Invitation templates / Christening invitations
Lapis & Gold: a christening invitation template
A little Byzantine apse in gold and lapis: the tesserae rain down into place, and every piece of gold flashes as the guest carries a lamp across it.
The design
The whole invitation is the inside of a small Ravenna chapel, laid in mosaic: thousands of small irregular tesserae of lapis glass, white marble and gold leaf, set in flowing rows that follow every curve, each piece tilted a little in the bed so the gold glitters unevenly, the way it does in San Vitale. It opens on the bare lime bed with the mosaicist's red sinopia drawing; the tesserae fall from above and settle row by row into the half-dome, gold flashing as each piece lands, until the starry vault is whole and the child's photograph sits in its gold medallion with the name inscribed below in letters of gold tesserae. The guest holds a small oil lamp: touch or sweep across the vault and the flame travels with the finger, and the gold answers piece by piece, each tessera flashing only when its tilt meets the light. Further down the wall, the guest traces the sinopia of the verse panel and the stones are laid along the line where the finger goes; touches each godparent's medallion and a glint runs round its gold ring; cleaves the dress colours, raw cakes of smalti, with the mosaicist's hammer into a little heap of tesserae; and turns the curved arcade of the apse to bring each photograph round. As the order of the day scrolls past, a jewelled band is laid beside it, tesserae falling into place moment by moment. A reply sets the last golden tessera into the inscription at the foot of the wall.
Colours and type
Lapis & Gold comes in 4 colourways: Pale lapis & gold, Rose porphyry, White marble & gold and Galla Placidia green, with 2 type pairings: Ravenna inscription and Byzantium. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for christening / baptism, baby dedication and naming day, in the Cultural style.
What is included
An invitation website with the church and the celebration after, the godparents, your photos, a song if you want one, and the RSVP with the number of adults and children coming. You write your own words and add your photos in the live editor, send every guest a personal link by email or any messaging app, and follow the replies as they come in. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design.
More christening templates
- Painted Tiles: A wall of hand-painted blue-and-white tiles: the panel is set tile by tile, the name goes in last, and guests turn crooked tiles, fire the glaze and repaint the frieze.
- Christening Bells: Two polished brass handbells tied with satin ribbon on white linen: tap one to ring it and the name appears, then polish the tarnish off the brass to reveal the engraving.
- The Christening Cake: A three-tier christening cake in white fondant and sugar roses on a porcelain stand: turn it with a finger, watch the name piped onto a sugar plaque, and cut a slice at the close.
- Written by Hand: A calligrapher's desk: the child's name is written live in pointed-pen copperplate, and the guest changes the nib, blots the ink, tests the colours and tries the pen.
- The Certificate: An engraved baptismal certificate on a leather writing desk: press the brass stamp into the molten wax to seal it, and watch the godparents sign in ink.
- Blind Dove: A thick white cotton card with a dove pressed in without ink: the light rakes across as you scroll, and the dove rises out of the white.
- The Favour Table: The bomboniere table on the christening morning, seen from above: one satin ribbon unspools down the table as you read, threading every favour and tag of the day, and ends tied to your own.
- Fresco Under Plaster: An old chapel wall: a fresco of a May sky and olive trees comes out from under the whitewash, patch by patch, with the child's name painted in the band beneath.
All christening invitation templates