We do not attend church. I object to many significant aspects of the Catholic faith. I decided against sending Luca to a Catholic school because of all that God talk.
So it probably takes another non-practising Catholic to understand why the hell we would bother with a baptism for our children.
For the record, I do not believe non-christened babies go to hell.
But there is something about the ritual and tradition of the ceremony that both Bren and I feel is important. Part of that tradition is Father Bob - the priest who baptised me as well as both boys. So you can imagine how heartbroken I was when, at the eleventh hour, he had to pull the pin for health reasons.
In his place, he sent Father Kevin and though Father K was mystified as to why we would hold the ceremony in the back yard and not in the church, he did a great job.
Formally announcing the Godparents is also a meaningful part of the celebration for us. We chose carefully for Harlow - Bren's brother, Drew, who we knew would take the role seriously, and my cousin, Kitty, who we knew would pass on designer shoes some day.
And more than anything, it was a chance to celebrate our sweet baby daughter with all the people we care about in this world. Most of them, anyway.
The formal part of the celebration went well although after a rather awkward pause, Father K was heard to enquire whether anyone was, in fact, following the program he had provided. I may have mumbled an "Amen" at this point as nine times out of ten, this is the correct answer.
There was also the matter of singling out the smokers in the crowd in order to light the candle and I thoroughly confused Father K when he discovered all four vintage tea cups placed on the table in front of him were empty of water. I hurried to a tap to fill one up for blessing, and skipped the explanation about shabby chic and vintage tea party aesthetics. I felt like that might have been his breaking point.
The little star of the day was just that - a star. In all the excitement, she did not nap and barely ate and yet she was going strong until well into the afternoon.
My gorgeous friend, Stevie, took the pics. He has taken photos for me at a couple of occasions and each time, in amongst all his amazing pics will be a shot of his beautiful wife taken from afar. It's a bit romantic.
Yes, I got anxious. Very anxious, in fact, just before the guests were due to arrive. So there I was, face down on my bed, with my lovely friend who doubles as my chiro attempting to "switch off" the panic. It worked. Thank you, Gill! God bless you for arriving a smidge early.
It's possible I need to step away from Pinterest. And though my little attempt is a far cry from the styled events you see everywhere these days, I feel like it all worked.
Photography by Steve Young ©
In the next week, I'll do a follow up post about how I put the event together - all the DIY stuff, food and some more detailed dress pics. Important!
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