A christening gift with their name in it

Silver cutlery and a savings account are perfectly good presents, but they tell you nothing later on. A book about the day does: in ten years a child reads back who was there, what the weather did and who was more nervous than they were. It is the one gift from that day that grows with the child.

Christenings are not all the same, so the storylines are not either. Some are about godparents, the candle lit from the large one at the front, and a gown that has been in the family for generations. Others are about the promise, the congregation joining in, and the moment the child’s name is read out in front of everyone.

There are also storylines for a dedication service, where there is no water at all: the parents stand at the front, hands are laid on the child and there is a blessing, with baptism following later when the child chooses it. Those stories use different words on purpose. A family who dedicates rather than baptises should not be handed a book about a font.

We write about what happens and who is there, not about what it means. That we leave to the church and the family, which is exactly why the same book works in a church we know nothing about.

On the last page you can have a Bible verse set. We have a few ready that are commonly used at a child’s christening, and you can also enter your own words or leave the page empty.

The book takes about half an hour to make and you see it immediately in a free preview, page by page. Only when it is right does it go to print, arriving within eight working days. Worth allowing for if you want to hand it over on the day itself.