Planning Your Child's Confirmation Reception Celebration

Preparing for a confirmation reception, like any party, is very simple if you break down the essential tasks. These task and steps are guidelines that can, of course, be tweaked to suit your own individual tastes, finances and abilities.

Location: Deciding on a location for your confirmation reception will most likely depend on the availability. Your child probably is not the only child that is being confirmed on that day. You can check with your church for the availability of their reception hall or area banquet halls such as the VFW and Elks clubs might also be a possibility. If all else fails, your home would also make a wonderful location for your confirmation reception. Keep in mind, that all these places except your home will most likely have a price attached. While having it in a reception or banquet hall will allow you to receive more guests, more than likely your reception will be a come and go affair and you will never exceed the space. Your home will also give you the opportunity to decorate and prepare food without having to transport everything.

Invitations: While you could certainly purchase invitations for your confirmation reception, making them yourself will give them a personal touch and quite often be more beautiful than anything you could purchase. Use a wedding invitation or graduation announcement as a guide for making your and confirmation reception invitations. Include the who, what, when and where and choose a font on your computer that will give them an elegant touch. Center the information on the card and add a Christian symbol from clip art, centered above or below the information. Print the card information out in a four tile arrangement on white card stock. Purchase blank invitation sized envelopes and cut each invitation to fit the envelope. Note: These invitations are one ply like a postcard. At the top of the invitation, paper punch two holes a half inch apart and centered in the middle. Thread a small amount of ribbon through the holes and tie and a knot on the front to add decoration. Try to send your invitations out two weeks to a month before the confirmation date.

Food and Refreshments: Usually a confirmation reception is held after church and throughout the early afternoon. Because your guests will most likely come when ever they want during the times you posted on the invitation, you will want simple finger foods without too much fuss. Prepare at least two platters each of cold cuts, cheeses and fruit so that you can exchange them ever so often to keep them chilled. Fill large baskets of rolls and put out the needed utensils and condiments for sandwich rolls to be made. Add bowls of chips and your main luncheon menu is complete. For dessert, make or order a special decorated sheet cake for the event, bake sugar cookies in the shapes of Christian symbols and purchase a Christian symbol candy mold to make a platter of individual chocolates. Serve the basic tea, lemonade and coffee for refreshments. Pull out your best platters, bowls and utensils for serving, but use disposable plates, plastic ware and cups to make your cleanup easier. They will look just as nice and absolutely nobody would expect more.

Decorations: Decorating for a confirmation reception should have Christian symbols throughout and the basis of these should most definitely be the cross. Cover your tables with white tablecloths or white table coverings and sprinkle with clear flat floral marbles for sparkle. Place crosses as a common theme on each table for centerpieces and around the room. Scour your dollar stores, thrift stores and local tag sales for an abundance of inexpensive crosses.

A confirmation reception should be a time of rejoicing. Don't get caught up in the little stuff. Enjoy the day of accomplishment with your child and relax, it only happens once in a lifetime.