baby welcoming

Welcome to the Family

 in Baby Welcoming / Celebration / Personalized Ceremony / Rituals / Welcoming Ceremony  tagged baby naming ceremony / baby welcoming / child welcoming / humanist ceremony / naming ceremony by

“Welcome to the Family” is a phrase that takes on new meaning when you gather family and close friends to celebrate a new child. I recently had the opportunity to offer two very special Child or Baby Welcoming Ceremonies. I’ve worked with both families to welcome their firstborn children previously, and was invited to celebrate new additions to each family.

These Welcoming ceremonies are a great way for non-religious families to celebrate new additions to their families. For some families a Christian baptism or christening, Jewish bris or Islamic aqiqah isn’t appropriate. A humanist Welcoming Ceremony may be the perfect fit.

Celebrating and welcoming a new baby to the family.
Welcoming a new baby

A Welcoming Ceremony gathers family and close friends together as a casual but significant way to say, “Welcome to the family.” The ceremony itself is co-created by the parents and the celebrant. It includes anything the family wants, but the following elements are common:

  • Sharing the significance of the name chosen for the child.
  • Parent promises identifying the priorities they have as they raise the child.
  • Naming of Guideparents or Mentors to be a positive, continuing presence in the child’s life.
  • Recognition of the role for grandparents, older siblings, and/or extended families.
  • A ritual that may result in a memento of the ceremony that can be shared with the child in the coming years.
Props for a Child Welcoming Ceremony
Items used for a Child Welcoming Ceremony

The rituals are often the most memorable as they can allow all the guests to offer their own welcome to the family. A water and wishing stones ritual invites guests to imbue a small stone with their wishes for the baby’s future. The stones are dropped into a bowl of water. The resulting ripples represent the impact the guest can have on the child’s life. An alternative ritual involves guests bringing letters they have written to the child sharing their hopes and dreams for them as they grow. The letters are collected in a binder to be shared with the child when they are older. An interesting addition to this ritual is the creation of a family puzzle with pictures of each guest. The child can play with the puzzle in just a few years and be told the story of the Welcoming Ceremony.

Water ritual at a Baby Welcoming Ceremony
Water and Wishing Stones Ritual

Welcome to the family ceremonies can be personalized to address each family’s situation. They can be held indoors or out. They can include a meal and socializing following the ceremony. Since the little one is the guest of honor, it is best to keep the ceremonies brief and casual, and schedule them at the time of day when they are most likely to be in good spirits.

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.

Creativity in the time of COVID-19

 in Ceremony / COVID-19 / Memorial services / Weddings  tagged baby welcoming / creative ceremonies / memorial service / weddings by

“Creativity in the time of COVID-19” is one of the ways 2020 will be remembered. Celebrating and honoring important moments in life is a universal need, and many traditions have grown up around that need. We honor the birth of a child, a couple joining in marriage, and the death of a loved one. All of the ceremonies, celebrations and memorials that help us recognize those important moments in life are being turned upside down due to the pandemic ravaging our country right now.

Even in the midst of the limitations on gatherings and stay at home orders we’re living under in Minnesota, people are exercising their creativity in the time of COVID-19. You may have heard of using technology like Zoom or Facetime to allow guests to participate in weddings and memorial services. With these tools your loved ones are able to view and hear the ceremonies of celebration and remembrance from the safety of their own homes.

Some people have found other ways to modify traditions to fit current restrictions. There is a story about a funeral home offering drive by visitation, complete with flowers and a box for cards. The final line of this article mentions that there will be a celebration of life planned when we are able to gather again.

Family and friends are finding ways to honor couples choosing to keep their wedding dates, too. This example of healthcare workers taking time to celebrate with a colleague and make their day a bit more special is especially touching knowing the stress and workload the workers are experiencing.

I encourage anyone facing the challenges of a wedding, welcoming or memorial service to exercise your own creativity in the time of COVID-19 and make plans to recognize your milestones as best you can during these difficult times. Remember that there will be opportunities for receptions, memorial services and gatherings of all kinds in the future. They will be even more significant when we can gather with friends and loved ones to recognize the milestone moments in our lives.