While wedding guest outfits for day to night and - even worse - pregnant wedding guest outfits are a notorious summer minefield, christenings have a lot of the same problems.
There can be quite a bit of uncertainty about how to balance your own style with feeling appropriate for church - never more so than when the child who is getting christened is your own! Christening outfits for mum can be a minefield of body image and situation that its hard to navigate.
The day is about the little one and welcoming them into the world but it's also about celebrating family and the journey you've taken with motherhood.
So when we set a date for the christening of my daughter, Romilly Hero, I knew I wanted both of us to have beautiful dresses that would make us feel special, particularly as my daily uniform for so long has just been jeans and a baby sick stained jumper!
Sweetheart Crocheted Lace and Pleated Crepe Midi Dress | Self Portrait
Magenta Suede Court Shoes | Oasis
Ribbon and Crystal Cuff | Rebecca Minkoff x Stella & Dot
‘Lily’ Medium in Taupe | Mulberry
Self Portrait are a stand-out brand for occasion wear and definitely a great choice if you have a major event coming up. Their designs always seem to strike the perfect balance between being gorgeous, feminine and just edgy enough not to be too saccharine. I'm not a huge lover of pastels, so this navy and white colourway felt fresh and natural to me.
The dress features a beautiful white pleated crepe midi skirt with navy geometric patterning and a sweetheart guipure lace upper with a high collar and long sleeves. It felt covered up enough but not frumpy.
I originally bought the famous, much imitated ‘Azealia’ dress when my son was christened (peek at that christening outfit too, if you like), but it's fairly low cut at the front, and as I was still breastfeeding and larger up top than normal it just looked way too distractingly busty - I would have given the vicar a heart attack! I ended up wearing a Whistles shift dress instead, so this time around I opted for something with a slightly more modest cut. The level of detail in this dress is truly stunning.
Feeling like I could use a jolt of colour to keep things fresh, I paired the dress with these magenta suede courts from Oasis. Magenta pairs so nicely with navy, I feel like it's a very chic combination and just wakes up the look a little. Plus, these shoes have a low heel and are super comfortable, which is important when you have a toddler and a baby to juggle.
For accessories, I didn't need much as the dress has a high neckline and is so detailed. All I had to add was add some wrist candy - this beautiful multicoloured crystal and ribbon cuff from the collection Rebecca Minkoff did with Stella & Dot picked up on the magenta of the shoes and the navy in the dress.
Then my faithful Mulberry Lily got wheeled out again. I use this lot but it's an absolute classic and the neutral taupe colour goes with everything - plus, it's roomy enough to stash a few baby snacks and toy cars for my son in!
And this is what the star of the show wore:
Ivory and rose gold geometric dress | Ted Baker
Ivory frilled cardigan (not seen) | M&S Baby
Blush leather bow shoes | Ted Baker
Tulle flower headband | Zara Kids
As she's 11 months old and moving around it didn't seem practical or appropriate to go for a Christening robe, so I went for this beautiful little party dress and shoes. We never normally put her in headbands and things but for this occasion I wanted her to have a special accessory, although predictably she spent half the time trying to pull it off again!
We had such a beautiful day celebrating with our family and friends. One of our good friends flew all the way from where he lives in the Philippines to be Romilly’s godfather and we had others travel from all over the UK, which made it incredibly special.
We held the ceremony at a beautiful church in the country park that our neighbourhood backs onto to and followed up with a party in the cutest little village hall.
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| Our little family, plus godparents |
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| Our magic Reverend, who made the ceremony such fun |
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| Ombre icing rosewater and strawberry sponge christening cake that I made |
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| St Edmund's, Holme Pierrepont |
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| Me and my girl in her christening outfit |
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| The Village Hall where we had our party |
And after the baptism at the font, he said we could all do with reminding of our own baptisms, whipped out a Super Soaker, and squirted everyone! Needless to say, all the kids that were there absolutely loved it - and for the adults it was definitely a christening like none other they'd been to. We'll certainly never forget it.
Have you been a guest at a wedding or a christening recently? What did you choose to wear?
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