family ceremony

Child Welcoming Ceremonies: A Beautiful Way to Begin

 in Welcoming Ceremony  tagged baby welcoming / child welcoming / family ceremony / welcoming ceremony by

Child Welcoming ceremonies are a beautiful way to welcome a new child to your family. Whether through birth, adoption, or fostering, a new child in the family is always cause for celebration.

Often thought of as an alternative to religious Baptisms or Christenings, a Child Welcoming ceremony can be both so much more and much less than those ceremonies. Child Welcoming ceremonies are secular or non-religious in nature. For couples and families who are not religious, they are a great way to celebrate the new addition to your family.

Child Welcomings most often include some or all of these elements:

  • Naming the child
  • Promises from the parents to the child
  • Naming of guideparents/mentors
  • Promises from the guideparents to the child
  • A ritual to symbolize welcoming to child to the family and community
  • A reading or story
  • A gift or remembrance of the day
A tree planting to celebrate a new child.

Rituals may include a tree planting in the child’s honor or notes and letters from attendees for the child to have as a keepsake. At a recent welcoming the parents had a puzzle made with pictures of each attendee with the child. During the ceremony the guests placed their pictures in the puzzle. As the child plays with the puzzle the story of the ceremony and the love of these important people in their life can be shared.

Practically, with a little one involved, the ceremony needs to be relatively brief. Fifteen to 20 minutes is about as long as you want it to last. You’ll want it to be casual, and if the child is mobile, expect they will be on the move during the ceremony. Child Welcoming ceremonies are usually held at home, with close family and maybe a few friends in attendance.

Working with a celebrant you can craft a fun, meaningful ceremony to celebrate the new child and the new roles for parents and siblings. Marking milestone moments in life in an authentic way is possible and limited only by your creativity and interest.

Making Your Wedding A Family Affair

 in Blended family / Ceremony / Weddings  tagged blended family / family ceremony / wedding by

Making your wedding a family affair can make it more special and meaningful if you have children either from this or previous relationships. Crafting moments that focus on you as a couple and the commitment you are making to each other in marriage and including your children in other aspects of your ceremony will create a memorable experience for you, your family and your guests.

There are myriad ways to involve your children in your wedding based on their age and interest level. Certainly flower girl, ring bearer, bridesmaid and groomsman are common roles for children to take, depending on their ages. Children can be readers, and ushers, too. A particularly meaningful way to include children of any age is to have them escort you up the aisle. In an upcoming wedding I’m working on both the bride and groom will be entering the ceremony space accompanied by their teenage children. This opens the wedding with a strong visual that the children support the marriage and are an integral part of the relationship.

A family ritual can be a powerful moment in your wedding ceremony when you celebrate the new family by inviting the children forward to join with you in a visual activity – a sand blending, flower blending, tree planting or other ritual. A recent article on Weddingbee offers some ideas for your consideration.

One word of caution regarding children from previous relationships. If the children (no matter their age) have a relationship with their other birth parent, it is important that the new family being recognized with their parent’s marriage not be viewed as trivializing or breaking the family relationship they have with their other parent. Families are created by love and take many forms. We can all be part of many families without one diminishing another. It is important to be sensitive to the feelings of children and their emotions during the wedding.

If you are bringing children into a new family unit with your marriage, celebrate fully by making your wedding a family affair.