Timber99
Cathlete
I am godmother to my cousin's new baby. I need advice on a present, with the following in mind:
Apparently where she lives, there are no private christenings and they are all done in a separate ceremony at 2PM. So, the party wouldn't be until after 4PM. She was having trouble booking the christening and a party in the same day. Not to mention , it's hard to expect people to go to a party for hours on a Sunday and not get home until late. A lot of our family lives about 80 miles from her. I live about 300.
In order to fix this, she decided to have the christening on one day (With just the god parents) and then the party on another. That meant two trips for me, but she asked if I'd mind and apologized, etc. That's fine...she's my closest relative and I love her. It's more for me but I had no issue doing it. It just made sense.
My family never really thinks about the cost associated with this trip. Sometimes I want to say at a party "my gift is being here" b/c it really is not inexpensive! In order to go there, it costs about $100/each way in gas and tolls. Factor in a hotel room ($100/night), which I didn't need to do if I wanted to stay at a relative's house (but I feel in the way and bf would rather our "own space."). It's also an additional $50/way if we take the ferry, which makes the trip much more enjoyable for us. So, the trip for the first time cost us about $400. The next will cost us $500. Even if you took the hotel out (b/c I guess it's not mandatory) and the ferry, it's $200.
All that said, what do I give for a gift? I kind of feel like us (BF and I) coming twice and spending all that dough counts for something, but I want to give my godchild a nice present too. All I have done so far is $30 for a christening blanket.
Apparently where she lives, there are no private christenings and they are all done in a separate ceremony at 2PM. So, the party wouldn't be until after 4PM. She was having trouble booking the christening and a party in the same day. Not to mention , it's hard to expect people to go to a party for hours on a Sunday and not get home until late. A lot of our family lives about 80 miles from her. I live about 300.
In order to fix this, she decided to have the christening on one day (With just the god parents) and then the party on another. That meant two trips for me, but she asked if I'd mind and apologized, etc. That's fine...she's my closest relative and I love her. It's more for me but I had no issue doing it. It just made sense.
My family never really thinks about the cost associated with this trip. Sometimes I want to say at a party "my gift is being here" b/c it really is not inexpensive! In order to go there, it costs about $100/each way in gas and tolls. Factor in a hotel room ($100/night), which I didn't need to do if I wanted to stay at a relative's house (but I feel in the way and bf would rather our "own space."). It's also an additional $50/way if we take the ferry, which makes the trip much more enjoyable for us. So, the trip for the first time cost us about $400. The next will cost us $500. Even if you took the hotel out (b/c I guess it's not mandatory) and the ferry, it's $200.
All that said, what do I give for a gift? I kind of feel like us (BF and I) coming twice and spending all that dough counts for something, but I want to give my godchild a nice present too. All I have done so far is $30 for a christening blanket.
