Please click here to visit our sponsor





Please click here to visit our sponsor

Naming Ceremonies: Advice for First Time Godparents


Congratulations! It is a great honour your friends have done you, because being asked to be a godparent (aka as mentor, supporting adult, guideparent or guardian) is a significant responsibility and signals that they really trust you to look out for their child.

Many first-time godparents are hazy about what their role is and what is expected of them during the Naming Ceremony.

Role
Godparents step in when parents are not available, especially if they die or default. In my ceremonies I ask godparents to make promises to the parents as well as to the child, in order to signal their willingness to support the whole family.

Gifts
The main gift a godparent gives is the gift of self. During the ceremony, you can give a symbolic gift, and of course, you can always give the baby a significant gift to mark the occasion (and every significant occasion from then on!). Of course, it is perfectly acceptable for a godparent to give the naming ceremony as a gift. I provide attractive gift certificates for this purpose. Ask the officiant/celebrant you choose to do the same.

Dress
What you (or for that matter) anyone at the ceremony wears relates to the formality of the occasion. As most naming ceremonies are held at home, either indoors or in the garden or in parks, dress tends to be casual/smart casual. Of course, the baby can be dressed formally in a Christening gown or party clothes irrespective of what the guests are wearing.

Cake
Traditionally, the parents provide a celebratory cake which is cut at the party after the ceremony. But this would be a very nice gift for the godparents to bring. The cake and be a fully iced and decorated special occasion cake with a christening type topper, or it can be something simpler with flowers and/or the child's name on it which might be from a bakery, supermarket, or home made.

The most important thing is to be authentic to yourself. There is no right and wrong beyond doing what comes from the heart and is authentic to you, to the child and to the family.

Jennifer Cram is a sought-after celebrant who performs a range of ceremonies including Naming Ceremonies as Beautiful as Your Baby in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Fanatical about performance measurement and monitoring, a field in which she is an acknowledged expert, she uses tear-measurement to assist her to gauge client satisfaction with her ceremonies - she counts damp eyes because she is well aware that participants and guests remember how they felt, rather than what precisely was said at a ceremony. For more information about her naming ceremonies visit her website http://www.jennifercram.com and/or her Baby Naming Blog.

Copyright © 2005 Jennifer Cram. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.



MSN UK News

Babies' post-mortem 'inconclusive'
The Press Association - 12 hours ago
It is still not known what caused the deaths of two babies found in toy boxes at the home of a pensioner, after a post-mortem examination proved ...
Dead babies 'may have been twins' BBC News
Babies in box were twins Manchester Evening News
BODIES 'TWINS' Mirror.co.uk
all 65 news articles


Nevada rule protects inmates' babies
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 10 hours ago
By BRENDAN RILEY, AP Writer Emergency Nevada rules to ensure babies born to women inmates don't wind up in the hands of abusive caregivers while their ...


Babies are bags of bits
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 6 hours ago
Fernyhough has used his daughter's development as a hook on which to hang a considered, up-to-date summary of what we know about how babies develop. ...


Bull rampage expands base of billion-dollar babies
Sify, India - 1 hour ago
... of companies in sectors probably unheard of five years ago, which have suddenly found favour with investors and become billion-dollar babies. ...


CTV.ca

Autism researchers say eye tracker technology may lead to earlier ...
The Canadian Press, TORONTO - 16 hours ago
TORONTO — Eye tracker technology used to study two groups of babies - either at high or low risk of developing autism - shows differences between the groups ...
New test spots autism signs in 9-month-old infants CTV.ca
Detecting autism in babies may aid progress Hamilton Spectator
Canadian researchers make autism diagnosis at 9 months: study CBC.ca
The Canadian Press
all 43 news articles


Giant snake hatches 40 babies
Independent Online, South Africa - 15 hours ago
Kampala - A 30-year-old python housed in a Ugandan animal conservation centre has hatched 40 offspring, newspaper reports said on Friday but wildlife ...


Julie Caswell's tips on dogs and babies
Detroit Free Press, United States - 22 hours ago
Expose your dog to babies in a controlled manner. • Present a blanket or clothes the baby has worn to your dog along with special treats. ...


Give wild babies a chance to grow
SunHerald.com, MS - 40 minutes ago
They are this year's babies, our own backyards' contributions to the miracle of feathered flight. And these avian babies are not alone. ...


Sex of San Jose City Hall baby falcons announced: Think 'girl power'
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 3 hours ago
By Lisa Fernandez Birders watch as UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group field biologist Brian Latta bands peregrine falcon babies' legs on Friday, ...
Genders of SJ City Hall chicks revealed abc7news.com
Scientists Try To Find Gender Of Pergerine Falcon Chicks NBC 11.com
Falcon fans at City Hall waiting for genders to be announced San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
all 12 news articles


Dee Snider's 6th Annual Bikers for Babies Ride May 18
Westbury Times, NY - 9 hours ago
Bikers will hit the open road at 11 am Every year more than half a million babies are born prematurely, and more than 100000 are born with birth defects or ...

Babies - Google News

home | site map

© 2006 www.elearn-university.org