On Saturday, December 27, Isla was Christened in a Serbian Orthodox ceremony. Although Sasha and I attend a baptist church (Bayou City Fellowship) on the weekends, Sasha grew up in the Orthodox religion, so we decided to Christen Isla in an Orthodox ceremony. We originally intended to do the ceremony and reception in Galveston at the Serbian church, but due to a double booking, we held the ceremony at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral and went to Canopy (one of my favorite restaurants) for the reception. I think it all worked out, as the Greek church is very beautiful (and much closer).

The ceremony is very long (I’ve outlined what happens below), and Isla held up for the first 30 minutes, but started wailing when she was dunked into the water (I would have too!). It was pretty traumatic for me, I cannot lie. I was very glad when the ceremony wrapped up after 45 minutes, although the symbolism of all the components is very meaningful.

We headed to Canopy for two hours of food and drinks, which I really enjoyed. We had cups, napkins and party favors from For Your Party, and honeycomb balls all over the tables from Devra Party Corp. Our Invitation was from Minted, and captured the bright colorful vibe I was going for. For the Christening, Isla wore the same robe that me, my dad and my grandfather wore, then changed into a more fun and comfortable J. Crew dress afterwards for the party. All of the floral arrangements were done by me and my sister-in-law, but they weren’t exactly what I was going for, but apparently this arrangement cannot be made in the winter!

Christie of KiKiMac is amazing and stepped in at the 11th hour (literally) to take photographs when our photographer had something come up. She did an incredible job, especially given that it was dark and pouring outside and taking photos in a church is very difficult! I am so blessed to have such a talented friend.