Christening present

eoghan104

Hi all,

I hope this is the best place to ask.

I have been asked to be Godfather to my friend's little girl. She is being christened next month.

What would be the best gift? Should I go sentimental or practical?! I was thinking a voucher for a nice baby shop like mamas and papas?

What would you appreciate as parents?

bee06

My sons godmother gave him money and a small token gift. His godfather gave him a GAA strip for my husbands county. Both were gratefully received. Honestly as long as you don’t get them something mad like a 6 foot teddy bear I’m sure they will be happy. A voucher sounds like a great idea. I’d personally prefer for somewhere like Smyths, Debenhams or marks and spencers.

If you wanted to give a small token gift a book would be lovely. I’d recommend the Adams cloud books.

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Hoboo

Newbridge Silver do some great gifts. I got my god daughter a piggybank, she'll have it for life and its timeless. And a great way to start her saving.

https://www.newbridgesilverware.com/en/Rhodium-Plate-Elephant-Money-Bank/m-1645.aspx

catrionanic

If I was godparent, I would probably put some money into a savings account for the child and then also give something small and sentimental for the child to look back on. Some of those Newbridge silverware christening mementos are lovely.

Our sons godfather got him his baptismal candle. It was personalised with his name and the date of the christening. And something we will always keep.

Ghekko

Prizebonds (you can buy for €25 upwards) and/or a keepsake as suggested (Newbridge) would be my choice. Prizebonds can be cashed in later if required and they may just be lucky to win a few euro along the way, though my sons have some for years and not a sniff of a win :-( Still, I live in hope.

js35

I’d also go with a keepsake such as a christening candle and maybe a voucher for somewhere like Smyths or Mothercare.
What age is the child? If she’s still a baby and going up a stage in a car seat for example a voucher as a pressie I’d say would go down a treat

eldamo

i got my goddaughter a pseudo personalised book
https://www.wonderbly.com/personalized-products/lost-my-name-book
just put in the kids name and they have a story that has two pages for each letter.

Really cute.

Had to get ones for my kids while I was at it.

And it's nice as a keepsake if you get the hardback ones with the storage box.

lazygal

I don't like keepsakes myself. Don't see the point.
The gifts we appreciated were practical clothes like babygros or vouchers.

Hoboo

lazygal wrote: »

I don't like keepsakes myself. Don't see the point.
The gifts we appreciated were practical clothes like babygros or vouchers.

Might as well be honest and say cash.

Toots

My husband was godfather to his nephew and got him his christening bracelet. For our children, the godmothers got them the christening bracelets - for my son, his godfather got him a lovely little newbridge moneybox. My daughter's godfather didn't even get her a card.

Dravokivich

I recently got my nephew a Pikachu for his christening.

appledrop

A voucher for clarkes for their first pair of shoes.

jlm29

As above, I wouldn’t buy a voucher for m&p. It might be a chore to use it, unless they need something like a cot or something.
If you’re buying a voucher, a shoe shop is a great idea, or tony kealys or somewhere if they do need a car seat in the future. Each of my kids got a silver money box for their christening for their christening from one godparent (conveniently, their other godparents gave them cash). All was appreciated!

pwurple

We got some nice blankets, and an engraved silver jewellery box was a lovely gift too.
There were some photo frames I think, but for us, they are still in boxes.


Prize bonds, god, avoid please. Very kind people gave us those too, and unfortunately I have been cursing the things ever since. A couple of them spelled the child's name differently to her name on birth cert, so I could not cash them in to put them in her savings account. We moved house, and again, I couldn't change the address on them, as the name was wrong. The ones I could change, I then couldn't cash in without sending in a letter and a form to change the address first. I didn't manage to get around to it, with small babies and illness, and other life stuff. We then moved house again and we lost the hard copy certificates in the move. I still had a record of the numbers, and a photo of them, but I couldn't claim them then without recent proof of address (of a place we didn't live), and proof of name (name was wrong). So basically, they make it so difficult to claim them, or change addresses, or correct the name, that those few hundred euro of prize bonds were about as useful as toilet paper. Un-claimable. Just give cash, or lodge to a savings account if you want to do that. Prize bonds, to my mind, are either a total swizz or a bureaucratic pain in the arse.

shesty

Christening gifts, I have done the following....
Wooden blocks with alphabet letters spelling out child"s name in a frame
Wooden stool with child's name on it.
A very nice baby book from this English company...Busy B.They do lovely ones.
Christening bracelet for a godaughter, cufflinks with initials on for a godson.
Individual wooden letters spelling out a child's name.
As a parent, I appreciated something like the above, or a Clarke's voucher or a silver music box.Maybe a photography session voucher if it's not prohibitive. I am not big on silver keepsakes myself, just dust gatherers to my mind.