Civil Naming ceremony: General information for guidance only.
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A Civil Naming Ceremony is a very special way of celebrating the birth of your child and welcoming the new arrival into the family and the wider community. It is a non-religious ceremony which gives an opportunity to declare before family and friends, your promise to be as good a parent as you can, and for adult friends or relatives to confirm their special relationship with your child.
The Naming Ceremony is also an ideal way of creating family bonding for older children such as adoptive or step-children, to welcome them into their new extended family especially when there has been no such previous celebration.
A Naming Ceremony is a unique occasion for everyone to feel involved as they pledge their love and support for your child’s future development. Just like nominating a godfather and godmother at a christening, the parents can also nominate adults to support their child.
The family is at liberty to write their own Naming Ceremony and include whatever texts, readings and poems they wish. People hired for such occasions will usually be able to suggest a wide choice of selected readings to suit the event. It is usual for some souvenir certificate or record to be presented to the family.
Being non-religious, a Naming Ceremony is completely independent of beliefs and cultural or ethnic backgrounds. As such a Naming Ceremony can be arranged by any parent.
A Naming Ceremony can be held wherever the parent or parents wish; at home, in a hall, by arrangement at a register office etc.
Parents should take note that neither a Naming Ceremony nor any souvenir certificate or record issued nor any nominated supporting adult has any legal status. Any souvenir certificate or record does not supersede an official Birth Certificate or Adoption Certificate.
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