My godfather is my husband. He was the logical choice since he attended the RCIA classes. My Catholic baptism didn't cost a penny. Our wedding was another story. There were all sorts of mandatory donations that came up along the way, but were no shock to my husband. The one that really threw me off was the $250 to the wedding planners - the ladies who "volunteered" to keep all the paperwork straight and act as the go-between for the priest / cantor / altar servers. With hundreds of weddings/year at that parish, those ladies were hardly volunteers.

In the Dominican parish we attended a few years back, the preist refused to baptize a baby / young child if their parents were not committed to the religion. There were classes to attend, paperwork to fill out - too much hassle for a non-believer. The role of godparents were much less work, but there was paperwork there as well - they had to check to make sure godparents had gone through confirmation.

Onodrim - you've captured the essence of being a godparent. I'm glad you're there for them.