Family Tradition: A Naming Ceremony for Bonnie

“Simone has officiated 3 of our life occasions, including our wedding and baby naming ceremonies. 
On each occasion, she has been a total pleasure and joy to work with. Her calm and relaxed manner have always made us feel so at ease. She has taken the time each step of the way to truly get to know us and what’s important to us. She is genuinely gifted and passionate about writing and personalising each ceremony to reflect our values. 
Her warmth and kindness has brought such a special touch to these important celebrations in our life and when we look back on them in the future, her presence and contribution will be remembered fondly. We couldn’t have imagined anyone else to mark these precious milestones with us. Thank you so much Simone.”

Claire and Patrick celebrated their wedding ceremony with a sand ceremony. Then for both daughters naming ceremonies added to their sand, to create a beautiful vessel representing the union of their family.

The sand ceremony is a very ancient tradition that was use to signify a bond that cannot be broken. Traditionally salt was used by both parties in a handshake. Once mixed, it could never be determined who owned which grains of salt, so the deal was everlasting.

Candles were list by the grandparents, who are keepers of the family lore and who laid the foundations on which little Bonnie’s life will be built. Then at the ceremony close, the newly appointed guardians took the flame from the family candles, and lit the centre candle, Bonnie’s candle.

Guests were gifted wild flower seeds.

Guest wrote well wishes for Bonnie’s future for her to open when she is 18.

Its a huge privilege to rejoin a family to celebrate significant milestones. Its made all the richer that Claire is a photographer who I have the absolute pleasure to work with too!

Claire Brown is a natural fine art wedding photographer https://www.studiobrown.ie/

Stay connected:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecivilcelebrant/
Pinterest: https://ie.pinterest.com/todayscelebrant/

Naming Ceremony Elements

Ceremony elements can be included in your ceremony, but it’s important to say, a ceremony is just as beautiful with no elements.

A quick search on Pinterest will provide endless options! Here are some ideas to get started!

Time Capsule – Family members collect significant objects and place them in a time capsule to be opened on a set date. 

Scrapbook – Family and friends are invited to write a message in a scrapbook; to bring photos of the parents when they were young, or bring their favourite song or poem. 

Tree Planting – Soil is collected from the grandparents gardens and added to a sapling, then the guardians water the soil as a symbol of the commitment to support the child as they grow. The tree is then planted in your place of choice.

Letter Box – Parents, family and friends write a letter to the child and they are secured in a box to open at a later date. The box can be secured with ribbons of significant meaning. 

Sand Ceremony – Different colour sands are mixed to symbolise the parent and guardians values and hope for the child’s future values. It represents inclusion of the new child into the family.

Hand Prints on Canvas – The child’s name is written in vinyl letters and stuck to a large canvas.  Family and friends use different coloured paints to make a hand print on the canvas.  When dry, the letters are removed and the child name will appear surrounded by family and friends!

Earth, Air, Fire and Water – Stones or glass pebbles are placed in a clear glass bowl or vase, to represent the earth, and water is then included. Sitting on the stones is a candle to represent fire. All guests blow the child a kiss, to represent air. The celebrant explains the meaning behind the different elements.

Fire – Vigorousness, zeal, enthusiasm, courage, decisiveness, power of creativity, daring 

Air – Vigilance, care-freedom, kind-heartedness, trusting nature, clarity, lightness, independency, dexterity, optimism, diligence, acuity, joy, smiling

Water – Understanding, placidity, mildness, trusting nature, devotion, mercy,  forgiveness, modesty, compassion.

Earth – Consistency, conscientiousness, perseverance, punctuality, caution, resistance, responsibility, carefulness, firmness, reliability, sobriety, ambition, respectfulness, matter-of-factness.

A Special Message from Olivia and Sami

We had the pleasure of having the wonderful Simone as our celebrant for our baby’s naming day ceremony. Even now after three years people still talk about the ceremony and how personal and intimate it was. Many of our guests had never attended a naming day before and they thought it was so beautiful and felt Simone had made it so personal and special for us as parents but also included our guests. Simone is truly gifted at what she does and we are so happy we found her and would highly recommend to any future parents you will not be disappointed! Thanks again Simone, Olivia and Sami