Christening Gift Giving

Little Princess Charlotte's recent christening inspired me to share something I learned from a beloved etiquette grandam, Elsa Maxwell. Is anyone obligated to give anything at a christening? If you've ever wondered about this, especially if you were invited to the christening ceremony but not the baby shower, Elsa has the simple answer.

According to tradition the only people obligated to present the baby with a gift is the godparents. Of which Elsa says baby girls have two sets of godmothers and one godfather and little boys have the reverse although there can actually be as many as the parents would like. Each presents the baby with a gift of something either for the future (e.g. college fund, bonds) or that's useful for the moment such as the Amish rocking chair and personalized Alpaca baby blanket Princess Charlotte received from first lady Michelle Obama.

The antique 19th century christening gown above can be found here.

For more in the series of gift giving do's and don't's of etiquette see the gift giving etiquette section over here. Favorite etiquette books for further reading can be found here.

Image: courtesy Mary Beth Hale