Our Sweet Day: invitation websites with RSVP and guest management

Christening and baptism invitation templates

Christening, baptism and naming-day invitations about the child and the blessing: family photographs, watercolour, porcelain and gardens in daylight. Each carries the church, the celebration after, the godparents and the RSVP.

38 christening templates. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design; pricing past that.

Cultural

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.
Lapis & Gold: 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.

Elegant & classic

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.
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.
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.
Gilt Keepsake Card: A set of little steel-engraved keepsake cards with gilt edges: turn the card in your hand and watch the gilt catch the light.
Illuminated Page: A page from a book of hours, made for one child: the gold leaf is laid on the first letter of the name, burnished until it lights up, and a painted vine grows down the margin as you read.
The Keepsake Box: A real walnut keepsake box on a linen cloth: lift the lid, brush the sawdust off the new brass plate, and everything inside is laid out on the table.
Paper Lace: Layered paper lace doilies: the lace unfolds ring by ring to the child's name, and every part of the day is cut into lace you can turn, unfold and colour in.
The Silver Cup: One small silver cup on the velvet of its case, with the child's name cut into it by hand: the graver travels across the cartouche, the bright line opens behind it, and the metal holds the whole room in its surface.
No Two Alike: Real snow crystals, photographed one by one a century ago, fall across black velvet: touch one and it breaks along its six arms. Your photographs are printed the way those crystals were, in a dark circle on cream card.
Chapel Window: A tall chapel window in leaded glass: the sun rises behind it, moves through the panes as you scroll, and lays coloured light across the page.
Ivory & Cross: An ivory stationery suite in its envelope: break the foil seal, turn over the birth card, light the baptismal candle, flick through the prints.

Interactive

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.
Airs for the Christening: A white ballerina music box stands open in the morning light. Wind it and the little dancer turns before her mirror; scroll, and the view goes into the mirror, where the invitation is kept, while Brahms' Lullaby plays note by note as your guests read.
Lantern Hill: A papercut lightbox: watch the light come on behind the hills, tilt the box to part its paper layers, open the chapel doors and light a lantern for each godparent.
The Star Cards: Your photographs as star cards, pierced where the stars fall: touch one and it is held up to the lamp, and the stars shine through the picture.
The Christening Bear: An old mohair teddy in a knitted scarf sits on the nursery shelf and hands your guests the invitation one card at a time: swipe a card away and he turns to watch the next one; he tries his scarf on in the colours of the day.

Envelope & stationery

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.
Pressed by Hand: A hand-set letterpress sheet in two inks: every line is pressed in, plate by plate, and the guest pulls the proofs themselves.
Tied with Satin: A heavy ivory card tied with a wide satin bow: pull a tail to untie it, then follow the ribbon through the whole day.

Floral & botanical

The Garden Gate: A garden painted in oils as your guests walk in: the white gate swings open onto lunch under the willow, the blossom drops its petals over the godparents' bench, a robin splashes in the bird bath, and the little tree planted for your child takes everyone's ribbon.
Meadow at Knee Height: A walk through a spring meadow at knee height: grass sways all round the words, daisies open as you reach each part, and a dandelion clock waits by the reply.
In the Olive's Shade: A lime-washed chapel wall in an olive grove, an olive branch swaying over the child's name and its shadow moving across the whole invitation.
Pressed in Spring: A herbarium sheet: spring flowers are laid down one by one under glassine and the specimen label types itself; guests open the flower press, look through the hand lens and lay a flower of their own.
The Shallows: Clear, shallow sea seen from above: small fish school over rippled sand, a turtle drifts by, and the child's name floats on the surface, its shadow on the sand below.
First Light: A valley at dawn, painted wet in watercolour as you watch: the sun dropped into a rose and gold sky, ridge behind ridge, and a butterfly resting on a painted cosmos.
Wet Watercolour: A sheet of cold-press paper that paints itself: drops of pigment fall, bloom and dry into flowers around the child's name, and the guest gets to paint too.
The White Rose Posy: The florist's bench on the christening morning: a white rose opens in its bud vase, and the posy is made as you read, a rose set in for each godparent.

Playful & illustrated

A Picture Book for Baby: The invitation is a mid-century picture book painted in flat, bright gouache: the cover scene slides together layer by layer, and every page of the day is its own spread, with pull-tabs, flaps and a wheel to turn.
A Thousand Cranes: Squares of paper fold themselves into cranes and fly up to a mobile that spells the child's name; then guests fold one of their own.
Nursery Sketchbook: A soft-bound sketchbook of the little one: the page is ruled in light guide lines, the name is blocked in as hollow outlines, and then a soft pencil sweeps across and shades every letter in.

Minimal & editorial

Ink Wash Scroll: A hanging scroll in sumi ink: it unrolls down the screen, the ink spreads into the paper under the child's name, and a red seal is pressed beside it.
Block & Print: A two-colour linocut, cut and pulled by hand: the brayer rolls the ink across the block, the sheet is laid to the register, and the print comes away with the child's name the right way round at last.
The Collection Record: A museum's online record for one heirloom: a sterling christening rattle, photographed on black, turned in 360°, its hallmarks read under a loupe, and the day itself listed as the object's first time on display.
Soft Focus Vellum: A printed card under a frosted vellum wrap: slide the vellum aside and the child's name sharpens out of the haze.