Naming ceremonies
A naming ceremony is an opportunity to welcome and celebrate existing or new family members.
The ceremony can be used as a:
- formal welcome for adopted children and stepchildren
- additional ceremony after a civil marriage or civil partnership to celebrate the commitment across the whole family
- opportunity as a parent to publicly or privately declare how you will bring your children up and guide them
- opportunity to demonstrate your love, care and support
The age of the children does not matter, you determine when you want to celebrate.
The ceremony
Both you and your children can choose from a wide range of options available to tailor your ceremony so it is special for you all. Every naming ceremony is different, so you can create something unique.
The ceremony will be led by a Registration Service ceremony officer. The length of the ceremony depends on the content and the different options you choose.
After the ceremony, the celebrations can continue as long as you like, especially if the naming ceremony is combined with a civil marriage or civil partnership.
Restrictions and conditions
The ceremony:
- cannot have any religious content
- is not legally binding on those who participate
See the terms and conditions for our booking conditions.
Ceremony locations
Your ceremony can be conducted in:
- any registration office in North Northants
- open-air venues in our country parks (weather, health and safety requirements permitting)
- hotel
- conference centre
- castle
- country estate
- any other venue or private house of your choice (subject to health and safety requirements)
As a naming ceremony is not a legal ceremony, you do not have to use an approved venue.
For prices, please see ceremony fees page.
Book a ceremony
Step 1: Check availability
You need to book your venue directly but we recommend you enquire about our registration service staff availability before paying any deposits with a venue.
You can check availability by making an enquiry:
One of our ceremony officers will contact you if we need to clarify any aspect of your ceremony.
Step 2: Plan your ceremony
You need to have already booked a registration ceremony officer and your venue before logging into your account to complete the ceremony planning form.
This let us know your order of events on the day and needs to be completed 8 weeks before your ceremony.
If you have forgotten the login details provided when booking email [email protected].
Last updated 09 March 2023