Emma’s Naming Ceremony

Emma’s Naming Ceremony was held at the popular Boambee Creek Reserve. John and Alicia arrived with John’s parents, Les and Val, and their close friends, Niki and Pete and their daughter, Jenna. It was to be a small gathering as Alicia’s parents and also. the godparents couldn’t attend. Pete recorded the ceremony so everyone could watch later. They chose not to do a ‘live streaming’. They had already changed the date once and didn’t want to do so again as Alicia was expecting her second child in January and Niki was due with her second baby not long after.

We wrote a beautiful naming ceremony based upon John and Alicia’s life with young Emma and everyone’s love for her. They had clearly named their child Emma three years ago when she was born. This was a celebration of more than ‘the naming’.

The six adult guests were seated in a semi circle and Emma and her little friend, Jenna sat on a picnic blanket in the front. From where I was standing I could see all the guests. It was a very personal ceremony because, while I spoke mostly from my ceremony script, I was able to speak spontaneously about some of the things I had discussed with the guests prior to the start – parenting, grand parenting, pregnancy, lack of sleep, the joys, the challenges and the other family members etc. It felt very natural to link back to our shared conversation.

As part of the ceremony, Alicia and John read a ‘family credo’ that they had framed and included their unborn child as they spoke. The grandparents read a poem and Niki spoke spontaneously of what it meant to be a part of this family as a close friend. At the beginning, I shared a short children’s picture story book, Guess How Much I Love You, for Emma and Jenna, which the adults also really enjoyed. At the close, we signed the certificates and then I brought out my secret supply of bubbles which are always a great hit with small children (and some big people too!). Congratulations, Alicia, John and Emma.

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