How to plan a Naming Ceremony

We had our baby's Naming Ceremony in our parlour/living room, hubby & i handled the planning. I knew i wanted us to do something small because i wasn't up for the stress of throwing a big party (it's also not my style). The Naming Ceremony is typically done Seven (7) days after delivery but this can vary depending on your culture and church denomination. You may want to discuss with your spouse and parents while pregnant to know what applies in order for you to make the necessary preparations.

We had only 5 days to put things together for ours due to the time baby spent in the NICU (read my TMI Labor & Delivery Story) before we were discharged. My advice is to plan the basics ahead and decide on any vendors then finalize all arrangements after baby is delivered.

We planned for 30 guests (including friends) and used this number to make all our prep. We spoke with our pastor and agreed on having the ceremony by 10:00am. We informed her grandparents, aunties and uncles that were in town and a few friends (we told our friends to come in the evening though).

Things to do:

• Inform your pastor and agree on a time for the naming ceremony
• Invite guests
• Make arrangement for Refreshments (Small chops, food, water and drinks) based on your estimated no. of guests (have extras for people that bring +1s) 
• Get an outfit for baby (i had gotten a white gown and white shawl before having baby)
• Get an outfit for yourself (the parents)- i had my tailor make me an outfit when i got back from the hospital and hubby wore a white traditional attire he had. I did my makeup myself.
• Type out Baby's names and cut out several strips of the names (this will be distributed to guests). You can have someone design and print this for you, i did this myself and i printed it at home.
• Type Baby's names and the meaning for the pastor to use during the naming of the baby.
• If you having the ceremony in your Parlour/Living room like we did, it's good to have supplementary power supply (Generator, Inverter, etc.). You can have someone design and print this for you, i did this myself and i printed it at home.
• Get a photographer or designate someone to take pictures and make videos during the event. 
• Have your Parlour/Living room cleaned and dusted and you may want to rearrange your furniture to have more space or get extra chairs depending on your no. of guests.

We bought water and drinks and refrigerated them, i got a caterer to make Jollof rice and peppered chicken, she put them into 30 packs with spoons and serviettes and gave us the rest in a big cooler. We also ordered small chops which we served to friends who came in the evening with drinks.

The naming ceremony started around 10:00am and we were done by 12:00pm. 

The programme went as follows:

• Opening Prayer
• Praise and Worship
• Sermon
• Naming of the Baby
• Praying for the Baby
• Praise & Collection of Offering (the money was given to us to keep for baby)
• Closing Prayer

We took pictures afterwards, food and drinks were distributed to guests and we exchanged pleasantries before guests took their leave. Only the grandparents and family stayed till evening before leaving.

Baby slept throughout the naming ceremony, i got some sleep afterwards as well. We tidied the house and took out the trash before our friends arrived in the evening. Some of them got packs of rice while others had small chops and drinks for refreshment.
The house was rearranged and tidied when everyone had left in the evening, we refrigerated leftover refreshments, took out the trash and went back to our regular routine.

Some cultures and churches do baby's naming & dedication and baptism after 3 months so find out what applies to you so you are not caught unawares. You can always tweak my recommendations in this post to plan your specific 'baby event' regardless of the date it will be held.

I'll do a post on how we collated all baby's names, if you are yoruba you know the deal, everyone wants to give baby a name. lol

Toodles!XooX

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