Saturday, November 7, 2009

Baptismal Gowns

I've been waking up very early lately and have used the time to browse my favorite websites while Paul and Sadie are still asleep. I started looking at sites with baby clothes and items, but felt a little silly, because we have pretty much everything, minus diapers, for this new little one (besides it still feeling so far away!). If it's a boy this time we might need a few blue onsies, but other than that, we're pretty much set. Let's just say we went a little overboard last time around (this was back when Paul had a different job and we had a nice little nest egg that has since dwindled, finally disappearing altogether)...

However there was one item that Paul and I agreed we would buy new for each child. I know this idea is a little strange, but it's one that we really liked and here's the logic behind it:

When I was little I spent quite a bit of time over at one of my Catholic playmates houses. Her mother had framed the family baptismal gown and kept it mounted and framed in a prominent place. I remember thinking it was beautiful. When my husband and I started discussing Sadie's baptism we had the option of using one that had been in his family for generations. However, since he's from a large (at least by secular standards) family, we knew it would have to go back to be used by the next grandchild and we wouldn't be able to frame it, much less pass it on. We finally decided that we would buy a baptismal gown for each of our children, have them framed and hung in the house and then give each child his or her gown once they are grown. It helps that I found an online store full of beautiful gowns. It's called One Small Child and is based out of Idaho. We bought Sadie the Virginia (the first gown below) and it was absolutely perfect!



Here are my favorites. The first four are my favorites for girls (although since we already have the Virginia, we'll probably go with one of the others) and the second two are my favorites for boys. The boy gowns certainly are more affordable. Either way at least I have a while to save up!




























2 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I love the one we got Kalila... and it will be used with all of our girls. If we have a boy we'll have to get another obviously (this one is just a tad too frilly lol) but I still want to do a gown... I personally dont like the suits lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have very fond memories of choosing a baptismal gown for my daughter. We tried on a lot of different gowns, but we went with one that had embroidered images of Our Lady of Guadalupe all over. It was also made of manta, a very unique cloth produced in Mexico by the indigenous people there. The owner of the store was a little bit teary-eyed when she saw which one we selected, because she had started off selling many of the same gowns when she first opened her store. Now the company in Mexico is discontinuing making such unique and beautiful gowns. I have a special devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and I am glad that our children can be baptized in this very special gown.
    I am not really sure if we will go with a gown for a boy or not. I personally prefer gowns, but I don't want them to be too frilly either.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!