Etiquette regarding buying a gift for godparents?

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I’ve never given nor received a godparent gift.

I’m confused by the maturity level of someone who would get upset over not getting a gift, go to work and complain about it, and then want his coworker to ask around to see whether he’d been slighted or not. Is this person for real?
 
I’ve gotten thank you gifts for my children’s Godparents.

My Godson is about 26, and I received a gift for his Baptism.

Our family tradition is that the Godmother will give the christening outfit, and the Godfather gives a religious gift (a crucifix, a medal of a saint etc)

But I’m Italian American, and being a Godparent has cultural significance as well as religious significance.
 
Lorelei12 said:
I’ve never given nor received a godparent gift.

I’m confused by the maturity level of someone who would get upset over not getting a gift, go to work and complain about it, and then want his coworker to ask around to see whether he’d been slighted or not. Is this person for real?
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He didn’t ask me to ask around. He asked me if, as far as I knew, it was a standard practice. When I told him I thought it was he got really upset. I offered to ask around mainly because I wanted to diffuse the situation and because I didn’t think he needed to base whatever his beef was on just my feedback. He’s usually very even-tempered and doesn’t fly off the handle. Again, though, I wasn’t asking for the sake of judging him.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
I’ve gotten thank you gifts for my children’s Godparents.

My Godson is about 26, and I received a gift for his Baptism.

Our family tradition is that the Godmother will give the christening outfit, and the Godfather gives a religious gift (a crucifix, a medal of a saint etc)

But I’m Italian American, and being a Godparent has cultural significance as well as religious significance.
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With my wife’s family, typically the Godfather took care of the fee/gift to the priest, the Godmother bought a gift for the baby and then the parents got a small gift for the godparents. With my family, the parents took care of the priest, everyone got gifts for the baby and then the parents would get a small gift for the godparents. Yes, just being asked to be the godparents should be the most important thing, but I always thought it was nice to show our appreciation with a gift as well, usually a photo of them with the baby in a godparents frame.
 
I’ve actually received those godparent picture frames for the godchild as presents from the godparents. 🤷 I put a picture in it of the godparents with our child and then use it to talk to them about their godparents (since none of my children see their godparents on a regular basis.)

When they are a bit older, I think it would be nice for my kids to acknowledge their godparents’ birthdays and etc, but I think the specific gifts are just a marketing ploy and attempt to sell more stuff. I didn’t give my sisters stuff labelled with “aunt” or my brother stuff labelled with “uncle” when any of my kids have been born, either. 🤷 (We also didn’t buy “bridesmaid” or “groomsman” labelled gifts for our wedding party, although they did get small gifts from us as a thank-you).

A prayer card or a nice note is just as, if not more, touching, IMO. But I don’t “require” anything from parents of newborns - they have enough going on as is! And I hope the godparents of our children feel the same way.
 
I run a small gift store located at our local parish.

I do not carry one item that is specifically for Godparents. 🤷

I’ve had a couple people ask me about it gifts. But not enough to start stocking godparent gifts.

And as far as I have seen, only one supplier carries gifts like that.
 
In our circle, at least, it’s definitely not standard, or at least we wouldn’t go for anything fancy.

Put it this way: when DD was baptized, her godparents drove four hours to the baptism, and then had to turn around and head back an hour or so after the baptism. We very much appreciated their making the awful drive to be with us, and sent them back with a nice thank-you card, a gift card and a map to the best between-our-house-and-the-interstate Starbucks (they both love SB, and we figured they’d need it with all that driving!), and a box of the goodies I was serving for dessert at the baptism party.

ETA: I also sent them a couple of the baptism pictures once they were developed.
 
Godparents are to be an example to the Godchild. It is more about giving than receiving. Spiritual maturity, humility. Do not feel slighted. Instead, turn the energy into praying for the Godchild, for his/her health, protection from our Lord. Sometimes our expectations are misplaced.
 
We have two children and gave both of their godparents small picture frames with a picture of them holding the baby at the baptism. They’re small, inexpensive frames but we wanted to get them something.

I don’t recall my husband or I getting gifts for either of our two godchildren.

I don’t think it’s a big deal, either way.
 
there may be cultural or ethnic traditions, but I never heard of anyone but the baby getting gifts for a christening. And, according to miss Manners (judith Martin, etiquette expert)there are only two occasions where a gift is mandatory: a shower( wedding or baby), and a birthday party for a child aged 16 or under.

But, if you feel it would be expected, framed photographs sound like a good idea. A memento of the occasion, such as this, would always be appreciated by godparents who appreciate the title and responsibilities.
 
pensmama87 said:
We never have, and have never received one as godparents. We give gifts to our godchildren and our children receive gifts from their godparents, and the recipients write thank yous, but that’s about it. (We do remember godparents in our prayers frequently.)

My understanding is that it’s generally poor taste to ever expect a gift, anyway, even on occasions where gift giving is common.
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I agree with all of this. This is what all of our family and friends do as well.
 
I talked to my coworker a bit more and told him that it’s not a common enough practice that he should have expected a gift. He thanked me for my (name removed by moderator)ut but didn’t seem any less upset about the situation. I then told him that just being asked to be a godparent should have been thanks enough, which I think is getting me the silent treatment. I figure he’ll be over it in a week or two.
 
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