Experiences of Celebration Day

[user1482528086]

We are hoping that after what seems like an eternity adoption order for our LO should be granted next week.

While feeling positive I thought I'd ask if anyone would like to share their experiences of the celebration day with us. We aren't really sure what to expect and would also be interested to see who you invited and how you celebrated.

Thank you!

Congratulations!

We've had two celebration days. They just involve spending about 10 mins in the court room with your invited guests. The judge said some nice things and presented us with a celebration certificate. He also invited us up to the bench to take some photos and we even had some taken with the judges wig on!

It's all over very quickly.

We treated it all a bit like a christening and we all went for a formal meal with close friends and family. We also had celebration cakes made and DH made a short speech thanking everybody for their support during the adoption process.

We also had the children's hand and foot prints pressed onto a clay plaque after we left the court building as there was a place that did it near by.

We adopted our two when they were 10 months so this way of celebrating worked well for us. Friends who adopted older children did things differently and in a much more low key way.

We also celebrate the anniversary of the day every year and the kids call it their adoption day. We go out for a meal and they get a small gift.

Thank you for sharing. Our LO is nearly 2 years and so sociable so we are wanting to celebrate with friends and family. How many people went to court with you? We have had numerous social workers, both us and LO so we would like them to come. Is that normal?

We had ours a couple of months ago and the judge said he had never had so many people to a celebration day ... about 35.
We invited close family who lived near and friends who had been supportive and all sw etc. Some couldnt make it obviously as in the week and family who lived away couldnt take time off work etc .
We then went to a local coffee shop for lunch laid on by us to thank everyone and we had a couple of hours of food and socialising there. Lots of people brought gifts ,cards etc and it was a v special day.
It was strange but it really did finalise the adoption for me and i felt he was really and truly mine at last . I wasnt expecting to feel any different and it was a nice surprise ! I strolled along with him the next day feeling so proud of him and grateful he was mine .( And dhs of course ).
Lovely !!

Thank you for sharing!
We were concerned about how many people to take to actual court as heard it's only a few minutes and some people even said only adoptive parents and child can go in. I imagine I will probably ring and speak to our court and see what their practise is.

It's lovely hearing other people's experiences, we are still in this rollercoaster and just hoping we can celebrate soon

We had ours a couple of months ago for our 3 LOs. We only invited immediate family (grandparents, aunties, uncles etc) to the court and then went for a meal afterwards.
The judge presented them with a certificate and cuddly toy each. We also all had photos taken in the judges chair.
Following that, at the childrens request we had a bbq later on, where they invited their friends and us, ours. We had a celebration cake, and a bbq and then the children chose things they wanted. Balloons, party bags, pass the parcel etc. It was a random mix of a day but it's what they wanted, and with them being older we just ran with it!
Enjoy your day. It's such a wonderful feeling

We had a court date of a Tuesday, but liked the idea of having quite a few people around for a "do". We had a party with a speech and a cake on the Saturday before, which was really special, and then on the Tues 8 ish of us (grandparents, godparents, aunties) went to court which really was over and done with in minutes so we had tea and cakes afterwards in a random tea shop. Judge gave our LO a teddy and we had photos. I have to say mentally it was the court hearing which finally made me feel the process was over, but the party was a lovely thing too.

We really like the idea of having a little party for her, she loves fuss! Don't want to have loads at court reLly because it seems like it will only be very short and we have seven or eight social workers and IRO who want to come so it will be busy anyway. We have had pretty shit journey so when it is all finalised would be great to really celebrate x

user1482528086 our son came to live with us at 3, almost 4 and was 4 when we had the celebration day.

It was a brief bit at court where our son and 9-year-old birth daughter showed no real interest in trying on the judge's wig or having their photo taken.

Our son was given a teddy and I had already bought a toy for both kids and given them to bring on the day.

We all dressed up and we went and had our photo taken, went to lunch and then went and painted pots.

All efforts to recreate the day have been stoically resisted by our son, who just wants to be one of the family.

The photos from the day are a nice reminder that we are a family of four, and we met the two social workers (who were great) and all showed up and met an unknown judge on a certain day.

It was a lovely day but I think that the weight of the day is the many years all of us spend getting to that point, so in a way, do exactly wha you want to do, invite who you want to invite, spend it how you like.

We had our son dedicated (like Christening about 4 months later and that was the time for family to celebrate with us).

Hope your day is exactly how you all went it.

Our daughter had a temperature of 40! Didn't crack one smile. A bit of an anticlimax really. We had a fantastic party about a month later with Everyone inc FCs. Which totally made up for it.

It's so nice to hear everyone's stories. Not for poorly little ones :(
I think it will naturally evolve into a bit do a get together as people have been with us every step good and bad so I'm sure if it all works out next week we will be celebrating for a longtime!