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Original poster

Anyone had a baby naming ceremony?

19 replies

bethski · 24/03/2005 22:35

Does anyone know how to go about having a baby naming ceremony? We've decided against christening our ds but would like to do something to "welcome" him (although, we've been so slow in getting things organised, he's now almost two and probably doesn't give a stuff about being welcomed!).

OP posts:

irishbird · 24/03/2005 22:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

bethski · 24/03/2005 23:00

Brilliant - thanks Irishbird

OP posts:

HappyDaddy · 24/03/2005 23:09

Sorry, for a moment I thought you asked if anyone had had a baby changing ceremony...

Leogaela · 25/03/2005 20:13

Do you have 'god' parents when you do a baby naming ceremony?

I am not christened so don't have any and don't care, but dh's family will be a bit disappointed if we dont have 'god' parents. He is swiss and they play quite an important role here.

What would the role of a 'god' parent be? I have no idea! What do you call them when the 'god' bit isn't involved????

maisystar · 25/03/2005 20:38

i had a naming ceremony for ds, it was lovely

had 'guides' instead of god parents, my sister and brother, my best friend and her dp(although they are now refered to as ungodly parents

mummydreamer · 25/03/2005 20:58

We had a wonderful naming ceremony for my dd when she was about 6 months old - had a humanist ceremony in the garden with friends and relations attending. Had my two sisters, brother-in-law and stepfather as "guide-parents" or "special" people - we still struggle to give them a real title now!!!. The ceremony was really special - hope you go ahead with your plans and enjoy yours as much.

KoalaBear · 25/03/2005 21:37

we also had a naming ceremony in our garden with a humanist celebrant, who was very good - she listened to what we hoped for our DS, and wrote the entire ceremony around our belief system

we then had a picnic on a big long table and (aside from the wasp plague) it was a really lovely day which ended in all the children running around naked under the lawn hose

we called our "god parents" guides, mentors and guardians (depending upon their role)

KoalaBear · 25/03/2005 21:38

ps. our naming ceremony was less about "welcoming" our son, and more about us as his parents, and his guardians making promises to him for his life

Punnet · 25/03/2005 21:50

We had one last July, found the chap via the Humanist website. My family are a mixed bunch between hyper religious and atheist (think there might be some devil worship in there too, but that might just be my sister). We had it in the garden, I did the invites etc, and then we had a barbecue as it was also dd3's first birthday. Wonderful day! The odd-parents (as our celebrant Peter Herridge called them) were pleased to have been able to do it, as they are not baptised and can't be Godparents. I would recommend the whole thing to anyone, it just felt so much warmer and more 'us' than the previous two Christenings.

Original poster

bethski · 25/03/2005 22:41

I want a quite "laid back" affair. I know who I'd want to be "guide parents" as I chose them right after the birth. Ideally I'd like a fun celebration - I went to a christening two years ago which was so rigid and, frankly, quite scary (even to me as a church-goer in my youth) and really don't want that. My dh is an atheist so I want something that suits us both. Ideally, I'd like my stepson to take part, although his mum will object. It's just that I think he'll feel more included if he is "named" as well as I am very conscious of the fact that he can sometimes feel left out.

OP posts:

KoalaBear · 26/03/2005 09:57

bethski - something your step-son may be able to do is give a "gift" as part of the ceremony to welcome the new addition to his family - how is your stepson? if he is still quite young, he could make something, or if older, perhaps he could go shopping and choose something himself such as his favourite book

Original poster

bethski · 26/03/2005 19:08

He's almost 9 so perfectly capable of making a giftsad or shopping for one. I would like him to be a big part of the ceremony as, although he is besotted with his little brother, I am always really worried that he'll feel left out - he's quite sensitive to certain things so will probably pick up that my ds is having a naming ceremony whereas he had nothing when he was born. We have discussed it before and he said that he would like to be "named" but his mum caught wind of it and said that he was to be part of no such thing

OP posts:

jambo1707 · 26/03/2005 19:34

I got my 3 done through salvation army

called a dedication ceremony, a kind of thanks for your child life

I aint religious in anyway and have noy#t went back since but i must admit the service was truly fantastic and very touching

NomDePlume · 26/03/2005 19:39

GeorginaA had a naming ceremony for both her DSs, DS2's was done by the Humanist Society (i think DS1's was too, but I wasn't lucky enough to have met her then). I'm his 'Sponsor' (which is kind of like a God Parent but without the promises to God). The ceremony was lovely, it felt very special in fact it was very much like a christening from the emotion side of it, but without the God/Christianity side of things.

GeorginaA · 26/03/2005 20:39

It wasn't the humanist society but similar - LifeRites

Glad you liked it - we were thrilled with the ceremony (and were with ds1's - both ceremonies had very different individual feels to them, which was great) - very much tailored to your beliefs/wishes/personality and was a great celebration. I can thoroughly recommend LifeRites.

Moomin · 26/03/2005 21:54

we had a non-ceremonial naming ceremony, in that no one official came or anything. we had a big party and appointed 2 'god'parents. in the middle of the party they both stood up and gave lovely speeches. the male godparent had researched into dd's name and based his speech around that and the female one spoke about how much we'd wanted dd and wished her lots of nice things for her future, then we had a toast. it was very informal and we did it about 3 days before christmas so there was a lovely atmosphere.

Rarrie · 30/03/2005 00:51

Yes! We had a back garden affair. Basically it was a big party and then just before food was served the humanist guy gave a little speech appointed the Guide parents and we made our promises, and gave our DD her special gift (A white gold bracelet). This was all done in the form of a toast and ended with a toast to my DD. It was lovely, very relaxed and very personal.

My mum was originally against the idea as she thought it wasn't "proper" but ended up saying it was better than a Christening as it was really personal! Loads of friends commented on how wonderful an idea it was, so seems to have gone down well. I'd highly recommend it and will do it again for my next child!

devotedceremonies · 29/07/2010 17:29

Message deleted

Saladbomb · 31/07/2010 19:13

My sister had naming ceremony for her DD2.

No one officiated and it was very informal, we took a picnic to one of their favourite spots in the countryside near where they live. Just immediate family and my sis's 3 best friends to be 'guide' parents and their families, they read poems or prose to my DN2 and welcomed her into our lives and promised to guide her and be there for her in any way she needed. Then we each gave her small gifts similar to christening gifts for her to cherish. It was a really lovely day, that I'll never forget.

DN1 had been christened just toward the end of my sister coming to terms with her beliefs (or lack of them) and she had sort of regretted it but didnt want DN2 to feel she hadnt had the same sort of welcome as inevitably there were christening gifts that DN1 was quite proud of as little girls are. I don't know if she would have done it otherwise that but I think it was worth it. Really depends if you can keep it low key or if you have a big family that might be upset about not being invited, luckily ours were really chilled about it.

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