A Baptism for Baby M

If you don't follow my Instagram feed, you may have missed that we've just been home to Australia for a few weeks. We went to be part of Saraids wedding, to celebrate my Father in laws 70th, and to celebrate the baptism of Baby M. A fair amount to do in two weeks!!

Living in the UK has its ups and downs but by far the hardest part is living so far from our families and so many old friends. I wanted to gather as many loved ones in one place to do Madeleine's Baptism, so Brisbane was the place to do it.

We landed very late on the Friday night after some horrific 30 hours in transit, had some sleep, and then got to work baking all day Saturday. Saraid and I work together like a well oiled machine, it was actually a heap of fun being so busy with her, I don't think there's another soul in the world who thinks so similarly to me!! 

We had a lovely little ceremony for Baby M at Marist College, which was where her mama and daddy met nearly 15 years ago. It was really lovely to be back in my husbands old school, and felt very special to be back there with our little daughter, all those years later.

With Sophie at Marist College Ashgrove

After the ceremony we had a small morning tea back at the Godmother, Saraids' house. 

I can hear your very first question..... What's the theme Meg, there has to be a theme?? Of course there's a theme, it was all tied in to Baby M's party dress, this gorgeous Ralph Lauren dress we picked up in Conneticut last month (Which, came in its very own tiny little garment bag, I nearly died from the cuteness!!).

To start the theming off, I ordered some fun striped straws, in theme of course, and added a touch of sparkle to them and popped them in some mini-milk bottles for some fresh lemonade...

I made lots and lots of lace bunting, which we cut to hang in all the doorways around the house too!

I also had my meg-made Confetti Filled Balloons, using navy blue and pink confetti. I of course forgot to photograph them up, but they were lots of fun to play with after as well!!

I purchased some super cheap Ikea cups and saucers, and made most of the cake stands with plates and different sized bowls.

There was plain vanilla cupcakes, decorated with pink glitter heart picks.

I relived my childhood by making some Tea Cups! Using Arnotts Tic Toc biscuits for the saucer, marshmallow for the cup, half of a musk Lifesaver for the handle and a Allens Freckle for the top. I'm sure you can recreate these with similar supplies in the UK and USA, but I just think they were the sweetest!

I used the same recipe for my GF Royal Sugar Cookies but couldn't find oat/nut flour at all, so used half ground almonds and half regular GF flour. Without the heavy nut flavour the honey became the star and they were delicious. Bless Saraid for indulging my crazy ways. When I made these to look like tea bags and ask if she could tie each with the lace ribbon....rather than look at me like I was completely bonkers, she just simply got on with poking the ribbon through the hole! 

My mum went to the markets and got some beautiful fresh fruit so we filled some plastic wine glasses with a fruit salad...

I made and completely forgot to serve a huge batch of lamb meatballs with a spicy tomato sauce. Oops! I was wondering why it was such a sweet party!

And the final treat were going to be Zuccini Pizzas, but ended up being Zucchini Bites, and they were gorgeous. Saraid added the perfect amount of pepperoni to give these a bit of a zing, they were so tasty!

I wanted Baby M to have a special little headband that was Baptism-appropriate and so made her this little lace and gold sparkle headband. I think she had an inkling of how angelic she looked!

It was such a lovely morning gathering our Australian loved ones to celebrate Baby M's Baptism! Thank you to all our friends and families who were able to partake in this special day. 

A huge thank you to Saraid for helping so much, taking so many photos, being two steps ahead when jetlag set in, and for allowing me to clutter up your house for two weeks! 

Stay tuned for a post about the magnificent wedding of the Godmother!!!