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“What on earth is that?” was Emma Lacey’s initial reaction when good friends asked if she would host a naming ceremony for their 11 month old son, a year ago this month. “And it’s a question I am often asked now!” she assures us “which is why our website (www.storque.co.uk) spends time explaining it.” Emma has started a new business called ‘Storque’, based in the New Forest, which specialises in child naming ceremonies (or ‘celebrations’ as she prefers to call them), providing a perfect alternative to parents seeking a non-religious Christening.
Emma, 41, is mum to 5 year old Daniel as well as a professional speaker and business trainer. “The initial idea came to me when we were looking to mark the occasion of Daniel’s birth. Our family had had Christenings in the past but that just didn’t fit for us. I looked at the service provided by the local Registry Office but that seemed a bit impersonal.” She was not alone in her predicament. The number of parents choosing Christenings or Baptisms has dropped considerably, with only around 20% of children being Baptised or Christened compared to around seventy percent 80 years ago.
“Many parents want to do something to mark the arrival of their bundle of loveliness, but draw a blank if a Christening isn’t what they want.” She says “Families are then left without a much-needed get-together – often it’s the first opportunity for distant relatives to meet a newborn. The next time they see them will probably be at their wedding! We need more opportunities to rejoice in the goodness that is the family unit and what better excuse than the arrival of a child?”
But are naming celebrations exclusively for newborns? Emma assures us they are not. “An increasing number of different families are joining together, and I think these events are ideal for welcoming foster, adoptive and step-children into the family too.” Emma’s elder sister is a foster carer and finds the arrival of foster children to be a very exciting time for the family. “Celebrations like this mark a fresh start for the child and a new life for the family and provide a welcome opportunity to reinforce family values.”
Lasting up to 45 minutes, the naming celebration can incorporate poems, readings, songs and even the release of doves or balloons. “The event can be held just about anywhere – the sky really is the limit! Hotel, marquee, village hall or even your own garden – anything goes. Most people have the more formal part of the event at the beginning, leaving the parents and guests free to enjoy a party or BBQ after”.
“What’s great about our approach is that the event can be anything they want it to be – informal or formal, relaxed or elegant. Ultimately it puts the power of choice in the hands of the parents, just where it should be.”
Emma has a tenacious appetite for life and clearly adores children and promises a Storque naming celebration to be a very personal affair. If you would like to find out more, visit her website www.storque.co.uk or simply call 0800 028 2118.
For further information please contact:
Emma Lacey
Storque Child Naming Celebrations
33 Foxhills
Ashurst,
Hants
SO40 7ED
Tel: 02380 293875
Mob: 07957 387401
Email: emma@storque.co.uk
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