Naming in Cullercoats Bay, © Joanna Bates

Why I Offer Naming Ceremonies

If you’d like to celebrate the arrival of a new child or creation of a new family, and to share all the joy, fun and emotions of the occasion, then I may be able to help.

My name is Victoria Bainbridge, I am a mum to twins and I specialise in offering Humanist Naming Ceremonies.  I do this because when my girls were born I wanted to celebrate their new little lives, and we wanted to formally welcome them into our circle of family and friends.  I felt that this was an important rite of passage.  We don’t go to Church so wouldn’t have them Christened, but do believe in kindness, conviviality and the value of having a loving and ethical network around our girls.  The ceremony gave us a huge sense of comfort and allowed us to thank the generations before us as we move onto caring for the next.  It also left us with stories and smiles to share as the girls grow up.

This was an experience I’d now like to offer to you.

Sounds nice – what will actually happen?

Whatever you want, within reason!  Naming Ceremonies take place all over the world in all sorts of different ways, be they vibrant, mellow, quirky, sweet.  Lots of people appoint guideparents, make parental commitments, have a symbolic act and invite friends and family to stay afterwards to eat, drink and make memories!

The ceremonies I conduct will generally last about 20 minutes and can take place in your home, a kids café, hotel or anywhere you’d like really.  You’ll tell me about the things that are important to you and your family and I’ll weave that into a story to tell on the day.  We aim for a lot  laughter and maybe the odd tear.  Life is like that.

I love music and the sea so we incorporated a lot of singing into our ceremony and dipped our babies’ toes in the sea. In preparing for your ceremony, we will talk about your ideas and my experience of ceremonies, and ensure we hit the tone you want.

Next steps for you?

I’m an accredited mentor for other Celebrants in the North East so have a good idea of what’s possible.  I offer a service that can range from writing and conducting to your ceremony, to project managing the whole event.   I have organised large events for Durham University and Newcastle University, and know that after my girls were born I appreciated all the help I could get!

If you’d like to chat further about non-religious Naming Ceremonies in and around Newcastle, please get in touch.  We can have an initial discussion by phone or Skype, then meet up to discuss in more detail the kind of ceremony you would like.  From there we will work the script up together and finalise the flow of the ceremony.  On the day, you will sit back, beam and experience a profound and celebratory event to remember forever.