Planning a Christening

We are having a Christening for my twins in late April; they’ll be two-and-a-half by then, so not the most conventional way to do it. Sofia was 18 months when she was dunked, so we’re obviously a little tardy on these matters.

Silver spoon, Champagne cork and a ‘bigliettino’ from the bomboniere.

As I’m not a regular church goer by any stretch of the imagination, it does seem a bit odd that I would want them to be Baptised. I want them to have a special day, but obviously could opt for a baby naming ceremony. I’d say my desire for a Christening is mainly to do with tradition (we’re all Christened in my family) and being half Italian, Baptisms are usually a given. Perhaps it’s because, if I’m being honest, I feel a Christening carries more gravitas than a baby naming ceremony. It could also have to do with the fact that the church we are having it at is where my mum and dad got married, where my mum is buried and where my husband Matt and I got married. Whatever the reasons we’re planning…

Christening considerations

When organising Sofia’s Christening, Matt told me that this wasn’t planning a second wedding. Although I wasn’t treating it like that; well maybe just a bit. Whatever, I’m using Sofia’s as the blueprint for the twins’.

So first things first, we’ve picked a date and confirmed it with the Reverend. We’ve made the decisions about Godparents, opting for a mix of family members (Matt’s brothers and my brother) and good friends. We’ve gone for three different Godparents for each twin and my brother as Godparent for both (so four each). All were really happy and honoured to be asked, and that epitomises what I think is important about Christenings.

Our invitations from CocoCards

With the church and key people organised, it was time to think about the reception. I really don’t fancy the stress of catering for lots of people, so we’ve opted for a restaurant and sit down meal; just like last time. Happily, my dad has worked for an Italian wine and food importers for years so he knows a lot of Italian restaurants. He’s organised all of that along with the wine. Ideal!

With the church and reception confirmed, it was on to the invitations. A Google search last time heralded the wonderful result of CocoCards. They create beautiful, elegant, personalised stationery. Thankfully, I’ve been able to order from there this time around too and am delighted with the results. Readers can get a 10% discount off any products on the site by using the code Loyal at checkout.

Then my inner girly girl came out and I started getting excited about the twins’ dresses. For Sofia’s Christening, we found a lovely childrens’ boutique called Membery’s (run by Sally Membery) . We went there again and chose two lovely dresses of the same design. However, as we don’t dress the twins identically, Sally suggested sewing a small embroidery detail on each. Maria’s first babygro in the hospital was pink and Gabby’s was green and those colours have kind of stuck, so decision made.

Not to be left out, Sofia’s got a new dress too. She is very excited. However, she wants to invite loads of her friends along and seems to have a problem understanding that this isn’t ‘her party.’ Next there’s the Christening cake.

My mother-in-law is organising this as a gift. We’re having the below cake from The Fairy Cakery, but without the booties, seeing as the girls are long passed that stage.

Then there’s the hunt for bomboniere. It’s Italian tradition to give guests a ‘favour’, which contains five sugared almonds representing health, wealth, happiness, long life and fertility. I really have struggled to find anything like we had for Sofia’s. After hunting high and low, I’ve gone for something completely different in the shape of these lovely ‘sacchettini’ from Le Tue Bomboniere, which is run by a mum who hand makes them in Italy.

I think that’s about it really – and not a table plan in sight. Of course I do have to sort my own outfit out, but that’d be a whole other blog. The main thing is, I’m really looking forward to having a celebration with friends, family and our daughters.

Butterfly bomboniere from Sofia’s Christening

The sacchettini bomboniere