Common godparent errors on a christening invitation

The christening invitation is almost ready. The design is chosen, the date is typed in, and two names sit at the bottom under 'Godparents'. You drop the link into the family group chat before you've actually asked them. Ten minutes later: 'Wait — us?'

That order is where most of the trouble starts. You announce, then you ask, and the person you've named is now deciding in front of an audience. The other mistakes are smaller: a misspelled name, a role nobody explained, a reply that never arrives because no one knew where to send it. None of them are hard to avoid once you get the sequence right.

Godparent mistakes on a christening invitation: ask before you name

A phone call or a voice message works better than a group chat. It gives them room to say no without an audience, and it gets you a real answer instead of a thumbs-up emoji. If you can ask in person, do that. Until they say yes, leave the space empty. Don't park their names in the draft as placeholders — a shared preview is still an announcement. With a digital invitation you can publish whenever you're ready, and nothing has to be rebuilt.

• Call or send a personal message: 'Will you be godparent?' Then wait for a clear yes.
• Keep both names out of the design until they've answered. Preview links get forwarded.
• If they want time to think, leave the space blank. You can fill it in later and the link stays the same.
• Tell them what the day involves before they decide: the church, the time, and roughly how long they'll be standing at the front.

The name, the spelling, the title

Check every letter. An accent dropped from José or an extra vowel in María stays on the screen in front of every guest, and you'll be the last to notice. Check the order too — first name only, or first and last — and the title. Don and Doña, aunt and uncle, or a plain first name are three different choices, and only one of them is right.

Ask each godparent how they want to appear. Some prefer their full name. Others want it short. In the editor there's a field for each piece of text and a preview that updates as you type, so you can correct a name and the link you already sent still opens the right invitation.

An invitation that names someone who hasn't agreed is a rumour in a nice typeface.

A godparent is not a witness, a reader or a helper

At a christening these are separate jobs. A godparent makes the promises. A witness signs the register. A reader stands up and reads. If you list everyone under one label, guests won't know who does what, and the person holding the candle will end up asking you twice. Write down who carries what, and either put each name next to their actual role or leave it out. If the plan changes a week before, edit the scene — the same link shows the new version, and nobody has to be posted a new envelope.

Close the date, then open the RSVP

Confirm the date and time with the church or the venue before anything goes out. Godparents named beside a provisional date mean phone calls the moment it shifts. Once the date is fixed, decide how people reply. Put the RSVP inside the invitation, with the questions you actually need answered: how many are coming, who they are, and whatever else helps you organise the day. Replies land in one ordered list inside the same invitation, so nobody is chasing answers across three different chats.

If you want to avoid these godparent mistakes on a christening invitation, a digital one lets you correct a name, a role or a time without reprinting anything or resending a single envelope. Create it at Send The Joy for €29.99 and share one link that always shows the current version.