Does anyone know what is traditionally given as a gift for a baby boy for his Christening?
Many thanks!
Hello,
It depends. If you are a Godparent, ask the other Godparent what he/she will give. I believe money would be most welcome since there are many things you need to buy for a newborn, especially if he is the first baby. Or ask the parents if they have a special wish. It also depends, of course, on how much you would like to spend.
I have always given a gift of silver or pewter ie a money box, a little teddy bear, a train etc and got their full name and date of birth engraved on it for a keepsake
I still have all of mine from when it was my christening
If the family are members of the Roman Catholic or one of the eastern churches, you could get an icon of the saint after whom the child is named (you might have to do a bit of research comparing names, of course).
I've done that a couple of times and it has been very well received.
Another consideration is whether or not you yourself are religious.
As a godparent I preferred to give a gift with a religious connection, as my role as godparent is first and foremost spiritual, and the occasion is of course a solemn religious one.
I like to give something of a keepsake nature. We are Catholic, so a very special rosary, prayer book or bible is a nice gesture.
As a godparent I also remember the child's birthdays and name days, so I reserve secular gifts for those occasions. I give more traditional baby gifts on the birth of the child, separate from the christening.
If attending as a guest, I usually give something small, again of a religious-ish nature.
A donation to a charity in the child's name is also a nice gesture.
A christening is very a traditional occasion, and every culture will have it's own traditions, even within the same religion - and therefore it's own traditions of gift giving. When in doubt... ask the grandparents.
I normally give an iTunes voucher.
As British atheists attending a Swiss catholic wedding, we gave something very British. Beatrix potter wedgewood and complete works. The parents are huge anglophiles though....
Otherwise, I have in the past given silver framed 4 leaf clovers that grew in my garden back home, but only to non- religous or protestant friends. A bit hard to get now.
God parents should get first bible and rosery and such, family tend to get christening cup... so.
Just make sure that it is special and a keepsake.
I went to a Christening recently and was quite surprised at the different gifts that were given.
As it was quite a religious affair I bought a prayer book and rosary. I was surprised that my gift was the only one with any religious significance.
Other gifts were clothes, vouchers, photo frames. jewellery and buying a goat for charity.
Call me a material girl, but I would be happy with money to put in a bank account under the child's name. Also very nice is kids cutlery but you should really ask, for my son's baptism I got three sets of kids cutlery and two sets of kids china.
Grandparents! Speaking of which.... has anyone ever come across the situation where a grandparent is also the godparent? Is this perhaps done within the Roman Catholic church? Or?
That's more orthodox, not roman catholic.
Yeah. That's what my kids got and it certainly was well received. Keepsake-style gifts like any silver object or anything religious would not have been a terrific match for our family, but luckily, every family's different.
This has nothing to do with gifts, but I think God-'parents' are actually God-'uncles' and God-'aunts' here...Der Patenonkel und die Patentante, respectively. (Or der Pate und die Patin).
I think now days it doesn’t matter so much.. people often gift clothes, hampers (With nappies, baby grows .. basically anything baby related) ..
As a god parent (RC Church) Id usually gift a baby bracelet engraved with their name (I think its quite pointless but its expected none the less and generally it’s just kept as a keep sake) Or a little necklace engraved again.
I also see many gifts of a silver hairbrush set, silver cup, silver spoon, silver frames, little silver boxes etc. Always silver and usually engraved.
I’ve seen lovely baby towel sets, teddies, clothes with their names on.
Some times god parents might buy the candle, engraved with child’s name and christening date.
One year I bought for my nephews christening a "Silver" kettle" because my sisters broke. lol. I wouldn’t do this for a friend though. lol
I'd give money or a gift certificate or something from a babystore. pretty sure it is more useful in these times then a 'gift' then again I am not religious. for or wedding we also asked for money and people preffered giving that instead of all buying the same set of plates etc...
we usually give the complete collection of H.C.Andersens fairy tales (one big book). It has been translated into many languages and you can get it in different covers/bindings. Some places you can even get it engraved on the front cover or similar.
Don ́t know any kids regardless of religion that don ́t like fairy tales!!!
So it is actually done somewhere?
As far as I know, in the Orthodox Church it is quite common to ask close relatives to be godparents, like siblings or grandparents.
my son's godparents are his grandparents. catholic- it's more cultural than religion specific
A copy of the Koran?