OT...Catholic baptism

[ElizaB39]

I think what you are doing and buying for the baby is a wonderful gift! In our family, my dd wore my families (made from my mother's wedding gown) and my ds wore by dh's grandfather's (a beautiful antique - i ripped the material at the back by the buttons; but don't tell, MIL doesn't know).

I have been a gp three times and never bought anything but a nice religious gift for my godchild. I also get them special gifts on significant religious occasions.

 

[Chris]

In our family it was either the parents or the Godmother, whoever got it first!!

 

[geetey]

Between my dh and I, we have 8 godchildren and we have never purchased the baptismal outfit. My dd wore my dress and my ds wore the outfit we borrowed from a friend. In both of our families, the custom is for the parents to provide the outfit.

 

[roadtripper]

When in doubt...ask the people involved! So many family debates can be avoided just by saying-- "what does your family do?" and discussing the (sometimes vastly different) traditions. DD wore my mom's christening gown, which was threadbare and yellowed, but I was thrilled to have her wear it. DS wore a cousin's (somewhat cheesy) gown. Not a big deal. We had plenty of food and drink afterwards-- that was the important thing in my family !

 

[DisneyFanatik]

I think every family is differnet. Our tradition is the Godmother buys all the baptism clothing & the Godfather buys the cross & necklace. The parents get to Ok or Veto the outfit & necklace if they dont like it though.

This is our tradition as well.

 

[beattyfamily]

We are Catholic and around here the Godparents buy the Baptism dress. One friend let the parents pick the dress but paid for it.

But if you have a heirloom dress you are going to use, then of course, the Godparents would get them something else, preferably religious.

ETA...We're Italian Catholic and French Catholic from Boston area. My best friend who was my DD's Godparent and bought the whole outfit is Portugese, also from Boston area.

 

[Michelina]

When Dh and I were Godparents, baby's mom told us that even though it was tradition for us to get the gown, the baby's grandma wanted to make it. So we bought her booties, a bonnet, blanket, rosary and little bible.

 

[my4kids]

We are as Catholic as you can get...and so far for all four babies we have supplied the outfit........I have never heard of Godparents buying it (especially since Godparents can be two separate people -not a married couple) I'm sure it has to do with different cultures and countries having different traditions...but there is no etiquette rule on this one..when in doubt, parents buy...in our family, everyone has worn the same gown for generations...so it really is not an issue. (Except for my husbands family had the same tradition..so when we had kids both Grandma's were showing up with gowns and both wanted theirs to be worn....we compromised by putting the baby in my gown and his bonnet at the baptism, and when we got home for the party, we switched to his gown and my bonnet..with each baby we have switched the order...it has made everyone happy. )

 

[my4kids]

ya know..after reading all of the posts here...it seems it must be a regional thing...(like how in the South there is always a grooms cake at the wedding and in the North, noone has even heard of such a thing)...it would probably be helpful if everyone added their location and ethnic background....we are on the Mason Dixon and i am Irish Catholic and DH is Italian Catholic. Parents are in charge of outfit in both our families..

 

[CheapMom]

Hey- we are Irish Catholics on the Mason Dixon Line too-
It is interesting those that said the godmother dresses the baby on his Baptism day- A few weeks ago we had a Baptism during Mass and the priest discussed this Catholic tradition in his sermon. We had always done that too in our family.

 

[kpm76]

These responses are really interesting. I have actually never heard of the godparents buying the outfit until now. My godchild wore one that had been passed around the family.....when DH and I have children, my plan is to use my wedding dress to make a Baptism dress...right now it's just taking up space in a closet...no guarantees we'll have a daughter and even if we do, I would not want her to feel pressured to wear my dress (I love my mom dearly but she was married in the early 70's and well, to quote my parents the 70's was an ugly decade for clothing so needless to say my mom's dress was not my style at all).....I have always thought it was be really special to have our children wear my dress for the Baptism....

 

[rie'smom]

South Louisiana French-Irish Catholic here. My mom made a silk gown for my DS. When my DD was born,I hand stitched Alencon lace and 3000 seed pearls onto the bonnet to make it more feminine. My DBs and I all wore a family gown from my mom's family but it was lost or misplaced by one of her sibling's kids. I would like for my grandkids-whenever I have any- to wear our family gown. However, my kids and their spouses will have to decide as the spouse's family may also have a tradition.

 

[geetey]

For whomever is trying to find the pattern....

My dh is from Chicago - very Catholic Italian family
I am from St Louis - very Catholic German/Dutch family (add French, Irish, Polish, etc, etc, etc, in there as well )

Godparents don't buy the outfit in our families, nor our friends.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Since we're keeping track:
German-Slovak Catholic background for me and 100% Italian Catholic for DH. Both from PA (DH from Philly and me from Pittsburgh). Both families have the tradition of the godmother buying the gown and dressing the child.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Godmother

 

[mickeyfan2]

I am from Puerto Rico and in our tradition the Godparents get the child "ready" for The Baptism meaning dress, shoes anything the child needs, if the family will have a celebration(party) the godparents buy the cake and the favors but the family take care of the food and other expenses.

This is our tradition too and we are Italian.


ETA We are at the Mason Dixon Line too.

Seems to be more of a family tradition than religious or regional.

 

[momtoce&j]

When first DD was born (she's 13 now), my mother said the Godmother had to buy the christening outfit, so my girlfriend and I went out and she picked out the dress. Now when DD #2 was born (she's now 8), my MIL wanted to buy the dress, but since my girl friend was to be her Godmother too, I just said we were going to use the same dress. When DS came along 5 years ago, my cousin went out and picked up a christening suit for him. (His Godmother.)

When DD#1 was ready to receive Communion, MIL insisted on taking her shopping for her dress. Her reasoning being since she didn't know her when she was a baby (DH and I met just before she turned 2) and this was her 'first' grandchild and a grandaughter at that, she wanted to take her shopping. Oh, DH is one of 3 boys in her family, so MIL never had any girls to take out shopping. I'm sure if she was still with us today, she would be taking DD#2 out in the next few weeks to buy her her Communion dress. DD#2 will wear her big sister's dress from 6 years ago.

Now when DS receives Communion in 2 years, I guess I will ask my cousin if she wants to come with us to buy a suit for him. If she offers to pay for it then I'll let her, but I wouldn't insist on it. (Even though I know my mother would say she's suppose to buy it. )


Do what you are comfortable with. It looks like each family has it's own traditions on the subject. There's no right or wrong way to go, and I don't recall there being a set rule for it.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We only do the Godmother buys for the Christening dress. The parents always buy the Communion Dress/Suit. That is a new custom that I have new know. It seems like a nice one to me. The Godmother gets to play a role in a very Holy ceremony.

 

[LetsgoDisney!]

Irish/Polish Catholic here- Godmother buys the outfit.
Donna

 

[Michelina]

Since we're keeping track of nationality and location, my family is Italian Catholic, parents always buy/provide the gown. Godbaby's parents are Slovak/Polish Catholic and I guess the Godparent's buying the outfit is their tradition, I just pretended that I knew I was supposed to buy it so I didn't look stupid! We're all from Southwestern PA originally.