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I Planned DW’s Baptism Because I Got Bored

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christ the king baptistry

DW's baptism - 03.28.09

When I was still heavy with DW, Saturday was my check-up day. My OB is like a hit movie — pinipilahan sa takilya. No matter how early I come in, there’s always at least 10 other expectant moms in front of me at the queue.

I finally got tired of playing games on my phone when I thought of scribbling plans for DW’s baptism.  I was on my 7th or 8th month then and I figured that I might as well plan ahead because I know I won’t have time to when DW’s already out and about.

Godfathers and Fairy Godmothers

We started with DWs godparents. We kinda went overboard so DW ended up with around 14 ninongs and ninangs.  I wrote all their names down in my notebook by hand.  Truth be told, 14 was already an edited list. Our criteria for choosing the ninongs and ninangs? Our faith that in the event that something happens to us that DW will be left to people who will love him and look after him because if they don’t mumultuhin namin sila! *boo!*

godparents

The Church

BDW and I wanted a church that would be accessible to both our families in the North and South. So Pasig and San Juan were good choices. We originally wanted to book Santuario De San Jose (SSJ) in Greenhills because that’s where BDW and I got married. However, we planned the baptism on Saturday and we didn’t want our guests to have trouble looking for parking spaces, which SSJ especially on a wedding saturday sorely lacks.

So the next best choice and the winner was Christ the King at Greenmeadows. It’s a huge church with an even bigger parking lot! Their baptistry is found at the ground floor of the church.  Common/Group baptisms are done at the small chapel where families share in the ceremony. You can also reserve the small baptistry for your own exclusive use.

with everyone in the baptistry

at the small baptistry

Tokens for the Grandparents, Ninongs and Ninangs

I ordered the Ivy Crosses online from Papemelroti. Papemelroti has a wide selection of tokens to choose from all of which can be personalized. I’ve always been a fan of Papemelroti eversince they opened their first store at Ali Mall. Transacting with them online was veeery easy. I just deposited the payments at a BPI branch and picked up the crosses at their Roces branch two weeks before the baptism. Best of all, their tokens are very affordable.

tokens for the ninongs and ninangs by papemelroti

Venue

Next up the venue. We booked the Acropolis clubhouse right away. It’s just a few minutes drive from Christ the King and the clubhouse is well maintained.  The clubhouse can also hold up to 250 guests.

acropolis clubhouse

A great online resource I stumbled upon when I was planning for DW’s baptism is http://venues.multiply.com – this site is regularly updated with all the clubhouses and restaurants that one can book for ANY event. It’s a free resource and each album has contact details. Some of the rates are not recent but at least you’ll have more or less an idea of how much to spend.  This site is a godsend to people like me who’ve practically planned the biggest events in my life online.

Caterer

Our criteria for the caterer is that it shouldn’t be expensive, the food must be good (and that we’ve tried before) and the set-up must be elegant. All three we found in Centertable. BDW and I became huge fans of this caterer after feasting on their dishes at a good friend’s wedding reception. The best sellers are the Parmesan Encrusted Dory, Roast beef and Vongole. We’re getting them again for DW’s first birthday. They also have specially themed set-ups for baptisms. We chose the bears and blocks theme. The bears wore bibs and the bibs had DW’s name written on them. It was such a cute detail!

Centertable_Baptismal Mosaic

Cupcakes as Souvenirs

We decided to give cupcakes to the guests as tokens so they’d have a yummy reminder of the day. We were also thinking of a practical souvenir and you can never really go wrong with edibles. So, we ordered cupcakes from  Yummy Piece of Cake by Yumi Castrillo.  Yumi created blue and brown cupcakes with blocks and bear toppers for DW. I ordered an 8 inch cake to top the tower. The cupcakes already came in boxes that the guests took home (by the armful for some!)

cupcakes for the guests

Invites

I made DW’s invites!!! I used powerpoint and word for these and downloaded the images online 🙂 I had them printed at YooPrints (they’re inside National Bookstore Glorietta) for Php1.00 per invite. I had 50 pcs made and also made gift tags with the same mobile images. We bought generic linen envelopes at National and gave them to our guests.

DIY invites :P

Decors

Decors were our last priority and we only hired one when we figured that there was still room in our budget for one. After canvassing a number of supplier, we hired Apple Cable of Yanple, who did an amazing job of livening up the clubhouse that’s within our budget with drapes, balloon drops and balloon pillars.

drop balloons from yanple

Last but not least, the Photographer

Ging Lorenzo is an in-demand photographer who’s a favorite among the moms of newlyweds@work. Go to her blog and see why. She’s amazing with kids!  We booked her really early on when we started planning for the baptism knowing how she’s always busy with weddings, family shoots and whatnot.

For DW’s baptism, we received two DVDs of pictures, 30 printed pics of her picks and an 8×10 frame! I have yet to choose pics for DW’s album and for our frame though (nakow!)

Ging took our portraits and some very candid shots of DW on his big day 🙂

DW_mosaic

All the pics in this post were taken by Ging.

I really enjoyed planning DW’s baptism eventhough I miscounted and thought that the day of his baptism was his 3rd month (4th na pala!). More than anything, the day was a chance for me and BDW to thank the good Lord for blessing our family with our bugoy. It was also great to see friends gather round to celebrate the little one. Also, for me at that time, it was just great to be out! Haha!

If you have any questions about any of the suppliers here please leave a comment  and I’ll get back to you right away.

Oh for documents, Christ the King needs the kid’s birth certificate and the marriage certificate of the parents (which to me is unfair because what if the kid was born out of wedlock? hmm?!)

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Comments

  2. Thank you for this post. I’m about to plan for my baby’s baptismal and I don’t know where to start. Thank you thank you!!!!

    Reply

  3. Hey! I’m planning din for my baby’s baptism this December. I just want to ask if it is okay to have a not-so-usual theme for my baby’s baptism. Say…sporty theme? 🙂

    Reply

    • hi maye! you can be creative with your son’s baptismal reception and not be limited with the usual themes. i think sporty is a fun theme to work with! good luck with the planning 🙂

  4. Hi mga mommies,I planning to baptized my daughter in Christ the king but I don’t know where the best and good reception near the church,help me….thanks

    Reply

  5. Hi, how much was your overall budget for this type of baptismal? and how much is the caterer? do we have to be village homeowners to be able to rent acropolis? thank you so much. I am having a hard time planning my son’s baptism…

    Reply

    • hi czarlene –

      i planned the baptismal reception in 2009 so I’m pretty sure the rates have changed na since then. you may want to call centertable for their new rates and packages. when we were planning the reception our main focus on food really. the decors came last when we had still some left and we only ordered balloons. for acropolis yep, you have to be a resident or know a resident to use the clubhouse.

    • Thanks so much for your reply!:) Though, we don’t know anyone from acropolis. haha! we’ve been looking for a good place to celebrate Cloud’s christening for a few months now. I thinks its really hard to plan a party! This is a good read btw, I contacted yummypieceofcake’s!

  7. Hi Mommy,

    Good Day, ask ko lang po. how much yung package ng cupcakes na nakuha nio po kay Ms. Yumi? Nice & informative site po. 🙂 thanks po!

    Reply

  8. Good day! I would like to ask about the candles Te godparents are holding. Did you make them yourself? How did you make the ribbon stick to the candle?

    Thanks:?

    Reply

  9. hi kip! the invites are about 3×5 inches only or the size of large index card. It was really cheap because I did the layout and design and I just asked the printer to print the copies out on good paper. Find a printer who can do colored photocopies, that could come out cheaper for you too 😀

    As for your birth certificate, ask your church if the orig true copy is ok and then to follow na lang yung NSO certified. We had DW baptized when he was 4 months old so we were able to submit the NSO certified copy already.

    Good luck with your preps!

    Reply

  10. hi, really nice and informative post 🙂 question, what’s the size of your invites? I cant believe they’re only P1.00! Also, what birth certificate did u submit? Just gave birth and it will take a month or 2 pa daw to get the orig true copy from st luke’s, but they gave us one copy without the registered number yet upon discharge…would that suffice? Thanks!

    Reply

  11. sowwiiii for the 1st post. Can i have the package of Yanapple decors. Im looking for a decors for my baby’s christening ang 1st birthday na din. Sabay na para tipid. Hehehe….. Many thanks…..

    Reply

    • Hi Mariel! Apple doesn’t have packages naman, you can pick and choose the decors you want based on your budget. I suggest you contact Apple na lang and let her know what you need for the party. She can work with any budget naman.

      Thanks and good luck with the planning!

  13. hi ms. neva.. just wondering how much all in all yung nagastos nio for DW’s baptism.. 🙂 i’m planning to have my son’s baptism dis December kc. so i;m starting to browse sa net for some ideas and then i stumbled on ur site. i really liked ur tips, even ung ideas nio on DW’s 1st bday. 🙂 pwede po ba e-mail mo na lng s’kin if confidential yung hinihingi ko info. thanks!

    Reply

  14. Hi neva, i like this post. I never though you such a planning fanatic hahaha imagine, baptism planning while still pregnant!

    FYI for unwed parents, Christ the King doesn’t make a fuzz bout the marriage certificate requirement 😀

    We just brought Soleil’s birth certificate.

    Reply

    • hi goldie! haha thanks 😀 i was bored and i thought that i wouldn’t have time to plan when DW’s out na. so i finished most of the planning right away hehe 😀

      thanks for the first hand tip on the marriage certificate requirement for christ the king!

    • hi tet! 🙂 hehe ok talaga yooprints, nagulat talaga ako sa binayad ko sa kanila haha!

      @jones – thanks! dw’s still sick though, nahawa kasi sa lolo e hehe

  18. onga! binilhan siya ng teeny little inflated gym ng lola niya sa west! don na lang kaya tayo magplaydate para malapit? or pwede naman we lug everything to your house – as long as Pao and Dan are ready with their pumps! (for the pool and the little gym!!!)

    Reply

  20. Shet salamat for this post! Scrambling around preparing for Laz’s first bday. We want to get the acro clubhouse rin – it’s cheap ha and spacious!!!! ang ganda ng picture mo of the Papemelroti souvenir! it was indeed soooo nice! we hung it above Laz’s crib in our room!

    Reply

  21. *clap clap clap*! ang galing naman! hehehe! 🙂 ako naman i planned dwayne’s baptism during my LMAT – just when i thought i was gonna have post partum depression because i was so stressed with my exclusive breastfeeding challenge LOL 😛 kamusta na party preps ni dw? 🙂

    Reply

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