Are you looking for a way to welcome the newest addition to your family and faith? A christening is a huge event. Mark this significant occasion with the perfect gift, a meaningful gesture to show you are there to support that special young one throughout his or her spiritual development.
1. Traditional Silver
Silver is the most traditional christening gift, initially intended to serve as a small investment toward the child’s future. Families would often give silver coins and other items of value – the most recognizable christening gifts, silver cups and the iconic silver spoon, represented a more functional and personal gift to the child. For most of history, silver was the most sterile material to eat from so a gift of silver represents wishes of good health.
Other ideas include eggcups, porringers, and napkin rings. Consider having your gift of silver engraved with the child’s name and date of christening to ensure it always serves as a reminder of the meaning and importance of baptism.
2. Traditional Jewelry
Christening jewelry stands alongside traditional silver as a tasteful and classic christening gift. Any of the precious metals should be gentle enough for baby’s skin, but silver holds a special place as the metallic counterpart of white, a symbol of purity. Pearls are another good choice as they represent things of great value – especially knowledge. The Bible describes heaven as a pearl of great price.
Make sure to choose jewelry small enough to fit a child but with a simple design that would be easy to extend later if the child wants to wear it as he or she grows. Extension kits are one option but most jewelers can extend most designs on request.
3. Gown Preservation Kit
The baptismal gown is an extremely important part of christening symbolism – after the baptism, the parents dress the child in the baptismal gown to symbolize clothing the child in Christ. When children grow up, they can touch this fabric and reflect on what it meant to wear it. When families choose to pass down a gown from generation to generation, all of those children can look at the gown or pictures and know they share a very special connection.
The traditional white color of the gown represents the purity of Christ and the freshness of a newly baptized child. A preservation kit is the only way to ensure that gown stays white and pure as long as possible. All preservation materials need to be archival quality to ensure that no staining occurs.
4. Educational Books
Books are a good gift for several reasons: they are useful, easy to send in the mail if the christening is too far away to attend, and they can have a powerful impact on the spiritual development of a child. Children always remember their favorite bedtime books and it helps if those books have something important to teach.
Look for prayer books, illustrated Bibles, books of saints, etc. Any religious bookstore should have an abundance of books appropriate for a christening. As an alternative to religious books, you could invest in a memory album for the parents and child to build together.
5. Guardian Angel
You can find all sorts of guardian angel themed gifts for infants – jewelry, clothing, dolls and stuffed bears, all sorts of cute items that make great general purpose christening gifts. Anything that the child can play with or that can decorate his or her room is a good choice. One recent christening trend is to give a newly christened child a crib guardian, a small guardian angel pendant that attaches to the crib to watch over the soul of the infant throughout the night.
Are you starting to get extra excited about the christening? Each gift the child receives will go on to become a treasured keepsake, and maybe even an heirloom. Each gesture of support will help the parents feel like they are part of a community and not alone when it comes to providing for the spiritual and emotional life of the child. Don’t underestimate your efforts: when it comes to a christening, the gift of support is the best gift of all.
If you’re looking to buy a high quality christening gown make sure you visit the Christian Baby shop!
