Baptism 101

We decided to have Gavin baptized when he was a month and a half.  I wanted to do it before I went back to work, but nevertheless, preparations were still done in a rush.  I wanted a solo baptism for a more solemn ceremony.  This left us with fewer church choices.  We ended up selecting Sanctuario de San Jose Church in Greenhills.  They had a no fuss baptism reservation as long as the date and time slot is available and complete requirements (marriage certificate & birth certificate).  Thank goodness Asian Hospital was able to process the registration of Gavin's birth certificate a month after his birth, yey!  The church also did not require the sponsors to attend a seminar prior to the baptism, double yey!!!

Choosing where the lunch reception was also quite tricky.  We wanted to be able to invite as much family and friends as possible, but we had to work in a budget.  Studied on renting a place and getting a reasonable caterer, having it in a Chinese restaurant or getting a clubhouse to use.  We ended up having the lunch reception at Aracama Restaurant at The Fort.  We thought a day before that we won't be able to meet the guaranteed pax of 80, but ended up exceeding it with 110 guests on the actual day.  Glad that more people were able to meet Gavin.

We also worked with other suppliers such as Whipped By Diane (Diane Panlilio) for the cake and cupcakes and Pau Bengero for the photos.  Diane used to be my office ate at SSI and have now started her own cake business.  The salted caramel cupcakes for giveaways were delicious, as well as the carrot fondant stars infested cake :) my sister in law, Mylim also gifted Gavin with another stars fondant cake which she made and Tita Belen also gave cupcakes and revel balls doe dessert.  Of course, a celebration will not be complete without the signature pastille of San Miguel Bulacan.  With the influx of sweets, we had a dessert table tuloy!

The husband and wife team of Pau and Veronica Bengero were also note worthy.  I just chanced upon them via the Internet.  They were very professional and the photos were fantastic! Yun Lang nga, my husband forgot to take out his shades on his head so half of the photos, he had that silly shades on top, GURR :/

We also did a lot of DIY for the baptism.  We did the layout of the invitation ourselves, we also had it printed at the neighborhood print shop.  I also did the G table toppers using the Ikea frames we used for table numbers from our wedding.  I also just had the floral centerpieces made at the Bf market, whilst choosing the flowers myself and buying the vases in Dapitan. I also made the candles more interesting with washi tape and cupcake cups from Paper Chic Studio.

Gavin's church gown was my husband's baptism gown 34 years ago.  It's such a blessing that our son was ale to use it as well.  The dress was intricately made out of lace.  It was such a beauty.
His other outfits were from SM and his leather shoes w a star was from a Brazillian shoe store in ATC.

It was also a big help to register for the gifts so that Gavin will get presents that he can really use in the future.  Glad that our guests chose the ones we most liked :)

Lastly, the most important part of the whole day was Gavin joining the Carholic community.  The actual rites were solemn, short and sweet, just like what I hoped it to be.  Thank you for the godparents who were at the church early.  Looking forward to Gavin growing up with your guidance as well.