Baptism and Christening Video Message Ideas

Five baptism and christening video message angles cover almost every request: straight congratulations to the parents, a godparent spotlight, a stand-in message from someone who cannot attend, a grandparent's family-legacy note, and a secular naming-ceremony version. Each one names the baby with the correct pronunciation, mirrors the family's own word for the ceremony — baptism, christening, or naming day — and closes with a blessing drawn from the request itself instead of a generic script. Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.

What makes a good baptism or christening video message?

A good baptism or christening video message names the baby correctly, builds on one specific detail the family supplied — the ceremony date, the church, a godparent's name, the meaning behind the baby's name — and closes with a short blessing the family can replay. Specificity, not length, is what makes the video worth keeping.

The audience for baptism and christening video messages is large and measurable. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University reports 471,717 infant baptisms in U.S. Catholic dioceses in calendar year 2024, the figure published in the 2025 column of its "Baptisms of infants in previous year" row, down from 1.237 million in the equivalent 1965 column (CARA, Frequently Requested Church Statistics). For scale, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics recorded 3,628,934 births registered in the United States in 2024, a 1% increase over 2023 (CDC/NCHS, Births: Final Data for 2024).

Five angles cover almost every baptism or christening request, and each one maps to a full script further down this guide:

• Straight congratulations: Address the baby and parents by name, reference the ceremony, close with a blessing or well-wish.
• Godparent spotlight: Speak to the godparent(s) directly — what the role means, a promise or inside joke, a nod to the family choosing them.
• From someone who can't attend: Acknowledge the sender isn't there in person and that the video is standing in for them.
• Family legacy: A short note about the day continuing something the family has done before, usually requested by a grandparent.
• Naming ceremony or secular version: Use naming-day language and no religious vocabulary, for families marking the day outside a church.

What are five ready-to-record baptism and christening scripts?

The five ready-to-record scripts are straight congratulations to the parents, a godparent spotlight, a message standing in for someone who cannot attend, a grandparent's family-legacy note, and a secular naming-ceremony version. Each script runs roughly 30 seconds at a normal speaking pace, and every bracketed placeholder should be replaced with wording lifted from the family's own request.

1. Straight congratulations, addressed to the parents

Hi [parent name] and [parent name] — it's [your name]. Congratulations on [baby's name]'s [baptism / christening] at [church or venue] today. [Baby's name], you have no idea yet how many people showed up for you this morning, but one day someone is going to play you this video and you'll know. [Parent name] and [parent name] — enjoy every second of today. Sending you all so much love.

2. Godparent spotlight

[Godparent name] — [parent name] told me they chose you, and honestly, of course they did. Today you stood up in front of everyone and promised to be in [baby's name]'s corner for life. That's not a title, that's a job, and you are going to be brilliant at it. [Baby's name], when you're old enough to watch this: you got very lucky with [godparent name]. Congratulations to the whole family.

3. From someone who can't attend

[Parent name], [sender name] asked me to send this because they couldn't be with you for [baby's name]'s [baptism / christening] today, and I know that's hard for them. So on their behalf and on mine: congratulations. [Baby's name], today a room full of people made promises about you, and [sender name] would have been right at the front of it. Save them a slice of cake and have a beautiful day.

4. Grandparent or family legacy

[Grandparent name] asked me to record this for [baby's name]'s [baptism / christening]. [Baby's name], today you were [baptised / christened] the same way your [mum / dad] was, and [grandparent name] wanted you to hear that your family has been doing this a long time before you arrived. You're the newest name on a very long list. Welcome to it. Congratulations to everyone celebrating today.

5. Naming ceremony or non-denominational version

[Parent name] and [parent name] — congratulations on [baby's name]'s naming day. It's [your name] here. Today is the day everyone who loves [baby's name] says it out loud: this is who you are, and these are your people. [Baby's name], you're going to be surrounded by them your whole life. Wishing your family a wonderful day, and a great many after it.

Read the family's own request back before you hit record: if the sender wrote "christening," say christening; if they named the church, name the church.

Who usually requests a baptism or christening shoutout?

Baptism and christening Personalized Videos typically come from one of four senders: a parent, a godparent, a grandparent, or a friend ordering on the family's behalf. No public dataset breaks down which group orders creator video messages most often, so the table below is a guide to matching tone and intake questions, not a measured frequency.

Whoever pays, the parents' wording should govern the video. The Code of Canon Law requires that for an infant to be baptized licitly "the parents or at least one of them or the person who legitimately takes their place must consent" (Holy See, Code of Canon Law canon 868 §1) — the parents are the ones arranging the ceremony, so their spelling of the baby's name and their choice of ceremony word are the ones to follow.

Requester type sets the default tone for a baptism or christening shoutout, but the wording in the family's own request overrides any general pattern.

Is a baptism the same thing as a christening?

In the Church of England the two words describe the same rite, and churches differ only in which term they use. Catholic canon law uses "baptism" as its formal term throughout, and the Orthodox Church in America's official catechism does the same. The practical rule for a creator is to mirror whichever word appears in the family's request.

The Church of England states the equivalence directly on its official christenings site:

"There is no difference between a christening service and a baptism service. Some churches will use the word 'baptism' and some the word 'christening'. The moment when your child has water poured or wiped on their head is the actual baptism and is at the heart of the service. Babies are baptized during a christening service just as couples are 'married' during a 'wedding' service." — Church of England, Christening FAQs

The Orthodox side of the question has its own primary source. The Orthodox Church in America's catechism The Orthodox Faith uses "baptism" as the formal term and defines it as "the immersion in water," describing the godparent as the person who "'receives' the child out of the baptismal waters into the Church and cares for his spiritual life" (Orthodox Church in America). Neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox text uses "christening," so a request that says "christening" more often points to an Anglican service — but the requester's own wording still decides what a creator says on camera.

Both traditions are active enough to keep producing requests. The Church of England's Statistics for Mission 2024 records 26,100 baptisms of infants under one year old in 2024, alongside 17,800 baptisms of children aged 1–4 (Church of England, Statistics for Mission 2024). The Church of England's Statistics for Mission 2024 also puts the total number of people baptised or given a birth or adoption thanksgiving service at 61,600 in 2024, down from 89,600 in 2019 (Church of England, Statistics for Mission 2024). On the Catholic side in the same territory, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales recorded 18,754 baptisms of children up to one year old in 2024, within a total of 38,978 baptisms (CBCEW, Statistics – 2024).

Religious upbringing is still the norm in the United States: a Pew Research Center study finds that 86% of U.S. adults say they were raised in a religion, including 80% raised as Christians (Pew Research Center, Religious Upbringing and Childhood Education).

Secular naming ceremonies are the third option a creator will be asked for, and they are organised rather than improvised: Humanists UK describes its Humanist Ceremonies network as "the oldest network of qualified and accredited celebrants in the UK," operating "across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands" (Humanists UK). The table below maps the word a family uses to the ceremony it usually signals and the wording a creator should record.

Swapping "christening" for "baptism," or the reverse, can read as careless to a family that chose that word deliberately, so mirror their term rather than defaulting to your own.

What details should you get before recording?

Six details cover a baptism or christening request: the baby's full name and its pronunciation, the ceremony type (baptism, christening, or naming ceremony), the ceremony date, the names of any godparents to mention, the denomination if the family wants denominational language, and who the message is "from" so the video addresses the right person.

Popular first names repeat constantly across requests, which is why the spelling the parents use matters more than recognising the name: the U.S. Social Security Administration reported that Olivia and Liam topped its national baby-name rankings for births in 2025 for the seventh consecutive year (Social Security Administration).

On Brillay, a follower submits those details through the request form and pays upfront, so the information arrives attached to the order. Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request.

How do you address godparents in the video?

Godparents get a more direct moment than a general well-wish: name each one, name the role, and reference whatever the family said about why they were chosen. Ask how many godparents there are before recording, because the answer differs sharply between traditions and determines how many names the script has to carry.

The Church of England's official guidance sets the higher number: "Every child should have at least three godparents, two of the same sex and at least one of the opposite sex to your child," and although there is no official maximum, "three or four is usual" (Church of England, Christening FAQs). Catholic practice is narrower — the Code of Canon Law states in canon 873 that "there is to be only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each" (Holy See). A Church of England christening may therefore need three or four names in the video, while a Catholic baptism usually needs one or two.

The role itself is formally defined, which is why families single that person out:

"Insofar as possible, a person to be baptized is to be given a sponsor... [who] helps the baptized person to lead a Christian life in keeping with baptism and to fulfill faithfully the obligations inherent in it." Sponsors must "have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age." — Code of Canon Law, canons 872 and 874 §1 (Holy See, Book IV)

Most requesters want a warm script rather than a theologically precise one, but knowing that "godparent" is a formal, named role explains why a godparent spotlight lands better than a generic aside.

What if you're not clergy or don't share the family's faith?

You can record a warm, sincere baptism or christening message without claiming religious authority you don't have. Keep the vocabulary general — "blessing," "wishing you," "so happy for your family" — unless the request asks for denominational language you are comfortable saying out loud. Script 5, the naming-ceremony version, is written for creators who do not share the family's faith.

A creator with no religious practice of their own is not an outlier: the Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study finds that 29% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated while 62% identify as Christian (Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study). Families booking a baptism shoutout are usually asking for warmth from someone their child will recognise, not for doctrine.

You can decline a request you don't want to take. The Brillay how-it-works page answers the question "What if I get a request I don't want to fulfill?" with: "You can decline it. You're always in control of what you take on." The decline option covers a request asking for a specific prayer, a theological claim, or language tied to a faith the creator does not practise.

How soon should the video arrive?

Baptisms are often scheduled within weeks of a birth, so a family may be working to a tighter deadline than they state. On Brillay, you set the delivery time for Personalized Videos in advance, up to 5 days.

Catholic Church law pushes the ceremony early, which is why the deadline can be short:

"Parents are obliged to take care that infants are baptized in the first few weeks; as soon as possible after the birth or even before it, they are to go to the pastor to request the sacrament for their child." — Code of Canon Law, canon 867 §1 (Holy See, Book IV)

Not every ceremony follows the canon-law timetable of "the first few weeks," however. The Church of England recorded 17,800 baptisms of children aged 1–4 in 2024 against 26,100 baptisms of infants under one, so a substantial share of christenings involve toddlers rather than newborns (Church of England, Statistics for Mission 2024). Adult ceremonies are a growing slice of the same total: the Church of England recorded 8,700 adult baptisms in 2024, up from 7,400 in 2019 (Church of England, Statistics for Mission 2024). State your real delivery time on the page rather than letting a family assume the video will beat a ceremony that is three days away.

How much should a baptism or christening shoutout cost?

There is no published market rate for a baptism or christening video message. Brillay's pricing page states that creators set their own prices on every interaction format, and defines the payout as "Creator earnings = follower payment − platform fee − processing fee" (pricing). Price a baptism request against your own time, the message length, and the preparation it needs.

One workable structure is a base price for a single-recipient message and a modest add-on for a longer message that addresses several people by name — parents plus three or four godparents, for example. Any structure described in this guide is illustrative, not a guarantee of what a creator will earn. Personalized Videos require both a price and a delivery time to be set before a follower can pay, with no follower minimum. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate.

Related reading: for the Jewish coming-of-age equivalent of this occasion, see bar and bat mitzvah video message ideas. Haven't set up the offer yet? The full guide to selling personalized video messages as a small creator covers pricing, setup, and promotion. Lifestyle creators building out a full occasion menu can see how this fits a broader page in our lifestyle creators guide.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about baptism and christening video messages cover six things: whether a non-religious creator can record one, whether to say "baptism" or "christening," how fast the video can arrive, how many godparents to name, how to address parents and godparents in one message, and what Brillay charges. Short answers follow, each sourced to the church body or Brillay page that sets the rule.

Is it okay to record a baptism message if I'm not religious myself?

Yes. Keep the language general — a blessing or well-wish rather than specific doctrine — unless the request asks for something particular; Script 5 in this guide, the naming-ceremony version, is written for that case. Brillay's how-it-works page states that for a request you don't want to fulfil, "You can decline it. You're always in control of what you take on."

Should I say "baptism" or "christening"?

Mirror whatever word the requester used — that single rule covers every case. The Church of England's Christening FAQs state that "there is no difference between a christening service and a baptism service" and that "some churches will use the word 'baptism' and some the word 'christening'" (Church of England). Both the Catholic Code of Canon Law and the Orthodox Church in America's catechism The Orthodox Faith use "baptism" as the formal term rather than "christening" (Orthodox Church in America), so a request that says "christening" more often signals an Anglican service — but the requester's wording, not the tradition, decides the word to say on camera.

Can the video arrive the same day it's ordered?

Not as a guarantee. On Brillay, you set the delivery time in advance, up to 5 days. State your real delivery time clearly, especially since Catholic canon law directs parents to have infants baptized "in the first few weeks" after birth (Holy See, Code of Canon Law canon 867 §1).

How many godparents should the video mention?

Ask the family, because the number depends on the tradition. The Church of England says every child "should have at least three godparents" and that "three or four is usual" (Church of England, Christening FAQs), while the Code of Canon Law limits a Catholic baptism to "only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each" (Holy See, canon 873).

What if the family wants the video to include both parents and godparents?

That is a reasonable ask for a slightly longer message. Combine Script 1 (straight congratulations to the parents) and Script 2 (godparent spotlight), addressing each person by name rather than folding everyone into one generic line, and confirm all names and roles before recording so nobody is left out.

Does Brillay take a cut of this kind of request?

Yes — the platform fee described earlier on this page applies here, and there's no follower minimum to start accepting requests.

Create your free Brillay page