Christening Gifts

The baptism is one of the most important events in a person's life, whether he or she will be christened as a baby or as an adult. The idea of giving christening gifts dates back to the time when Jesus Christ was born, and the magi came and presented Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh as their offering. Since then, it has been a tradition in a lot of Christian denominations to give presents to a baby when he or she goes through baptism.

Before you choose unique christening gifts for the person's baptism, you will first need to determine his or her age. As already mentioned, a person can be baptized either as a child or as an adult, depending on the Christian denomination he or she belongs to, so choose a gift that will be appropriate for his or her age. You will also need to consider the religious affiliation of the person, because there are certain gifts that will only be appropriate for certain churches and not for others, like rosaries.

Gifts traditionally given for a person's baptism are religious in nature.

Traditional Christening Gifts

The Bible is a traditional gift that can be somewhat modified. For example, a Family Bible can be given to the child. Aside from containing the books and verses of a traditional Bible, a Family Bible will contain the person's genealogy. What can make this present even better is if the Family Bible has been passed on from generation to generation, to give an even more personalized feel to the gift.

Another traditional christening gift is of silver. The more common present containing this material is the Apostle spoon, which contains a picture of the apostles engraved on the handle of the utensil. You can veer away from the traditional approach and give other gifts that, while also made of silver, are not spoons, such as bracelets, necklaces, and other accessories.

If you don't want to follow the traditional approach of christening gifts, you have a wider array of items to choose from. Gift giving for baptism is no longer as strict as it used to be, and you can actually give baptism presents that you would normally give during birthdays, like toys, clothes, furniture, or CDs. Aside from these, you also have other unique gift items that you can choose from.

For example, there are companies now that offer photographs as christening gifts, with the image portraying a gorgeous shot taken on the day that the baby was born. An inscription can even be made to reflect a special message to the recipient by the giver.

Another unique gift item can be a time capsule. A collection of items, from the time the child was born up to his or her baptism can be buried, with instructions that the box or capsule be opened after a certain period of time (e.g. 20 years). That way, the person will be able to see the special items that he or she received when he or she was still a baby.

By far, the most popular christening gifts are personalized name bracelets. Not only can they be made of silver, as tradition would demand, but they are also tailor-made for the person who will go through baptism.

Choosing christening gifts can be a fun and challenging venture. Choose the right presents for the baptism so that the recipient will be able to treasure it even later on in life.