Over the weekend, we celebrated the Naming Dedication of our beautiful baby girl, Fern Lucinda, with our closest family and friends. Despite the odd meltdown in the leadup from the event (planning/organisation stress coupled with severe sleep deprivation); the day was exactly what I dreamed it would be and more.
We never wanted a formal churchy affair, but definitely wanted some spiritual elements included. We opted to hold the ceremony at my parents in laws' home in Somersby on the Central Coast. Obsessive Avid gardeners, their 20 acre property looked stunning with splashes of Spring colour against a backdrop of mountains and the sea beyond.
The Minister who officiated our wedding ceremony 5 years ago conducted the Dedication, which we thought kind of brought things beautifully full circle. There was just the one reading, an edited version of 'Oh the Places You'll Go' by Dr Seuss. I searched the internet high and low for potential readings and couldn't find anything that wasn't terribly cheesy or just wasn't quite right. This poem/ book summed up what I wanted to say and even the Minister wanted a copy afterwards!
The theme for the Naming Dedication was 'butterflies' and originally I planned to stage a butterfly release, but the company I found in Sydney were extremely slack in responding my enquiries and I decided not to go ahead. Besides, I am not entirely convinced it is not a bit cruel to the butterflies to keep them enclosed in such a tiny space and then transport them to a foreign climate and environment. Nevertheless, we stuck to the butterfly theme with cakes, decorations, invitations... and then the kids discovered a corner of the paddock with literally hundreds of butterflies hovering around anyway -- who says God is only in church??
I was so happy with my butterfly cupcakes and the way they turned out. I was asked many times how we made them, I think they looked a whole lot more difficult than what they actually were! I also made some caramel mudcake cupcakes which we painted an 'f' onto as an alternative desert.
The double chocolate cookies I baked from a Nigella Lawson recipe went down a treat, in fact they were hoovered up before I had a chance to explain they were supposed to be taken home as favours!
As the venue was so lovely, I kept the decorations simple. I hung some pale pink Martha Stewart pom poms from the pergola above the tables, and decorated an old candelabra with some feux roses and nylon butterflies I bought inexpensively from Spotlight.
Fern's vintage inspired dress and headband were from Tea Princess... I was never really very inspired by traditional Christening gowns for several reasons including the cost and the fact that they wear them once for about an hour! Once I found this label I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for, just the right combination of sweet and whimsical. And Fern really did look like a little princess on her special day.
Fern is such a blessing to our lives, and brings us such joy and happiness. Congratulations on your Dedication, baby girl, we love you. xo