Naming and Welcoming Ceremonies

 A naming or welcoming ceremony is a lovely opportunity to introduce your new arrival into your family and the wider community. 

At the heart of the ceremony are the promises you make to your child, pledging your unwavering love and commitment. You can also invite significant adults from your circle of family and friends to make promises. 

Some parents prefer to keep the traditional term 'Godparents', while others choose a secular alternative like 'Supporting Adults', 'Mentors', or 'Guide Parents.'

These ceremonies aren't just for young babies. For example, you might want to hold a celebration ceremony for your child's first birthday, giving thanks for the progress they've made and showing ypur appreciation to those people who have helped along the way. 

A welcoming ceremony is particularly meaningful for introducing adopted children or stepchildren into your family and community. Such a ceremony can help foster a vital sense of identity and belonging for children as they embark on this new chapter in their lives. .

I also offer renaming ceremonies, which can be especially significant after gender transition or affirmation surgery. Or you might want to mark a new chapter in your life after a divorce or break up. 

This type of ceremony allows you to celebrate your journey and affirm your identity. Whether you envision a discreet, simple ceremony or something fabulous and flamboyant, I'm here to help you celebrate your authentic self.

 In addition to your promises, we can include readings and music, making this a wonderful chance to involve friends and family members. The readings and music can be either secular or religious, or a blend of both. 

As part of your ceremony, we can incorporate symbolic actions such as lighting a family candle, tree planting, or a sand ceremony. These rituals add stunning visual elements to the occasion and are a lovely way too get family members involved. ensuring a truly memorable experience for everyone involved 

This will be around a 30-minute meeting to share some key information . We can meet face-to-face, via video call (such as Zoom), or over the telephone.

During our discussion, I'll gather some information about you and your family and ask what you're looking for in your ceremony. Don't worry if you haven't got many ideas; I'm happy to suggest options later! I'll explain what I can offer and answer any questions you may have.

After the consultation, I'll give you some time to think about whether you want to go ahead. If you decide to book a ceremony with me, I'll reserve your date and take a £200 deposit. If you haven't selected a date or venue yet, I'll wait until you do before finalising the booking.

This is best done at the venue where possible. Here, I'll learn more about you as a family, including the story of your little one's arrival into the world and the first impressions they've made. 

If you'd like to mention specific family members or medical staff who played a role in their arrival, we can include them in our discussion. 

You might also wish to share the story behind your baby's name and its significance - perhaps it honours a key family member or is inspired by a character from a song or story. 

For adopted or stepchildren, I'll be guided on how much information you'd like to share, ensuring sensitivity to the needs of you and your family. 

The same applies for renaming; feel free to tell me as much or as little as you'd like. I'll follow your lead and won't ask any probing or insensitive questions. 

We'll discuss what you want to include in your ceremoniy, such as your story, your promises, symbolic actions, readings, and music. We'll also talk about your supporting adults and how you'd like them to participate, as well as logistics like seating, arrivals, and exits.

After the planning meeting, I'll put together a draft schedule for your ceremony and start working on my script. If you're writing your own promises, now is a good time to get started; I can help you with this too.

I'll send you my draft schedule and script on an agreed date ahead of the ceremony (preferably at least 2 weeks beforehand to allow time for revisions.) You can make as many revisions as you like, either by phone or email.

It's important that we get the details right, so I'll ask you to check things like the spellings of names, the wording of readings, your promises, and the version of any pieces of music that you'd like to use.

This can take place around two to seven days before the ceremony and is a chance for you and any friends and family involved to 'walk through' key parts of the celebration of new life with me.  

It won't include everything; we'll save the magic for the big day! But it will help everyone involved to know their cues and where they need to be.  

A rehearsal isn't essential, but it could be useful if you have a large number of people or if any of the party are nervous about the ceremony. It's also a good opportunity to practice using microphones if you've opted to. We can make last-minute revisions to my script and your promises at this stage,.

On the day,  I'll turn up early to check out the venue. I'll liaise with venue staff and suppliers to ensure everything is in place. Before the ceremony, I'll meet with you to go through the final details, answer any last-minute questions, and help calm any nerves. 

A typical naming or welcoming ceremony will last around 20 minutes, but I can adapt the length to suit you. After the ceremony, I'll bid you farewell and let you enjoy your celebrations (unless you'd like me to stay!). I'll present you with a souvenir script and certificate - and big hugs, of course!