Name giving Ceremonies give families a choice - it is a welcome to the community of family and friends, without necessarily involving a particular faith.

The celebration often begins with a little about the history of Name giving's, the role of Parents and Godparents/Guardians/Mentors. I ask everyone present, as your personal community, to join with the Godparents/Guardians/Mentors for the formal naming. This is followed by the presentation of Certificates to the child who has just been formally names; to the Godparents/Guardians/Mentors, and also to Grandparents if you wish.

To begin the planning, I offer you choices and suggest wording, and you are free to either choose from that, or simply let it be a guide, similar to planning your Marriage Ceremony. It is important that the words "feel" right for you, so the preparation is totally personal, and very adaptable. It is usually advisable to have a fairly short ceremony (approx 15-20 minutes) as there are often children among the guests, and if we try to keep them standing still for too long it can be a bit difficult! However I am quite happy to work with whatever length of ceremony you choose.

I offer a number of poems/readings from which I suggest you select at least two. Often, the Godparents present these to the gathering; you may wish to have someone else from the family present a reading, or I can do it for you.

When you have decided on the content of the ceremony, I put it all together into a service which I use to conduct the celebration.

To make this celebration more personal, there are various symbols we can incorporate - these could reflect family or cultural traditions, or something that you have decided will become a family tradition from now onwards!

Australia leads the way with this type of celebration. As a means of reflecting Australian life in the 21st century, I enter the details of Name giving ceremonies into my specially designed Naming Register. Very few Celebrants use a Naming register, but I like to keep a record of who I named and the date, time and ceremony location recorded. This register is not sent to any State or Federal department.

To prepare the various certificates, I need to obtain from you the following information:
. your child's full name
. date and place of birth
. names and birthplace of Parents
. names of Godparents/Guardians/Mentors
. Grandparents names if certificates are required for them
. venue for ceremony (contact me for suggestions)

My professional fee is a total, all-inclusive cost. I ask for a deposit to confirm your booking and hold the space in my diary, with the remainder due during the month prior to your ceremony. This fee covers
. Certificates for your child, Godparents and Grandparents
. a PA system so your guests can hear the ceremony, which is especially important in the outdoors
. Suggestions regarding venues
. ideas for symbolic inclusions
you are welcome to contact me on Email: rstanden@bigpond.net.au or phone  (02) 4625-1655   to discuss your plans and to obtain an obligation free quote.