I promise to love and cherish all the children in my care for the rest of my life.

Naming ceremonies are a lovely family service to welcome new additions to a community. They can also be a special way to introduce adopted or stepchildren into a new family group. Naming ceremonies can be held for any age child, from new babies to older additions. I write each service individually, including personal details and stories that are meaningful to your family.

For those parents who are not members of a religious tradition, a Naming ceremony offers the opportunity to make solemn promises to a child without a specific welcome into a Christian or other religious community. You can include significant adults who you want to play a part in the child's life as they grow, who will commit to supporting them in the same way that godparents traditionally do in a church ceremony.

Wider family members are often brought into the Naming Ceremony. Often, grandparents are keen to make their own welcome statements and publicly state the love, care and support that they will give to the child throughout their life. It is an ideal opportunity to involve other siblings, I can help them to write their own promises or comments and support them on the day.

I will meet with you to talk about the type of ceremony that you would like me to write for you. Often, parents are keen to include some inspirational quotes or poems, these can be from children's stories or a wide range of other sources that are relevant to the family. Significant adults are often keen to write their own pledges to the child. I can provide as much support as is needed to create these. If required, I can read them on behalf of the sponsors, since not everyone is comfortable with public speaking.

I have lots of ideas for symbolic rituals and symbols which can be incorporated into the ceremony, having their roots in a number of different traditions. These can provide a visual focus to the event and provide a positive talking point afterwards.

I am able to provide two options for Naming Ceremonies. Firstly, I offer the Full service, which includes the whole package of discussion, ceremony creation and my complete delivery and coordination on the day. For smaller occasions or more limited budgets, I have the Simple Package, where I would create the speeches with the same amount of care but the delivery on the day would be organised by yourselves.

After the ceremony, I will provide you with a souvenir presentation copy of the ceremony and promises to treasure and cherish forever.