This post has been sponsored by Mamas and Papas
Planning a christening ? Where to start!
Well I’ve planned and held 3 in 3 years so I’m almost the expert now !
So let’s get start at the start, how do you decide where to get your child baptised? For me this was easy all of my family are catholics and we more or less have a family church right in our doorstep where we’ve had all our family occasions, and luckily for me , Craig was happy to go with this too. There’s lots of factors when deciding which church to choose , I would say arrange a visit and get a feel for them if it isn’t a local one or somewhere you go often, chat with the priest and see what suits you.
Next thing was choosing godparents ! Who do you ask, who not to upset, who will be there long term for your children, it is definitely a great honour for whoever you ask! For our eldest we had my sister and Craigs brother, for our middle one we had my brother in laws and a close friend and for our youngest we had my little cousin and my best friend . Each time we asked them we got the best reaction and that for me made me realise even more we’d chosen the right people, people I know that’ll be in our lives forever and not just a newborn stage or a few nights out, family and forever friends.
Next up is choosing your venue, will you have it at home? Or at a local hall or hired room. For all 3 of ours we have chosen local working men’s clubs with a room to hire , the rooms are always super reasonable £25/£30 for hire! (This will probably differ for different areas of the country. The staff at all of ours have always been super friendly and lovely for our event and the bar has been reasonable too. We’ve been able to provide our own catering and balloon decoration which was a big must for me as I didn’t want to pay a fortune for buffet per head and our friend has a balloon artistry business and she’s the best so we always wanted to include her! She can be found on Facebook at Pink Ball Events if your in the North East!
So that’s church, venue, and godparents all sorted! Now for the special little persons outfit! We have a gown in our family that my Nan made for me and embroidered my initials and D.O.B in it , then my niece wore it and had her initials embroidered in off my mum , and then my eldest daughter, my son and my youngest daughter . It really makes the day so special . They all wore the gown for the church service and then afterwards we chose them all a special outfit from Mamas and Papas and they’ve been and stunning every time!
Next up is catering and your cake!
We tried to stay local with all aspects of our christening especially our last one being just after covid using local businesses always helps them out! we looked at different ideas for buffet and for Penny’s we had a caterer and we find if your having 80-109 people we usually cater for 60-70 and there’s plenty but this catering company liger did one of everything so there wasn’t very much! So for Arlo and Matilda’s christenings we went with a well know local butcher and honestly the food was incredible! And so reasonably priced too so I definitely recommend doing your research into different food providers in your area !
THE CAKES! My favourite part my far! We used a local lady her business is layered with love by Susan and honestly just in service from start to finish! we had a theme each time and she absolutely did not disappoint with my ideas!
Each time our christenings are over I sit down in bed on a night and think wow what a day! I’m absolutely exhausted but I’ve the most amazing feeling in my tummy our babies have had the most special day surrounded by our nearest and dearest and are so very loved! I love planning a family event but christenings just have something special I love them!
I hope this post has helped if your going to be planning a christening and if you have any questions pop over to my Instagram @jesslifeasweknowit and ask away.
Thank you so much for reading today
Jess
Lifeasweknowit 