Melody's Baptism
Melody was baptized at our local church, Asbury United Methodist Church, on February 19, 2017. Since I was not baptized as a baby, we did not have a gown that she could wear from me, so we found a gorgeous one at a local baby clothing store. Both fortunate and unfortunate, we purchased this dress for 40% off (fortunate), but the store is now out of business and was selling everything at a discount due to this (unfortunate). Brad parents actually bought her dress as a gift to Melody.
We took a few pictures before the service because I intended to leave before the service was over with Melody. You can see pictures below of Miss Melody, Brad and I with Melody, the three of us with Brad's parents, and the three of us with my parents. Melody wasn't in the mood to smile apparently (it was around her normal nap time)!
Below are a few shots of Melody prior to the service while we were seated. We arrived early because we had to feed her, so we had plenty of time to take a few candid shots.
We did not have a photographer come and take pictures of the actual baptism. The preacher said we could, and he told us where she could sit. But we opted against it. Instead, some of our family got some shots that you can view below. The service was really beautiful and our pastor did an amazing job. He really loves baptisms, and he definitely gets emotionally involved in each one. Melody was a doll and didn't shed a tear or make a sound!
After Melody's baptism, we had family and friends over to our house for a small brunch reception. Melody is so blessed, and so many people came to her baptism and reception. We had such a huge turnout! Of course, Brad has a HUGE family. I may have mentioned this before. I want to say over 20 of his family members came into town. His family traveled from Memphis, Atlanta, and Orlando! My family came too, but they are all local!
Below is some of the setup we did to prepare. Of course with everything going on, I did not get pictures of all the food! Ugh, I was kicking myself later that night when I noticed this! Oh well...here is a breakdown of the food served:
Appetizers (since everyone would be arriving only a few minutes after me)
- Ruffles with french onion dip
- Cheese and crackers
Main brunch food
- Ham with rolls
- Chicken nuggets with dipping sauces
- Spinach dip with pita chips
- Cinnamon rolls
- Cookies and cream danishes
- Powdered and chocolate donuts
- Veggie tray with ranch dip
- Mixed fruit
Dessert
- Strawberry cake
- Brownie bites
- Sugar cookies
Drinks
- Mexican bottled Coke
- Bottled water
- Lemonade
- Coffee
Lots of fun enjoying time with family and celebrating Melody!
My aunt took some pictures of Melody in her baptism gown so that we would have some professional pictures (and Melody actually smiled!).
At the end of the day, Melody and I were exhausted (hence the napping photo below!). But seriously...it was such an amazing day. The baptism was beautiful, the reception was so much fun, and it was a gorgeous sunny day in February! What more could you ask for!?!
**** Side note...I have so many party supplies it is truly unreal! Maybe I host too many events or maybe I over buy things (Brad would say the second!), but I have so much stuff that I am usually able to reuse a lot. In this case, I was able to reuse the napkin setup from my best friend's baby shower for the napkins at Melody's reception. I changed out the elephant napkin rings for new ones I made that was personalized for the baptism. Check it out below!
