Dear Mommy Lace,
I happened by your blog post regarding your son Ashton’s baptism as I was searching for baptism reception program ideas on the internet. I was hoping if you could please supply us with an outline of the reception program you had. My best friend is preparing for her daughter’s baptism on November 6th and she’s asking me to help her with the program. We are both used to the usual reception where eating, picture taking and chatting are all that’s taking place. She has been to some baptisms lately and she was surprised at how innovative and fun they were. I was hoping if you could also suggest some games that we could have the guests play at the reception. – Ayesha
Hi! Ayesha,
The baptism program I had was very impromptu but here are a few tips to make your baptism party fun without so much hassle:
1. Get volunteers – I asked for my friend Sai to host the party after the baptism ceremonies. That way, my host knew most of the guests which were also our friends and easily threw in adlibs and greetings.
Our host, Sai with contestants on the Q&A game – Ronald Guanzon, Mike Abundo, and Vic Yap
2. Get some performers – I know there are lots of singers amidst our family and friends. Ashton’s godparent, Jori sang for us three songs during the program. It was the best idea for me because having someone sing entertains the guests and sets the mood of the party. Jori sang Josh Groban songs and I will be here by Gary V.
3. Sounds are everything – for a program to be successful, you need a good sounds system. You can either use your own components/karaoke at home but if you are holding the party at a different venue, Media Monsters offer packages as low as Php 2,500 for a simple sounds system. This is the package I got and their service was great and very helpful. You can email them a list of songs you want or even songs that would be performed during the event. They will download the minus-one’s for you and load it automatically to their machines. Visit them at http://mediamonsters.multiply.com/, they are the best buy out there.
4. Games – bring me is the simplest yet most enjoyable game you can have during the party. Ask guests to bring to the front baby pictures or simple items that are readily available. Do not give tasks that are too hard, make it easy for your guests to win.
– I also had Q&A games where we asked questions like the exact birthdate of our son. Have a list of guests that you think are game and would quickly rise to the occasion 🙂
– If you have time, maybe you can put stickers under the chairs of your guests and whoever has the lucky sticker, say your baby’s face printed on it, will win something special.
5. Blessings and awarding of tokens – I asked Sai to call upon the godparents to give their message to Ashton, this is done in between games. Award your special tokens to the godparents after each message.
That’s my simple program! Depending on the preparation time, you can do more and be more creative. For the prizes, one of our friends, Jonel, sponsored some of them and awarded the early birds 🙂
Again I would like to thank Josiah’s Catering and Lancaster Hotel for making everything possible. If not for them, I won’t have time to create a simple program for Ashton’s baptism.
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