Christening Etiquette

[astormgivenflesh]

Hi!

Have been invited to a christening - baby son of a good friend. I'm not sure if the gift buying etiquette of a christening as I've only been to one before when I was a lot younger - do you buy a gift and if so, what?! Any suggestions would be brilliant, thank you!

Hm. I think if you are a godparent you would buy a gift, or very close friend.

If its a big christening with lots of people and you are not a godparent, I would probably give a card and a token gift. Some good ideas are:

• a nice but not expensive hardback classic book for when he is older - eg one of the winnie the pooh volumes. Not flashy but a lovely thing to have.
• a nice hardback collection of fairy tales.
• a baby plate/mug/cup. Eg Beatrix potter. Useful for when baby gets going on feeding himself.

Godparents might buy something more substantial. Eg a "Treasury Of " type children's book. Tasteful money boxes are an idea (Beatrix Potter OK, garish stuff like Disney not!) So are silver things (my dd was given a beautiful antique silver mini hand mirror). My DS was given a beautiful candle holder with a beeswax candle, to represent the light of Christ. Other things might be a handthrown plate with the child's name and the christening date, or a blanket made of squares with the child's name and christening date embroidered.

Depends a bit on how religious the family is but you can get some nicely illustrated children's bibles or prayer books. My children like to read theirs from time to time.

Thank you so much! This is so helpful so thank you for taking the time xxx

I would definitely think a gift was in order and bumps has made some lovely suggestions.