Nothing is more magical than the arrival of new life. When a baby arrives into your world it’s simply joyous for you the parents as well as for all those around you.
After those first settling in weeks pass and you establish your own routine you start thinking about gathering everyone around and wouldn’t it be nice to have a get together? A Christening would psoobly be the obvious suggestion at this point.
But what do you do if one or both of you are not particularly religious?
Perhaps you are of different Faiths?
Maybe, you’ve agreed that you will let your child make their own choices about their religion, spirituality and religion as they grow up.
What if you live in Spain without access to a church of your denomination or language?
Well, have you considered a Naming Ceremony? It is possibly the ideal solution and maybe even offers you and your family much more than you anticipated.
So, What Happens in a Naming Ceremony?
Well firstly, it’s a personalised, non-religious, multicultural ceremony to welcome your baby or child to the family.
In terms of what happens, well that’s the exciting part, you can include whoever you wish and pretty much anything that you want. From just the 3 of you, to readings from an older sibling, friend or family member, music, sand keepsakes and more!
My naming ceremonies are written exclusively for you, through talking together I learn about you and your family and what’s important to you. From this I can create a script that is, well just more you! My aim is for everyone to connect with what is said and to more importantly enjoy the story.
Later on in this Blog post I talk more about the details and the options that you can include in a Naming Day. But for now, I thought I’d share a little of my own experience.
Our Story
Both my husband and I are not typically religious. My Parents allowed me the opportunity to make my own decisions about my faith and spirituality when I was old enough to make them for myself.
When our daughter was born back in 2014 her arrival was overwhelming joyous. She was (and still is) an absolutely ray of sunshine! A first grandchild on her Dad’s side and a welcome surprise on my own side given my dedication to my professional career.
Looking back it would have been wonderful to have organised an occasion to more formally celebrate her arrival with all of our friends and family. At that time as far as we knew a christening was the only option, which we knew we didn’t want.
It Just never occurred to us that we had a choice as we had never experienced a naming day.
If we’d have known then about the Naming Ceremony option, without a doubt we would have jumped at the chance to gather everyone together and celebrate!
Who is Involved?
Siblings, Grandparents, Aunts, Cousins, Friends can all be involved in your babies naming day or just you and baby it's your choice. You just let me know who you’d like to feature and we’ll include them in the ceremony. There are many ways to have an inclusive ceremony involving readings, audience participation, promises, keepsake creation and more.
Can We Mention God or Reference Our Faith?
Although of no particular faith myself we can include some religious references in your ceremony through readings, prayer or song.
How Old Does My Baby Need to Be?
There are no rules on this, you know your baby best and when is the right time for you. That said the average age is around 4-6 months.
For some children it can be later and it is also possible to include older children too.
How Long Does the Naming Ceremony Take?
Normally a ceremony is 15 to 20 minutes. I try to keep from going too far beyond this as babies and little people in the audience prefer me to keep it this way so that they can go back to their important work of running around! However that said sometimes at the parents request I’m happy to include more people and rituals so we run on a little longer.
Where Can We Hold a Naming Ceremony in Spain?
We’re lucky that in the Costa Blanca our weather during the day year-round is mostly bright and sunny. Which is helpful in expanding the range of locations that you can hold your childs naming day celebrations.
At home or in your garden is a popular choice. Often combing and BBQ and pool time for the kids after the ceremony itself.
At a local restaurant or favourite bar are also popular. But I’ve also officiated at a Golf Club and a hotel as well.
How Much Does a Naming Ceremony Cost?
My naming ceremonies are €300 split €150 reservation fee and €150 when I send through the first draft of the ceremony which is normally between 14 and 7 days in advance of the Naming Day.
Included:
· Consultation meetings with you and your partner
· Fully personalised script
· Provision of suitable readings/poems (optional)
· Fingerprint family tree (optional)
· Parents Wishes examples and scripting
· Sand Ceremony (optional)
· Guide Parent briefings
· Order of Ceremony for invited guests
· Delivery of Ceremony
· Ceremony certificate
· Travel within 45 minutes of El Campello Further away may incur additional expenses but this would be discussed at the time of our first meeting.
I'm Hazel a Family and Wedding Celebrant in the Costa Blanca, Spain.
If you’d like to learn more about my Naming Ceremonies let’s set up a complimentary no obligation introductory meeting by phone, video call or locally in person so you can discover whether I’m the celebrant you would like to help you celebrate this special occasion. I hope I am!!
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