Daniella's Coming of Age Ceremony

The day after my grandmother's funeral, we had a coming of age ceremony for my older daughter, Daniella.  It was such a beautiful, precious day. I organised it because I wanted to have a gathering of women to affirm and celebrate my daughter and for her to know that there is a company of women that will cheer her on and guide her, as she begins her journey into womanhood. Also I wanted her to feel that the changes that she goes through should be celebrated rather than something to be embarrassed or feel awkward about. The theme of the day was butterflies.

These were the invitations I sent out. I enjoyed making each one though it took me ages to collage the butterflies using magazine images, and sew the buttons onto each one!

My gorgeous friend Elle, took the most beautiful pictures of the day, and made a stunning photo book for Daniella as a keepsake. All the photos below were taken by her. She's a really wonderful photographer and there are more examples of her work on her flickr page.
I painted a picture to give to Daniella as a present.  It isn't an exact replica of her,  I painted a young woman that may be a version of her as she grows. (I got quite carried away with it and it ended up being a really large canvas!)

The room looked so beautiful, she was so thrilled. Lots of twinkly lights, lanterns and flowers in teacups.                                                               

For the ceremony, each lady lit a tealight and placed it in a jar and we all went outside and made a candlelit path leading to a tree illuminated with lights and hanging lanterns. We lit the tealights to symbolise the fact that we would be there to light her path and provide guidance throughout her journey. She then walked through the path and all the ladies welcomed her under the tree. Trees symbolise strength, wisdom and fruitfulness. My prayer for Daniella is that she will like a 'tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever she does shall prosper' (from the book of Psalms).

Under the tree,  Daniella read out her desires for the future and each lady read to her any words of wisdom, scripture or wishes for her that they had. They had each been given a paper butterfly to write these on before the ceremony and for Daniella to keep afterwards. I was blown away by the thought and care that they had put into these. I'm sure she'll look back at these words of wisdom in the years to come.

Afterwards we all had a lovely meal together. I tried to incorporate the butterfly theme into most things, including the food labels and even the cupcake cases.

 There was singing afterwards with performances from my younger daughter, family and friends.
(My younger daughter has already told me that when the time comes, she'd like the theme of her coming of age ceremony to be birds and flowers, I can't wait!)

Each guest was given a take home gift which consisted of iced butterfly biscuits wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon.

I so enjoyed the day and also the whole process of planning it and putting it together. I loved making all the butterfly things, and very importantly, I learnt the value of sticking with an idea and seeing it through to its completion even if it seems a bit 'out there' and not the norm. Even though there was sadness in our hearts because of my grandmother's passing, it was a day filled with so much joy and love and the amazing generosity of family and friends. Moments of beauty don't always just happen, they can be created, even in the midst of sorrow. It was so worth seeing the look on my girl's face surrounded by such love and support. I am immeasurably proud of her and love the person that she is, and the woman that she is becoming.