After photographing this gorgeous little baby and her equally gorgeous big sister & parents several times, I was so happy and exited to shoot her christening day. The christening was held in the Greek Orthodox Church and I knew it was going to be awesome- and it SO was! I really love learning about different cultures and religions and their customs (I even got a special blessing on me from the priest at the church!) and photographing the rituals involved.

So total picture overload coming up.

A beautiful (but chilly) day in NJ.

The christening begins at the back of the church. The priest explained to me after the ceremony that it was done that way as a throwback to the old days when people were converting from idol worship or other religions so they were assumed to be possessed when they were coming to church for the first time. They had to be blessed/baptized by the doors so that the devil was left outside. (ok, so that’s not word for word, but that’s the general idea).She was very interested in grabbing the prayer book. Godparents. 
This may be the last time she was happy for a while!

Getting totally undressed for the baptism. Her expression is priceless. It’s either “what are they doing to me?” or “listen camera lady- are you going to just stand there and not help me?!?”Even the very little guy is enjoying the scene.I was very happy no one dropped the baby, but I can tell you it made me really nervous and I was so glad I wasn’t the one who had to hold her. She was covered in oil and then put in the water. Very slippery!Lots more prayers, other oil applied, cutting of the hair and a change into her white communion gown. Communion (the Greek Orthodox church does all 3 in one shot: Baptism, Communion and Confirmation.) Pretty efficient, no?Proud parents & godparents. And as long as she was being held by Mommy, a happy baby!And off to the reception. This one cracks me up. Never thought a little baby could do such a “cheese” face!

Not being held by Mommy? No thank you.Lots of familiar faces!Grandparents.“My” Jake. You’ll remember him from his birth session. Since he’s literally been trained since birth (and even before) to take pictures, look how well he does for me!Such pretty ladies. And sooooo nice!Sisters.
Can’t even tell you what was going on here.No party is complete without face painting.Sisters in law.And again, no mommy? No picture.

Congrats to all of you and thank you for holding me hostage and feeding me dinner before letting me leave. Much love to you on this day and all days!