Christenings
Christening Invitations: Grandfather as Godfather
Your dad is the godfather and the grandfather. Here's how to put his name on the christening invitation once, and edit the wording after you send it.
Send The Joy · October 5, 2026 · 3 min read
You're at the kitchen table with the christening invitation open on your laptop. Godparents: Alan Clarke and Priya Shah. Two lines down, under grandparents, there he is again — Alan Clarke. Your dad agreed to stand as godfather, and now his name sits on the page twice, once for each job.
It isn't a wording emergency. It's one decision. Choose which role gets his name, and the line reads the way you'd say it out loud.
Christening invitations with a grandfather as godfather: one name, one role
The invitation isn't a family tree, so it doesn't need every relationship spelled out. If Alan is the godfather, that's the line that earns its space. If you want the grandparent link visible, brackets do it in three words: 'Godfather: Alan Clarke (grandfather)'. What you avoid is two lists side by side carrying the same name, because guests skim, and then someone asks which one is right.
- Name him once — as godfather or as grandfather, never in both lists.
- Two godparents and one of them is the grandfather? Keep the order even: 'Godparents: Priya Shah and Alan Clarke (grandfather)'. He stops looking like the only one.
- Add the relationship only when it clears something up, like 'Alan Clarke (maternal grandfather)' if two grandparents have similar names.
- Skip the double surname when the family name already appears with the parents or the baby. 'Grandfather Alan' says enough.
The order that reads well in one line
Parents first, then the godparents, then the baby's name. One line does it: 'Claire and Daniel invite you to the christening of their daughter Nora. Godfather: Alan Clarke, grandfather.' That's the order people expect, and they don't have to loop back to work out who's who.
On titles, pick one register. 'Mr Alan Clarke' at the top and 'Alan' further down reads like two different men. Read the whole thing out loud once. If it sounds like a list of surnames, cut something.
One name, one role. The invitation doesn't have to say 'grandfather' twice for it to be true.
Three wordings you can copy
Short: 'You're invited to Nora's christening. Godfather: her grandfather, Alan Clarke.' Use it on the cover and in the message you send. Formal: 'Her parents, Claire and Daniel; her godfather, Mr Alan Clarke, paternal grandfather.' Only if the rest of the invitation keeps the same formality. Without repeating a surname: 'Her godfather, Grandfather Alan.' The Clarke name is already on the page with the parents.
What goes around the names
Date, time and place in one clear line: 'Saturday 18 May, 12:00, St Michael's Church.' A dress code that says something beats 'elegant': 'Dark suits for adults, comfortable for the kids.' And keep the RSVP to what you actually need — a name and whether they're coming. The replies land in a list inside the invitation instead of in your messages.
The grandfather who stands as godfather is one name with one job. Write it once, put the date and place under it, and send the link. If the time moves or a name changes, the invitation is a web page: you edit it and the same link shows the new version. Your guests open it in a browser on their phone, nothing to install, and you don't reprint a thing.
