To think that this is utterly over the top? And a tad hypocritical?! And missing the point?!

[OneDayMySleepWillCome]

My sister is going to be godmother at a friends christening in April.

A run down of the christening is this:
-9am: christening breakfast for family & godparents at hotel where christening party is held. (40ish people)
-10am: hair and make up for female members of christening party
-1.30pm: christening service
-2.30pm: prosecco arrival at hotel
-3.30pm: 2 course meal
-5pm: Magic show and balloon artist for kids
-6pm: kids to be removed from venue
7pm- dance floor opens for adults, DJ et al

Right. Now, I don't mind if this is how these 2 (non church goers-practical atheists-only christening ds so she can get married in a church when she's older) want to spend their money. Fine. It will be a lovely day I'm sure! But Aibu to think this is thoroughly OTT for a christening?! I've certainly never been to one like this before?!

Sounds completely OTT and quite odd to me, but then although I am now an atheist I was brought up in a religious family and so consider a christening/baptism to be an important religious ceremony to be treated with respect. To me looking at that itinerary the ceremony looks as if it is the least important part of the day, and the baby being christened not terribly important to the events as it will likely be oblivious/not enjoy nearly all of them. Plus throwing the children out in the evening seems quite bizarre for a christening which is surely supposed to be all about the baby, so surely should be at the very least child-centric?

The christenings I have been to have been held in the morning as a part of the normal family service. This is a change from the past, and I think this is done specifically to avoid families thinking about the party/dressing up aspects, as the church will be full of normally dressed, normally worshiping who will be welcoming the baby into their community, pledging their support for the family etc. After the ceremony friends and family generally have a nice lunch party and then go home.

Oh lord mighty I'm not friends with her and I'm not slagging her plans off! I've actually said a few times it'll be lovely and if that's what they want to do then that's upto them! I was just meaning to start a lighthearted chat about it! None of this 'does it matter If anyone has encountered it' No, of course it doesn't matter. Not does it matter if anyone thinks a text someone has received is unreasonable or if anyone has ever been left out of a wedding party or Most other things anyone posts on aibu for!!!

Haha bigblack I don't know....but you can pre order a copy of the dvd of the ceremony and there's a very fancy gift list to choose from too!!

nooka I think you've artuculated better than me what I meant! That was my point really- the actual christening past has been lost and that's what I meant by the 'missing the point' in the title.

Ds 1 was just ceremony and after party it was at the phoenix club though (where phoenix nights used to be filmed ) we don't live far from it.

That sounds lovely and it isn't OTT, it sounds well thought out and organised.

The women in my immediate family and friends would get their make up professionally done for a special event and often group book. It's cheaper and convenient.

Booking a clown/children's entertainer is standard.

I've got to the stage were I'm happy to babysit/ferry children around to babysitters. The people I know don't have a shortage and aren't as mealy mouthed about babysitting, as I see on here.

Christenings are big events in/for families and friends that are close.

I think many on MN have much lower key events than I experience in RL (working class Liverpool).

It's none of your business OP. Plus you've said she isn't your friend, yet you and your DH are invited? I also don't believe the DVD thing.

and your excessive use of punctuation is giving me a headache

Just invited to watch dsis kids while she does lots of god motherly tasks! Well, believe it or not the dvd thing is true. Apparently, if they get a certain amount of preorders they get a reduction on the photographer price.

Sounds fun! We had a big christening for ds. Around 100 people, church ceremony followed by party with lots of food and drink. We loved it and so did our guests!

We love a party though. We had a huge wedding with unlimited drink and big party as well.

We are religious though. And dh is greek orthodox and it's a big thing in his family.

Yay! Can I come too? I will stock my handbag with energy bars and a couple of miniature vodkas to keep us going, I promise not to shout at the magician "It's up your sleeve! " and will happily play top trumps /animal snap /poker with any stray children -twould be great!! Will also bring plastic containers for leftovers

I promise to bring the wee one a bible too...

OTT but fun. Wish I'd been invited.