1st Communion for non-Catholics

[ourbabygirl]

Our daughter's first communion is coming up, and I was wondering the general protocol for celebrating, in your experience. My nieces and nephews are all Catholic and have had/ are having big parties afterward with white dresses, veils, gift and money, etc. Growing up, the kids in our Lutheran church didn't celebrate first communion until 5th grade, and even then, we didn't have a big party or anything (but did for confirmation in 8th grade).
She'll be doing it at the Maundy Thursday service before Easter, but it doesn't start until 7 and probably won't end until 8:30 or so (or later since there are so many kids doing it). Since it's a weeknight, we didn't invite relatives to come since everyone has a longer drive and/or activities going on. I know that a lot of the kids will be very dressed up and will have their relatives and godparents there. We've got a weird family situation going on with DD's godparents, so I didn't invite them, and DH will probably drive separately so one of us can leave early to put our 2 year old to bed. I feel like it's pretty anti-climactic compared to what my nieces' and nephews' families do, so I don't want DD to feel short-changed, but the timing just doesn't work out great for having a big party, anyhow.

How did/ does your family celebrate first communions if you're not Catholic?

Thanks for chiming in! :)

[jgenie]

We're Catholic but don't have any family local. Our church limits us to 6 invites per student so we're doing a small celebration for DS1. It's going to be the four of us plus the two grandmas. Our service is at 1:30 on a Saturday so we're all going to an early dinner then we'll have cake at home later. Pretty small compared to their friends and our families but it is what it is. We'll be repeating it next year for DS2. Congratulations!

[trales]

We go to a huge old victorian era church with very few members. There were 8 kids in the first communion class and each family had a pew or 2, it was the most crowded the church is except easter and christmas. We had some friends over for lunch after and playing in the yard. Ours was on Mothers day.

[123LuckyMom]

We generally don't do a "first communion", because most of our kids are given communion from the time they first reach for it. Mine have been taking communion since they were tiny. We do a communion education class every couple of years, though. I'm not sure if parents have done parties afterwards for their kids. If you want to have a big party, go for it! If not, and your kids feel short changed because their cousins got something they didn't, I'd go with the different families, different practices model. It's really up to you what you want to do. It's always nice to mark a rite of passage, but it doesn't have to be with a big party.


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[elbenn]

We are Lutheran and for my kids' first communions, the church held a breakfast buffet celebration where all the kids and parents wrote messages to the kids. Extended family and friends were welcome at the buffet. Then after the church service, we just had a family meal to celebrate. We took lots of pictures and the kids had on special clothes, so all of that made it feel special.

[KpbS]

In your situation, I would invite any close family friends over for dessert and coffee following the service with several desserts to chose from. You can serve coffee for the adults and punch for the kids. No worries that the two year old is in bed and no rush to get home or anywhere else.

[AnnieW625]

In your situation, I would invite any close family friends over for dessert and coffee following the service with several desserts to chose from. You can serve coffee for the adults and punch for the kids. No worries that the two year old is in bed and no rush to get home or anywhere else.

:yeahthat: keep it simple. If you are celebrating Easter at your home with family you could have your daughter wear her dress for brunch and serve cake or her favorite treat after the Easter meal.


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[vonfirmath]

Our daughter's first communion is coming up, and I was wondering the general protocol for celebrating, in your experience. My nieces and nephews are all Catholic and have had/ are having big parties afterward with white dresses, veils, gift and money, etc. Growing up, the kids in our Lutheran church didn't celebrate first communion until 5th grade, and even then, we didn't have a big party or anything (but did for confirmation in 8th grade).
She'll be doing it at the Maundy Thursday service before Easter, but it doesn't start until 7 and probably won't end until 8:30 or so (or later since there are so many kids doing it). Since it's a weeknight, we didn't invite relatives to come since everyone has a longer drive and/or activities going on. I know that a lot of the kids will be very dressed up and will have their relatives and godparents there. We've got a weird family situation going on with DD's godparents, so I didn't invite them, and DH will probably drive separately so one of us can leave early to put our 2 year old to bed. I feel like it's pretty anti-climactic compared to what my nieces' and nephews' families do, so I don't want DD to feel short-changed, but the timing just doesn't work out great for having a big party, anyhow.

How did/ does your family celebrate first communions if you're not Catholic?

Thanks for chiming in! :)

We don't celebrate first communion, but we do make a big deal about baptism. A party with friends, a gift of a religious nature (My sister does Bibles. But our kids get Bibles for finishing their AWANA book so my son got a devotional for his baptism instead). Unfortunately, my son was baptized at the Christmas Eve service so the party did not end up having anyone at it other than us and his grandparents. But he got professional pictures taken and was quite pleased anyway.

[DualvansMommy]

We're Catholics, so it really varies family to family. My sister in law always just had close family members over after church for desert, drinks and coffee. Sounds like that's something doable you could do for your family.


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[klwa]

In your situation, I would invite any close family friends over for dessert and coffee following the service with several desserts to chose from. You can serve coffee for the adults and punch for the kids. No worries that the two year old is in bed and no rush to get home or anywhere else.

I think this sounds like a good plan. My oldest is being confirmed this year (Methodist) and I don't know if we'll even invite family to the service for that.

[Meatball Mommie]

We're Catholics, so it really varies family to family. My sister in law always just had close family members over after church for desert, drinks and coffee. Sounds like that's something doable you could do for your family.


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We are Catholic as well, but don't have a large family. We just invited grandparents and the godparents (who also happen to be DH's brother and our SIL). We kept it low key - I think we just had an early dinner and dessert at home. Our church's first communion services are at Sunday masses during the month of May. We are our nieces' godparents and BIL/SIL are both of our boys' godparents. Same group basically for all 4 kids. For one of my nieces, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant after but she changed out of her dress lol. It took a lot of bribing to get her in the thing and she wasn't willing to wear it more than the hour service.