Methinks that a christening ceremony and celebration is the event you
should have...complete with videos and stills from all angles of her
splashdown (which means you'll need several photographers on land and in
the water) and of the major commissioning work

The advantage to that is, it gives you time to find and adjust/fix
anything that didn't quite work as well in the water as out...get at
least some of the commissioning work done...give SWMBO time to decorate
the cabin...so that you can really show her off. On the day of the
christening, dress ship with every flag, pennant and light you can
hoist...hide her somewhere out of sight...and make a grand entrance with
everything flying and a brass band playing (or a boombox if you can't
afford to hire one) on her foredeck. I can just about guarantee a
standing ovation as you slide into the slip. From then on, it's
SWMBO's party...enjoy it!

That's how I'd do it, anyway--in fact, how I did it for a friend who'd
bought a new boat a few years ago. Only a few of us--her closest
friends--were there for the splashdown, followed by a short cruise and
cocktails (LOTS of cocktails!)...we had the big christening blowout a
couple of weeks later.

Peggie
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Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html