It only seemed fitting to make our little ray of sunshine’s Christening celebration a bright theme. Daisies are as happy-making as you can get and I am a sucker for florals!
This was a super speedily planned celebration in February, as we tried to find a date that suited all our family, friends and the church.
The only spot available was our wedding anniversary, exactly 7 years from the day we married. The same priest from our wedding was Christening Alexandra too. Just perfect.
Now in hindsight of course, we feel very thankful that we could celebrate this day all together, at all.
I quickly set a theme and turned my mind to the essentials. What will Andie wear!? Ha. I found her the dress of dreams from Stellina Couture. She wore my Christening pin and evil eye (it’s traditional to be given one at a Greek Orthodox Christening and I still have all my trinkets) plus a little sprig from our ceramic wedding crowns.
*Yes I’m wearing a daisy dress too. Not surprised, right?*
Andie had a few outfit changes! The daisy dress was her wear-it-to-the-church outfit and then after the ceremony she wore her Godmother’s Christening gown.
I KNOW! So special. So cute. So didn’t ever want to take her out of it. The gown was handmade by Andie’s Godmother’s mum. Her Godgrandma.. is that a thing? Anyway, Lyn had created it for her first-born daughter, using fabric from her mother-in-law. Amazing.
After the beautiful church service (Greek Christenings are my absolute fave) it was back to our home.
We booked some giant games for the garden to entertain the little kids ranging from 3 to 11 years old. There was giant chess at our wedding so it was fun to bring that back and we pulled out the yellow tables and chairs from our wedding cocktail hour too. Side note: I found them at Masters Home Improvement (remember them?) for around $40 a set and I swear they’ve been used about 15 times in the past 7 years. All our family and friends have borrowed them. Cost per use, one of the best purchases we’ve ever made. So random and fun.
I hired a mesh wall and made giant cardboard daisies (they had little wire hooks at the back) to create a bit of a feature wall/ photo background spot. It was quick and easy to pop out the morning of the party and this is a seriously simple DIY you can do for any at-home party.
I turned to my fave Poppy’s Pantry to make us a delicious grazing table that had plenty of food for grown ups and kids alike. And I couldn’t resist daisy plates and leaf napkins from Invite Me, because #themeforlife.
Poppy also made the beautiful daisy cake. Isn’t it the sweetest?!
I framed Christening photos from mine, my husband’s and Andie’s Godparents special days. It was a lovely talking point, especially with so many family members there to reminisce. The best part was, Andie wore her Godmother’s gown, so we had photos of the dress when it was originally worn too.
This pretty laser cut floral bunting is from Kmart – only $3.50 for 3 metres – which jazzed our patio in minutes.
As the celebration was later in the arvo we put ‘join us for coffee and cake’ on the invitation. I know, all the food above, right! When Greeks say ‘coffee and cake’ they mean that and tons of other food. Ha ha.
Regardless, I had to deliver on my promise. So I hired the CUTEST coffee ‘cart’ ever called Caffettiera Carts. It’s a little pink Suzuki van with a tray on the back, fully equipped to make delicious coffee of all kinds. They can also supply desserts.
For take home favours, we had tiny bunches of blooms along with daisy seed packets and little lolly bags for the kiddos. Simple and easy to make at home and if you’re now planning a celebration away from loved ones, you could send or post to them after the day.
All in all, it was a glorious day of sunshine, smiles and the sound of kids laughing. Grateful for these memories… an understatement.
NOTE: I know it’s so very hard not to be celebrating the way we usually do at the moment. Especially with Easter this weekend. Know that joy can be found in the most intimate of gatherings and we’re all just a smart phone screen away from each other! So let’s still decorate our houses, then Facetime or Zoom, laugh and cheers from a distance this year. Because big events might be cancelled, but our party spirit is still strong!
