmanda.

    Lots of ideas there, i love the idea of having photos on a big screen.

    I think i might try to cut the numbers down a little bit, although i didn't think of the fact that more guest=more pressies:lol:
  • christenings dont have to cost a lot as they are about introducing the baby to the family of God. yes you pay the priest / minister for their time. the time in church is the christening! you will have to contact the church asap as you will probably be required to attend some classes on the importance of baptism before you have it.

    you dont need decorations at all! apart from the one on top of the cake. i always get invites from vistaprint. i have used vista print for years from my save the date magnets, hen do invites, baby shower invites, business cards, a photo calender and have never had any issues at all with them. i have never paid for quick delivery either as they have always been quick on normal delivery.

    80+ is the same amount i had at my wedding! i would suggest a hot pot / potato pie type thing as they often work our cheaper, and are more satisfying for the hungry, than a cold buffet. but that depends obviously on suppliers.

    our baby isnt due for 5 weeks but we have already starting think about the christening as we are Catholic and babies should be baptised as soon as possible traditionally. my dad told my mum my suggested 3 months and she was horrified it would take that long lol. i said i didnt want to still be fat for it! :lol: our plans so far are that we are having baby christened at the same church we got married in and the do at the pub opposite. the pub does food. with a cake. nice and simple.
  • We're also catholic and not fans of the whole party in a pub thing- not trying to start a debate, it just isn't something hubby and I 'get'. So we had our daughter christened in church with our parents, siblings and the god parents and invited a few other close family / friends to our home afterwards. There was only about 30 there altogether. I got a cake in Tesco and added some pink ribbon and a small baby rattle, and made some sandwiches and party nibbles that morning. Can't remember the cost but really wasn't expensive at all. The christening gown was most expensive thing we got but hoping to get a few uses from it image
    Enjoy x
  • Hia
    my dd was christenined sunday just gone. We had the chirstening as part of the normal church service so it was free. We had the party afterwards in my work function room so was also free. We did a buffet which cost us about ??30. I bought dd a stunning dress from ebay for 99p!! We got christening balloon and confetti from matalan for ??5 so it is possible to do it on a budget. We haf 30 adults and 7 children and that was plenty for us. We just invited close family and friends.
    xx
  • We are catholic as well and my dd was christened at 4 weeks old, we didnt do the pub thing either it wasnt something either of us wanted. We had about 20 people, we kept it to immediate family only. My parents live across the street from the chapel so we went back there my mum put on a huge buffet (from Iceland) a woman that lives a few doors away from my parents makes wedding cakes wanted to make us a christening cake for a present. We decorated the table with little tiny glittery things saying baby girl and it was nice, my brother bought a traditional style christening gown as his present in america. We paid the priest money as well.
  • Thank you so much for your replies, they have been so helpful. I had been really worrying about the cost but you have all made me realise that the most important thing is the church service and close friends/family :\)celebrating our daughters arrival.

    I'm definately going to cut the numbers. i'll look on ebay for the christening gown (or try to find my old one and get it cleaned), go to Matalan for some decorations, have a simple buffet and my auntie does cakes. image might even try making the invitations. yay i'm excited now, thankyouuuu x :\) :\) :\)
  • just wanted to add that the pub is one that holds all the wakes etc, so it wont be a party atmosphere lol! it's small and just for drinks and a bit of food and to chat. if i tried to squeeze 30 people into my house we'd get to know each other far too well lol. i wish i had a house big enough for 30 people to come back to it image damn recession.

    [Modified by: ***Calleigh*** on February 14, 2010 06:17 PM]

  • Well, I think Christenings are a big deal.
    Welcoming the baby into Gods family and into the family (as we are all part of Gods family too)
    Our LO's Christening is on Easter Sunday and we have a huge celebration planned. LO was born in DEC,
    Hubby had a bone marrow transplant in the last month of our pregnancy and had 6 mths chemo prior to that - so our Christening will be about thanking God for our miricle baby, for my hubby's health and for our blessings!
    The fact its Easter is perfect - new beginnings!!

    Have set ourselves a budget of ??700.00
    We've got 101 guests and we're going to a local pub/resturant which are doing a 2 4 ??10 deal on meals, having our own bubbly and have made love heart sweet favors using lables at home.
    I also used Vista print for invites - have used them lots before and had no worries.
    Having her gown made using my wedding veil and some fabric from hubby's waistcoat from the wedding.... lots of sentimental value.x

    My cousin is making our cakes (we're having a fairy cake tower)

    cant wait - although I'm not back to my usual dress size so will need to buy an outfit lol
  • MJ is having her thanksgiving ceremony on the 28th March.
    The church has agreed to do the service free and are happy that its not a religious one.

    We'll be going back to the club we're member of as they have a large hall that we can use FOC too. They do a fantastic buffet there so will be asking them to do the food as well.

    We've invited about 300, and have so far had replies from 100. we've told the rest if they havent replied by the rsvp date then they can consider themselves not coming - sounds cruel but i'm not buying food for people that i dont know are going to be there and if they cant be bothered then neither can i - and its mainly family that are like that. Also we're away for the week before the thanksgiving so they cant leave it till last minute.

    all in all ours will be costing us around ??300, as my dad is buying/doing decorations, MIL is getting the cake.

    we've asked people not to get pressies, and if they feel they want to to make a small donation to her trust fund. If they do get pressies however they will all be gratefully accepted image

    xx
  • kegs the dress sounds fantastic! i wanted to have part of my train made into the Christening dress but not sure i can afford this. I chose a veil length so it would be suitable for a 7 year old at holy communion so i was planning ahead lol.

    icecreamlover i was exactly the same with my wedding. my mum doesnt think people have to rsvp as "you know they are coming" actually, i dont! so i told my mum if i didnt get a reply i would take it that they werent coming. i had it at my hen do. i sent out invites with an rsvp and hardly got any replies. after the deadline had passed i sent out final plans for everyone, with money requests, which is when one perosn bothered to email me and apologise for not saying sooner that they couldnt make it. annoying when you need to book rooms and have even numbers!

    meggy i have seen lots of lovely christening outfits in baby shops for ??35
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