Naming Days
A Naming ceremony is a lovely non religious alternative to a christening. It’s a beautiful way of welcoming your child into the family, and the world!
As there’s no religious or legal aspect to these ceremonies, they can be held anywhere (with necessary permission from venue owners for example)
The ceremony can be held at home or in your garden or even your favourite spot in a park or forest.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to come together with your family to celebrate a new baby or to mark the child's first birthday as it would be a special addition to the party!
There are a lot of similarities to a christening but without the limitations of a faith led ceremony (this is good if you’re not particularly religious but want a special day for your child)
You can still choose people close to you to be involved as you might choose a godparent. They would be called ‘supporting adults’ and they would state their love and commitment to your little one. A naming ceremony can be as formal or as informal as you want it to be,You can include rituals such as tree planting or finger painting and it's also a lovely way of including and welcoming an adopted child or step child. Of course your child will normally have already been assigned a name at birth or shortly after. This ceremony is about recognising and welcoming the newest member of your family and community.
As your naming day celebrant I will get to know you and about your family, your hopes, and dreams for your little one, any special commitments you want to make for them. You could include Poems/readings or songs! It’s such a happy event so go mad if you like with the party paraphernalia!! Bubbles, balloons, cake, naming day outfit etc!
I will write the ceremony just for you and perform it on the day and of course you can have as much input as you like! It’s your celebration! We can talk about the many different and fun rituals you could include or anything else you had in mind!
I created and wrote my own daughters naming day 13 years ago now and I'm so glad I did. It was on her first birthday and just felt extra special. The whole family loved it and it even appeased some of the more ‘traditional’ members of my family.
