Gwen Riley

October 20, 2007
Our Lady of Pentecost Parish

Rhoda contacted me only about a couple of weeks before Gwen's baptism but fortunately, I was still available. There have been cases when I met the client only during the event itself, but this time I met Rhoda (and her family) AFTER the baptismal ceremony. Rhoda told me the baptism was scheduled at 3:30PM and wanted me to go straight to the church. My sister and I got there very early so we decided to have coffee and cake at a nearby Bo's before going to the church. Even then, we got to the church a few minutes before 3PM. About 10 minutes later, I noticed that a priest was already waiting at the altar and I started to panic because I haven't even met the client yet. Rhoda texted me that they were on their way. A few minutes more, I saw a family with a little baby rushing into the church. They went straight to the altar where the priest was. I hurriedly approached one of the guests and asked if this was in fact the baptism I was supposed to be photographing (because I didn't know how Rhoda or Gwen looked like). When she said yes, I went to the altar and tried to get Rhoda's attention. I waved and mouthed my name to her. She nodded and then the ceremony began. It was a pretty fast one and when it was all over, the clock said it was only 3:35PM.

Rhoda explained to me afterwards that there was a slight miscommunication with the priest. The schedule they had availed of was really 3:30PM but the priest had to be somewhere else after, or something. It was a pretty stressful start for the celebration but things got better during the reception. I found out it was actually a triple-celebration: Gwen Riley's baptism, Rhoda's birthday, and they had a house-blessing to top it all off. With a lot of things going on, we didn't get the chance to take a lot of portraits of Gwen and the family. I did get a lot of candid shots and I loved taking photos of the lovely details, especially the cute little cupcakes and the colorful balloons. I was only hired for the baptism, so when I left (around the time the guests for the baptism left), the party (for Rhoda's birthday) was still in full swing. In fact, I was told they were still expecting a few guests to arrive later. The whole house was in such a festive mood that the little mishap at the church earlier seemed to have been completely forgotten.

Here are a few photos from the baptism and party.

"The family that prays together, stays together."


One of the cute cupcakes...Got milk?:D

One of the few photos I got of Gwen. She was only about 6 weeks old on that day and she spent most of the time asleep. I do love sleeping newborn photos though--in fact, I actually prefer them sleeping when they're that young. They look so cute and peaceful.:)


Click HERE for more photos!