What happens at a Welcoming ceremony?

The ceremony can be either formal or informal – the choice is yours.

All welcoming ceremonies have seven essential parts:

• Welcome and introduction
• Reading (optional)
• Welcome/naming of the child (or children)
• Parents’ personal promises
• Personal promises of supporting adults
• Signing of the certificate
• Closing words

Parents can also choose to add any of the following:

• Reasons for the names
• Reference to absent family and friends
• Presentation of a gift to the child
• Further readings

There are many ways in which you can make your child’s ceremony a very personal and unique event.

It may, at first, seem daunting to design your own special ceremony but help and assistance will be provided.  Once you have booked your ceremony with us you will be issued with a ceremony pack where you can make your ceremony choices and you can, if you wish, include special music, poetry and readings.

On the day of the ceremony parents and guests can gather at the venue in the room or area that has been chosen for the ceremony or they can make a formal entrance with their child, perhaps to some special music.

A Celebrant, provided by Kent County Council, will welcome everyone and explain about the ceremony.  He/she will then lead the parents through the ceremony and the various choices that they have made.

This will be done in easy stages and parents and supporting adults who are taking part should not be worried that they have to learn their promises or readings in advance.  The promises will just need to be repeated by those taking part after the Celebrant has said them.

The Celebrant will close the ceremony with a presentation of a commemorative certificate recording the special occasion.