How much did your christening cost?

[AVR]

Ok, after a WTF moment a couple of minutes ago in another thread, I would like to know what the normal amout is when spending on a christening.:D
( Any breakdowns would be fantatsic! ):smiliedance:

Help greatly appreciated as I am totally clueless and would like some realistic, down to earth expectations of costs :yelclap:

[*Sparkles*]

:laughing: I was in the other thread too so I know where this is coming from!

I have no idea as we are also expecting no. #1, but I am interested in the answers.

Hopefully not $70,000 though :eek: ;) :D

[AVR]

:laughing: I was in the other thread too so I know where this is coming from!
:barf: lol :laughing:

I just feel sick lol (AND VERY STUPID) but hey.. this thread will def help us hopefully!!! :smiliedance:

[zafyrezmummy]

try googling "baby christening costs" it came up with a few different ones,
(dont forget to click the AUS only button, i always forget and end up with american info..)
anyway one in the blue mountains said this:
"
How much does it cost?
If the ceremony is held in our local Blue Mountains area the cost is $250 for the first child plus $75 for each additional child (GST is included). Fees may be charged for travel outside the local area."

i dunno if this is a help to you or not, but it mite give an idea...

Good luck!
~dimarie

[BlessedWithBlue]

I guess it depends on what type of ceremony you are wanting to have.
We had our ds1 baptized in our local Catholic Church and upon meeting with the priest all he requested was some sort of monetary donation to the church. We don't have a lot of money and certainly didn't then going from two incomes to just one and gave the church a $50 donation.
After the ceremony we had a bbq at our house.

[*Sparkles*]

Are you wanting to have a christening in a church? and what religion?

My DH is Catholic and I am not so we are looking at a naming ceremony with a celebrant. We will either have it at home in the backyard or at a nice venue somewhere with finger foods afterwards at home. We are also going to have it on bub's first birthday, which will be Jan 2008 approx. I think that it won't cost very much at all. I will buy him a nice outfit though.

What are your plans?

[~MUMMY~]

my sons was really cheap.. well i thought so...

the only costs were food and renting a hall for after the christening....

the church we done it at only asked for a donation for the service/church which we donated $200.

then it was about $120 for the hall
and
$600 for foods and decorations.

ohh and another $200 for a whole spit roast pig (asian tradition mum insisted on, which im pretty sure most christenings dont include :laughing: )

[~MUMMY~]

oh i forgot to mention the "dress" was another $100 and it was a christian christening if thats any relivance.

[Mamaduke]

Breakdown of Christening costs...
Payment to the church (donation) - $100.00
Christening gown - my Christening gown - $0.00
Reception in hotel function room 50 x $30.00 p/h (afternoon so we had finger food) - $1500.00
Drinks - $500.00
Decorations (including flowers) - $200.00
Cake - $80.00
Childrens' entertainer - $200.00

[AVR]

Its a catholic christening for around 70 people.

Not sure of any plans yet, I really have no clue as to what I should do but this is def helping.:smiliedance:

[Mamaduke]

Its a catholic christening for around 70 people.

Not sure of any plans yet, I really have no clue as to what I should do but this is def helping.:smiliedance:

With Jesse's Christening (also Catholic) we invited everyone to come back to our home for a spit roast (we hired the spit and did all the meat ourselves so we'd know what quality meat we'd be eating), made salads, desserts, hired a marquee - the whole kit and caboodle. It was a great day but I was absolutely buggered after it.
With Lukey's we went to the hotel (as previously mentioned) and this was by far a better day for everyone...not in our home so we didn't have to run around the week before getting things organised, we just turned up and sat down and they took care of the rest. We had a beautiful October day and the hotel's function room was upstairs and we had the entire balcony to ourselves, it was brilliant! And at the end of the day we just packed up the gifts, handed over the cash and went on our way...too easy!

[*Sparkles*]

Mamaduke - sounds like having an alternate venue is the way to go then.

Congrats on reaching 3000 + post by the way :thumbsup: (you talk too much girl :laughing: )

[AVR]

And at the end of the day we just packed up the gifts, handed over the cash and went on our way...too easy!

Where do I sign up for that one? lol That sounds great plus I KNOW that our renos will not even be close to being finished so holes in walls and ceilings may not be the look I am going for :laughing:

Bless the DH... lets start the renos while your pregnant lol good idea babe!:rolleyes:

[Mamaduke]

Congrats on reaching 3000 + post by the way :thumbsup: (you talk too much girl :laughing: )

Oh I know!!! I had a look at my user profile and I haven't even been here a year yet! :o

[Blairsmummy]

Well, ours didn't really cost much at all!


We had a Catholic Ceremony at our church, and the Priest stated up front that money was always tight at this time of joy, and that donations would not be necessary (or accepted!). FREE
the gown was a family heirloom that I, my brother, mother, aunty and uncle all wore. It is over 60 years old and still looks as beautiful as it did at the first time it was worn. FREE
We had a celebration at my parents home and they insisted that the party was their christening gift to our son. FREE
I made all of the invitations, thank-you cards etc myself (I have a background in publishing), and used white card that I already had at home. FREE
Our local baker made the christening cake. A mud cake with DS's name and christening day piped onto it . $25.00
The cake decoration was a plaster stork carrying a baby that was on my brother and I's christening cake (yet another heirloom!) FREE
a personalised christening candle with a photo of DS, list of godparents, ceremony details, christening poem and lovely blue gingham ribbon trimming (from ebay) $24.95
stamps for invites and thank you cards $25.00
envelopes $2.00
for decorations, I scanned photos of DH and myself from our birth announcements, and DS's pic and hung them up with little captions. Also scanned other pics (inc one of me wearing the c/gown) of DH and myself as babies for people to look at and discuss who bub looks like more (as people ALWAYS do!!). It's funny as in some pics DS is the spitting image of me, yet in others he is the spitting image of DH! I included captions on each pic supposedly from DS to act as ice-breakers for our guests from different sides of the family that had not yet met. FREE


I think that is everything :confused:

So all up that makes our christening cost the grand total of: $76.95!!!!! :D

We couldn't have done it without help from our families. Their support truely made our day a wonderful day that we would have been otherwise unable to afford on our single income (and constantly rising mortgage payment :( ).

Hope this is what you were after..... :ecomcity:

[*Sparkles*]

That's awesome Blairsmummy :thumbsup:

[AVR]

Blairsmummy that sounds fantastic!:yelclap: :yelclap:

[NZMama]

Like others have said it depends on what kind of ceremony you want to have.
breakdown of costs for us:

Gown $150
Church $100
Cake (free - made it myself)
Food&drink $500 (it was a lunch for 25 people at a restaurant....soo much easier than trying to do it at home)
Flowers/Candles - $100

[Mrs Potts]

When we had DS christened (Anglican) it barely cost us a thing.

The baptism was performed during the normal weekly church service (that's the only way our church would do it), so the cost there was just the usual contribution to the church coffers. They printed up the programs and everything for us.

The outfit was a little suit we borrowed from a friend.

Afterwards we had a bbq at home. We only had about a dozen people so didn't cost much at all.

The cake was the top tier of our wedding cake which we had saved for this reason as per tradition.

We will do it basically the same way for DD when the time comes.

[Briswegian]

I think it's not supposed to cost much. There is a special significance (at least in the catholic faith) of having an heirloom gown but we don't have that despite all being catholic so I will purchase a shawl for bub and a sash for 3 year old. It cost 20 dollars per child to cover the cost to the curch for the candle etc. We will then have a small 'do' afterwards (v low cost).
If its costing a fortune, then i think the whole point has been missed.

[Missus S]

Wow Blairsmummy - well done! Our invitations alone cost double your whole christening.

Our christening is 5 weeks away and yes we are spending a fortune............but to us it's a celebration of Gemma with all our closest friends and family.

[AVR]

So.....

How much is it costing, where are you having it? All the details please:detective: lol

[AVR]

oooh! :smiliedance: Also, where did you get the letters from - ones in the babies room? I have been searchig EVERYWHERE for them any cant find them anywhere :crying:

[Missus S]

We got the letters from a great shop here in Adelaide called Kidzone:

http://www.kidzoneshop.com.au/


OK, this might be a bit scary for me to add up the total costs but heregoes:

Invites $162
Church donation $50
Preist donations $50
Function room hire at nice local hotel $200
Food (various large platters) $500
Drinks (tab at bar) $300
Cake $180
Thank yous $40
Gifts for Godparents $100
Decorations $40
Bib & candle $40

TOTAL $1662

My sister who is going to be Godmother is paying for Gemma's christening gown which we are buying from the US for under $200. I did also splurge out and buy Gemma some Baby Dior diamonte shoes for the christening but she can wear them again :p

The invites were done by the lady who took professional photos of Gemma which are absolutely stunning handmade cards with magnets on the back..........yes, expensive but that way everyone gets to keep a gorgeous momento of Gemma.

We are only inviting our close friends (there are plenty more we could have invited) as we have large families so we have 63 adults and 18 kids coming. I considered having it at home with the catering done with a spit roast, but the difference in cost was only a few hundred dollars................and now we don't have to clean up, run around serving drinks and there will be easy parking for all.

[LittleBoysRock]

DS's christening didnt cost us a lot.

The Church was no charge and no donation either.

The Gown was the one DH wore so it didnt cost anything.

For the party afterwards we had a BBQ lunch at a nearby park which probably cost ius roughly $200.00 and we had about 35 people there. We kept it to close friends and family only.

It was a wonderful afternoon and I am glad it didnt cost us a lot as I wouldnt have enjoyed it as much!

[AVR]

[quote=Missus S;680800]We got the letters from a great shop here in Adelaide called Kidzone:
http://www.kidzoneshop.com.au/
The invites were done by the lady who took professional photos of Gemma which are absolutely stunning handmade cards with magnets on the back..........yes, expensive but that way everyone gets to keep a gorgeous momento of Gemma.quote]

Thanks for that! I am just starting to decorate the babies room and was a little lost in all of the options... couldnt find what I wanted etc.

With the invites, I am doing the same thing ( she is also doing the announcement and thankyou cards - I am assuming I wont have the time to do it ) - from the ones i have seen they look fantastic.

The problem I am having is the costs for the venue/food/alcohol:banghead:

Its impossible to have it here as we are not going to be anywhere near finished wth the renovations ( I mean walls knocked out, all the front will be digged up, all the back and around the pool will also be digged up, possibally with no pool fence at the stage uurghhhhh ) so we need to find something in Sydney ( Northern Beaches / North Shore ) that will hold this many people, possibally near the church which will be in North Sydney.

The only rooms that will be finished will be the bedrooms as they will be having carpet and no walls removed. Even the kitchen wont be finished as they wont be up to painting/safe guarding the room.:crying: EXCELLENT TIMING! lol not

The quotes so far at the minimum for food only has been $45 pp so $3150 :eek: without anything else. Anyone know of a place that suits a christening that doesnt cost the earth?

I have tried local parks but the parks near the church have no cover so it would mean tables, chairs, marquee the list goes on and would cost a lot more than a restaurant.

Friends either live in units, both my parents and my brother ( whose home will be completely knocked down by then and will be living with my parents with his wife and three kids) have the same problem as us or the place just isnt big enough.

Anyone want to rent their home out for a day?? :laughing:

I have a HUGE family and I have invited the minimum people believe it or not. Any suggestions?

[Missus S]

I'd just say keep shopping around for a nice pub that has a function room you can book, and where they don't have a minimum food charge per person so you can just order platters like we are doing. I managed to negotiate $50 off the cost of the function room hire with my hotel.

Also to save money - I have been to plenty of functions where they've put on the invites "please note your meal is paid for so you will just need to pay for your drinks." I don't think anyone is bothered by that.

Good luck :)

[AVR]

Also to save money - I have been to plenty of functions where they've put on the invites "please note your meal is paid for so you will just need to pay for your drinks." I don't think anyone is bothered by that.Good luck :)

Thats a fantastic idea but the DH wouldnt go with that unfortunately. Urghh

I just see all of these christenings costing so little and turning out fantastic and I just cant find one of these venues anywhere in sydney lol:banghead:

Maybe I should move - might be cheaper :laughing:

[WeloveHarriet]

We held DD's at a restaurant. We paid for everyone's meals - they could have 2 courses, either entree & main or main & dessert from a menu - and they had to buy their own drinks. I announced it to them when we were seating everyone and they were all fine. From memory there was 55 of us all up and the meals were around $30 a head. We then cut the cake which people could eat as dessert if they wanted to. Best thing we ever did - no cleaning, no stress and everyone had a great time. (And it was in January and stinking hot so it was lovely to be inside the air-conditioning!!)

[MissSparkle]

We had DS baptised greek orthodox so heres the broken down costs-

$200- Donation to church
$100- Donation to church helpers
$200- Bomboniere
$150- Christening suit
$150- Christening towel, oil etc
$150- Invites and thank you cards
$4000-Food
$800-Drinks
$500- Table and chair hire
$400-Cultery,plates, ballons and helium, decorations, napkins etc
TOTAL- $6,650

We did have 180 people there so thats why it cost more

[Missus S]

Thanks Steph.........I don't feel so bad now :p

[jocr]

Our daughter was baptised in the local Catholic church. We gave the priest a $50 donation. We then had a bbq for about 40 people at our place. All in all we probably spent $500 on that part. Meg's grandma made and decorated her cake, and she wore my gown. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and Meg had a ball!!!!