How to do a christening cheap?!

[DaniJade1990]

I would like to get my 2 yo daughter christened early next year but will have to do it on a very small budget! I'm a single mum and also a student so money is very tight for me. Anyone got any tips on how to do a christening cheap? And how cheap could I do it? Can't really go over a few hundred. Thanks!

[Napdamnyou]

Really, it shouldn't cost much at all.
You don't have to pay for the church though you may be asked to be a small fee for a copy of the baptism certificate.

www.churchofengland.org/weddings-baptisms-funerals/baptism-confirmation/baptism/frequently-asked-questions.aspx

After the service you might like to invite friends and family back to yours, or to a pub or cafe for snacks and tea/coffee or drinks and cake. the church may be happy to have tea and coffee and cake in the church afterwards.

The child and everyone else can wear normal clothes.

Gifts need not be expensive - books are nice, or photo albums, frames and candles, perhaps a Child's Bible or prayer book.

Enjoy your day!

[sashh]

Well the cheapest is to just do it yourself in the bath.

You don't need a party or god parents.

If you are looking for something more traditional just have the service followed by a few sandwiches at home.

[ivykaty44]

Have the baptism in church early afternoon but after lunch time - then after the service provide tea coffee and cake and scones for everyone.

See if you can have the church hall for a few pounds in the afternoon for two three hours

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

Ours was pretty cheap.

The dc just wore a nice outfit that they could wear again for Christmas / parties etc. £30 max. Christening gowns are eye wateringly expensive.

Then we told everyone we were going to the pub afterwards. They were welcome to join us. Everyone paid for their own food - we only invited god parents and immediate family so knew none of them would mind.

Other expenses were gifts for god parents - we bought them mugs that said fairy godmother or godfather from big tomato company. For dd's christening we had the 2 dc each of the godmothers had so I made them little party bags to help them cope with sitting in pub for leisurely meal. :

I can't imagine we spent much more than £150 tops. For us it was nice to have the dc christened but it wasn't a huge deal so we kept it small and low key! :)

[neontetra]

You can do it for free! You don't need a party afterwards. If you want one, to keep costs down I would have it at home and self cater. For my dd's, close family.such as the dgps are going to bring things for the buffet - they offered when they knew we were self catering. You won't need much booze, as it will be in the morning so most people won't drink much - in fact you might choose to do
no alcohol at all. Your dc could just wear a nice outfit they have - or you can pick up lovely things second hand. I paid under a fiver for a lovely dress and silver shrug cardigan for my dd to wear off eBay - think it has only been worn once. Enjoy your dd's special day!

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

Monsoon currently has some gorgeous White/cream party dresses in for around £40 for babies, much cheaper than a christening gown!

[RikersBeard]

I think a few hundred is quite a big budget for a christening! We used the church hall, did a really simple buffet (largely from Costco), prosecco for bubbles, homemade cake, everyone had a nice time. That was for about 40 people.
Christenings are just lovely, an you don't have to spend a lot

[Molehillmountain]

We dressed dd and ds in smart but normal clothes they already had. Afterwards, my mil did sandwiches etc at the house but you could do a bring and share lunch. It's not like a wedding, fewer expectations. Also, we only invited dh's and my parents, siblings and their children plus godparents and their families. That kept it close, was lovely and of course cheaper. I don't think we gave godparent gifts although we do give them something at Christmas. We did write lovely thank you cards to give them on the day, telling them why we had chosen them and how much we appreciated them taking on the role.

[NimpyWindowMash]

So what do you need:
Outfit for little one
Sandwiches and cakes
Wine
Cups of tea
Donation to church

We didn't spend more than 200
Or max 300. We weren't trying to budget really but I think a christening is a fairly low key thing.

[SecretCermonials]

We spent £500 on DS1s christening, had a hall an dj for after etc... However for DS2 we just wont have the money, he's due end of this year and we are getting married in may so money will be tight.

Im quite lucky in that my MIL is a booking secretary for a local organisation so I have access to a small hall, or the hall we used for DS's charged a low figure (including bar with staff) so we may go back there, and just not have a DJ and invite less people.. I did um and ahh about doing it in the summer and asking inlaws to host as their house is large but i couldnt relax as MIL can be v overbearing and precious, so i think we will just go with a hall a stereo and nibbles rather than a full buffet

[foolingwithmisskitty]

We did our son's very cheap by self catering at home. We got most of the food from aldi or asda and asked people to bring their own booze. We managed to get a cheap gazebo in argos for £50 to put in the garden which was lucky as it rained and we had too many people to just have it in the house. Christening cake was a present although I have heard costco do really cheap cakes which they personalise so if you know anyone with a costco card get them to pick one up for you. Have fun

[foolingwithmisskitty]

ps we used a cheap white pasmina bought from ebay for a shawl and dressed our son in george shirt and smart trousers.

[AngelDog]

DS's cost virtually nothing. We had it at our church, so I don't think we had to pay anything.

DS wore one of his normal romper suits - nothing fancy. It was posher than the babygrow he would normally be in!

Afterwards we had a bring & share lunch. We probably had 50-100 people there. If we'd been organised, we'd have asked people with surnames in the first half of the alphabet to bring savoury & the second half of the alphabet to bring sweet, but as it was, we had a really good mix of food. We got some family to bring some drink too.

DH and I did buy some fruit juice and disposable plates, although the cups etc were from church. We also bought a cake because there was no way I was trying baking when I was struggling with a non-sleeping 3 month old baby.

Some childless friends of ours organised the setting up of tables and loading the dishwasher afterwards which was great.

[LonelyCloud]

We will be keeping DS's christening cheap.

We are just inviting family and some close friends, and having buffet food & cake back at our house. DS will be getting a new suit, but it will be the sort of suit he can wear on a normal day too.

[YBR]

Our DD was "done" during a normal morning service at our Methodist Church (where we go each week) - no fee or donation required. Then we had a bring-and-share lunch in the church hall, again no fee since we're part of the church. Lunch cost us very little more than normal, we just bought some plastic cups and took bread and cheese. Friends helped with setting up and washing up, Grandma baked a cake and got it iced, church ladies sorted tea/coffee
... and so on.

It depends whether you want to welcome-DC-into-the-church quietly or have a big party-come-naming-ceremony.