What is a Naming Ceremony? A Naming Ceremony gives you a personalised, meaningful opportunity to celebrate – and welcome – your new addition to the family. It is a non-religious alternative to formal Christening and is a way to officially name your child in front of your loved ones.

A Naming Ceremony will always be written entirely from scratch; each and every ceremony will be tailored around the family. They can also include any symbolic acts that might mean something to you and your family; this could include Sand Ceremonies, tree-planting, or hand and footprinting.

During the ceremony, the parents will state their commitment to their child, thank their family and friends and announce their hopes for the child’s life.

This is what makes them so popular: they are a truly unique way to share your dreams and aspirations for your child’s future.

Essentially, Naming Ceremonies are all about welcoming a new addition to your family.

This could be a newborn child, step-children, or an adopted child; the ceremony is suitable for babies, toddlers, and older children. Whoever the Naming Ceremony is for, at its core, the intention is to create a space where families and communities can come together to unite and bond, all in the name of this special person.

Naming ceremonies can also be held in the devastating event that a baby or child has passed away. This is a chance to openly acknowledge and celebrate their short life and officially welcome them into your family.

They are increasingly being used as well for transgender naming or re-naming ceremonies. This acknowledges the journey of discovery and symbolises a new beginning.

The benefits of a celebrant-led Naming Ceremony are enormous.

First of all, a Naming Ceremony will always be built around your family and their individual story. This adds a whole new dimension to the service and provides a level of meaning and memories that cannot be found in a set script service.

I will work with you to create the perfect ceremony. I will use my experience leading other ceremonies of this type, as well as my innate ability to listen and respond to your family’s needs, brought together with my confident communication and presentation skills to deliver a service that is totally befitting your little one.

Naming Ceremonies can also be an incredibly cathartic experience for children who are being brought into your family, such as step and adopted children. Officially announcing their place in your family to your loved ones is an important step and one that will mean the world to the child.

A Naming Ceremony will most often not be held in a church, and they also have the option to either include or omit religious content. Unlike a Christening, they also are not officiated by a priest or a member of the clergy.

A Christening tends to focus on the beginning of a journey of ‘faith’; this means, typically, it will require the family to belong to their local Church. It will involve religious symbolism and certain set procedures in line with the Church of England practices and ‘Godparents’ also must already be christened to qualify to become one.

Naming Ceremonies, on the other hand, are highly personalised and reflect the family and their wishes. They can also be held in any location so you have the freedom to decide where you’d like to celebrate. The focus of a Naming Ceremony is on the child and the hopes the parents have for their future. It is an opportunity to welcome them into the family and celebrate their arrival with loved ones.

Having a Naming Ceremony is a wonderful way to welcome your children into the family – whether they are newly born, step-children, or an adopted child – in a setting that is comfortable for you.

If you want to celebrate the birth of your little one, or a child joining your family, however, you aren’t religious, then a Naming Ceremony is for you. If you use a Celebrant, you can still include bible readings and hymns, equally, they can contain no religious content.

Having a Naming Ceremony is a great way to bring the family together, wish your little one all the best in their life, make commitments and promises to their future, and celebrate the joy that they bring in any setting of your choice.

Absolutely! You can appoint Godparents/ Guideparents/ Supporting adults (sometimes Oddparents!) to your little one and they will be asked to make commitments during the ceremony.

Unlike a Christening, at a Naming Ceremony, there are no restrictions and no prerequisites that your Guideparents need to fulfill (such as confirming they have been christened). That means you can choose anyone who holds a meaningful place in both your and your child’s life, and you can involve them as much or as little as you wish in the ceremony itself.

Promises may be made by Guideparents, but also can be made by the parents or even other members of the congregation. People involved can either answer questions asked by the celebrant during the ceremony, or they can prepare their own vows. It is great if the people involved are happy to write their own promises or meaningful readings as the ceremony becomes even more personal to them.

You could choose for them to do a reading, say a passage that is important to you, sing a song, or simply be there and reply to your celebrant when called upon to make commitments during the ceremony.

With a celebrant, there are no restrictions at all and you can choose whomever you feel is best suited to be a positive mentor and offer love and guidance to your child as they grow. You will be surrounding your child with more loving role models to nurture them and have a positive impact on their life; there is no greater gift.

You can use whatever you like when it comes to naming these important people in your child’s life!

There are no rules to say you can’t use the term Godparent (after all, it is the most recognisable), but there are also many other alternatives. You may choose to call them a:

• Guardian
• Mentor
• Guideparent
• Friend-parent
• Honorary Auntie and Uncle
• Sparent
• Odd-parent
• God-less-parent
• Fairly Un-godly Mother

… of course, these range in their wackiness!

My role is to not only write and craft the Naming Ceremony but to lead all proceedings on the day. It is my responsibility to create a meaningful, personalised ceremony that perfectly encapsulates you and your child’s life.

I will spend time getting to know you; ask you questions and prompts in order to find out more about your family history and your hopes for your child. As every single Naming Ceremony script is written from scratch, I will then use their newly discovered understanding of your special family to design a service that tells your unique story.

How do you choose your Naming Ceremony congregation? The joy of a Naming Ceremony is that it is 100% personal to your unique story, and so your choice of the congregation will also be entirely defined by you!

You have the opportunity to choose your Naming Ceremony congregation based on the people that mean the most to you in the world. These are the ones who you want to stand witness to this important moment, and join you in celebrating the arrival of your child; be that born, a stepchild, or an adopted child.

If there are Godparents/ Guideparents/ Supporting Adults involved it is important to make sure they and other people with a key role on the day are available before confirming the date and inviting other members of the congregation..

As every child is unique, so too will be the celebration you create for them. There is no blueprint for the people you should and should not invite to the service; but, if it is something you are unsure about, you can always ask me.

The size of the Naming Ceremony celebration depends on how many people you would like to be involved.

It can be just the immediate family celebrating the new addition to the family, or it could be a much bigger celebration with wider family and friends. The size of the congregation will need to be kept in mind when choosing the venue. Also, I will consider the number of people involved when creating the ceremony with you. If there is a larger congregation, we may need to allow more time for people to arrive and may suggest ideas for the ceremony to include everyone.

It is common for members of the congregation to be involved in readings; this could be through writing the piece for the reading or performing it (or both!).

If you are including a special piece of music in the service, you could also ask a loved one to sing the song for the rest of the congregation, or have the entire congregation come together to sing it.

You may want to let your guests know if there is a dress code for the ceremony. If you would like the ceremony to be formal, then you can tell your guests that this is a great time to get dressed up. However, if you are looking for a more casual style then let everyone know so they can come feeling relaxed.

Yes, yes, and yes again! You have total freedom to be creative and involving any siblings is a lovely addition to further personalise the ceremony. It also makes it very special for the siblings too.

The really special thing about naming ceremonies is your ability to personalise them as much as you wish. This is your opportunity to welcome your child into your family, and if involving other children in that celebration feels important then it’s paramount that you do it!

This is a celebration of your family, and your new addition joining that. Their siblings can choose to write and say a reading or poem, or perhaps make their own commitments. They may want to make a promise to help look after the child which can make them feel very involved.

You may like to light candles as a family or plant flowers together as part of the ceremony. The action of doing something like this as a family can be significant in bringing you all together.

There are many wonderful ways to involve your other children and I will run through lots of ideas and offer some inspiration.

I will ask you questions and prompts to find out more about your family and the story that makes you who you are; I will then craft a service that involves the most important people in your life, including your little ones.

Planning your naming ceremony is both fun and a wonderful experience. Here is some inspiration for things you may want to include:

• A book can be available at the celebration which guests are asked to sign or write a message for the child and the family.
• Guests could be asked to bring something small for the child, such as a letter or a flower, which is collected at the start of the ceremony.
• The celebrant can ask if any guests would like to say anything about the child after the ceremony.
• A video can be made with guests saying a message for your child at some point in the future.
• Asking someone to write a special poem about your child that can be read at the ceremony.
• Creating a naming certificate with the details of the day and name which can be kept after the day for the child.
• Take photos of your guests with the baby and make a collage of everyone involved in the day. This could also be sent to guests after as a memento for them.
• Planting a tree either as part of the ceremony or after at your home. This can symbolise growing as a family.

Welcoming a child or young adult into a new family is a wonderful milestone, in not only their lives but also that of their new parents. Adoption is a conscious and intentional choice, often one that is a lengthy and sometimes difficult process. This journey should be recognised, and a ceremony offers a powerful way to say we are all here together.

An adoption ceremony is a celebration of a child or children joining a family. A welcome of sorts. A chance for a family to acknowledge the gift of love and union. A place to share what a child brings to a family, a chance for new memories to be made together. And a place to accept the challenges of the past and share hopes and dreams of the future.

Adoption ceremonies can be personalised with the lighting of candles, planting of trees, and carefully chosen readings or music. If you have a religious belief this too is something that can be incorporated with prayers or readings. Grandparents and siblings can also be included in symbolic actions like a sand ceremony, where particles are blended together symbolising a bond as a family that is impossible to separate.

Supporting adults and other family members can make pledges to the child and to the family to guide them. Families can pledge to each other all their love and happiness, along with their wishes as part of the ceremony.

Certificates can be signed or even stamped with colourful fingerprints to create a memento of the ceremony. Bubbles can be blown and singing can all be incorporated to create a fun and laughter-filled experience for everyone.

Changing your name can be one of the most meaningful steps for any trans person in expressing who you are. The changing of a name acknowledges your journey of discovery and symbolises a new beginning. A renaming or trans naming ceremony offers a person a life moment, for reflection on their life so far and who they have become. So why wouldn’t you mark this moment with a meaningful ceremony? Bespoke written with only you at its heart.

You can hold these ceremonies as a rite of passage. A moment to say to those around you, this is who I am. A moment to share this new milestone in your lives. You can honour your whole self, both past, present, and future. An opportunity to offer thanks to family and friends who have supported and guided you along the path and share your hopes and dreams of the future as your new identity.

You can personalise your ceremony with readings, music, or personal touches of exchanging gifts, signing certificates, or even creating a wonderful memento. Like a wall hanging or plaque that family and friends can write wishes on. You can also include a religious element if this is important to you as an individual.

Everyone’s trans journey is different and so each ceremony reflects each individual and your story.

This is the beauty of having a celebrant start your journey to planning your ceremony. A celebrant can officiate a ceremony in any location that may either mean something to you such as your home or in a location you love.

Anywhere you choose!

You can choose somewhere special to you and your family. You can even have it at home!

Typically naming ceremonies are held in village halls, gardens or event venues. However, some more unusual venue choices include:

• Castles
• Beaches
• The forest
• A meaningful spot of natural beauty

You will need to get permission if you would hold the ceremony in a public space. If you are thinking of holding the ceremony outside, then you might need to consider the local weather and have an appropriate backup in case. For your chosen venue you will also need to consider how you would like it to look; will you be required to bring your own decorations, or will they provide them? There may be equipment at the venue that you can use, but you will want to plan to ensure there is a centerpiece if you would like one, and enough seating if you need it.

The options are limitless and entirely up to you where you’d like to have the ceremony.

I charge £175 for a Naming Ceremony. Have a look on the Naming Ceremony page of my website to see what this includes and where there could be additional charges.

I predominantly offer my services to the areas of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion. However, I am always willing to consider enquiries from further afield, although please note that a travel expense may be added.

I have successfully completed and passed the National Qualification – NOCN Level 3 Diploma in Naming Ceremonies (RQF). This means that:

• I have achieved the highest possible qualification in Naming Celebrancy in the UK.
• I have been rigorously assessed for my skill and suitability as a Naming Celebrant.
• I am able to create and deliver an appropriate and unique ceremony