When does your Christmas Tree go up?

When I was growing up my parents used to put up the tree Christmas Eve after I had gone to bed but like you I put mine up the weekend before Christmas (which reminds me I have to try to remember where I put it away last time!)

My eldest child has a birthday on December 11th, so the tree always went up on the night of the 10th - until, 19 years later, my youngest child was born on December 10th, so now it usually goes up on the 9th.

Mid-December, then down again on the 6th. I have a tiny tree that fits nicely in the front window. I put a few 'nice' decorations in the window above it, and that's about it, apart from the cards, which are placed in the living room. It seems such a short time since I was last putting the tree up, actually .

I also have a mini tree - quite a convincing fake - which will go in the window a week before Christmas and come down at 12th Night. I'm away for Christmas but will leave the lights on a timer so that it looks as if I'm at home.

My eldest son's birthday is on 15th December so we always waiting until 16th so that his birthday was a special time and not part of Christmas. Still do it though he is in his forties with his own children now. I always think it is a shame for wee ones when it goes up so early and they have to wait such a long time for Christmas to come.

I have a son who was born on the 18th so the tree used to go up the evening before. I didn't bother with decorations last year as we were in the middle of extension and building work. I don't thik I will bother with the tree this year either as I am going away, I would be too worried about the house burning down if I left fairy lights on.

Christmas Eve. Because it's traditional and because the DGS can decorate it. And it comes down on January 6th.

The weekend before Christmas, and it's left up till 12th night. It's always a real one.
Last year I made a wreath for the front door as well, for the first time ever. It looked lovely but part of me felt a little disloyal because I was deviating from my mother's tradition.
How ridiculous is that
This year I won't put anything up because we are off to the States on 14th to spend Christmas with DS, DDil and DGCs! [highly excited emoticon]

How wonderful jane no wonder you are excited

Two days before Christmas, so the 22nd for us. Real trees cannot stand being indoors, and as we use REAL CANDLES on the tree - it has to be fresh. The idea of having a Christmas tree up for months on end really spoils it for me.

Thanks Harri, my DGD is nearly 3 and DGS 17 months so a lovely age to be with them I think
Hope you have a good one too.

During the war, when Christmas trees were hard to come by, I remember my dad went out in the garden and cut some privet branches which he and my mum decorated. I think there were lights, but that might be a trick of memory. Nevertheless, it was magic to a four year old.

wisewoman my eldest son also has a birthday on the 15th so we will put the tree up on that Sunday the 16th he has always had his parties followed by the tree going up the next day.
We also have birthdays on 23rd,27th and 31st December so a busy time for us and excited DGCs.

When I was a child the tree usually went up on Christmas Eve, then I went to boarding school and it went up the day after I got home - usually about the 21st. I'm not having a tree this year - no point really as I will be with the family for Christmas and anyway, I really don't feel too Christmassy for obvious reasons.

DD2 in Oz told me yesterday that her children feel very put out as they are the only ones in the whole of North Curl Curl, or possibly the 'whole wide world' with no decorations up yet! Her friend decorates the house, literally from top to bottom and outside - a tree in every room, with dozens of presents already placed underneath, and every kind of clockwork/electrical device known to man; trains running from room to room, Santa HoHo'ing in every corner, sweets and lollies in dishes on every available surface, cacaphonic carols being sung from Wise Men and Angels alike, in fact a Winter Wonderland in 36 degrees, topped out with a life-sized Santa on the non-existant chimney - and all this on 30th November - her husband even takes 2 days off work to assemble this magnificent display! No wonder her children are so hyped up by the 25th that they can't cope. Daughter is putting her foot down and they have to wait until the 15th before so much as a snowflake is stuck to a window - as she says, in that heat the tree will probably be dead by Christmas Day anyway

mine will go up two weeks before .only because of the grandchildren .it will come down on the 2nd .

Usually around Dec 10th, comes down Jan 6th. No trimmings, apart from a couple of pieces of tinsel, and a few Christmas ornaments.

Now we have downsized from the big family house we had when the DCs where all at home the trimmings have become those well loved ones that they made whilst growing up and special ones that I have collected over the years,each one brings back it's own memory when it's time to decorate the tree.

Gally, your daughter's friend's house sounds like a sort of nightmare film! You know - all the grinning, squeaking toys with evil expressions striding about...and singing...oh dear!

I like to do this sometime in the week before the 25th, whenever I can gather enough greenery & fir cones. It all came down after the children had gone to bed on the 6th so that the next morning they came downstairs to see my DDs birthday decorations

There's a house in this town which is always 'dressed up' for Christmas. They take donations for charity, but why not save on the electricity used for this display and just donate the money saved to charity? Am I a Mrs Scrooge? Bah, humbug!

I was always amused by the totally different ways in which my daughters decorated their trees. One would be very stylish, with carefully placed ornaments in limited colours, perhaps red and gold. The other would allow the children to drape the tree with their home made decorations, dolls, teddies, chocolate coins (which never lasted more than a day). I am not sure what it said about their personalities.
This will be only the second Christmas that I have spent apart from my daughters and grandchildren, but at least my sister will be with her grandchildren, as her son has invited us both up to Scotland for a few days.
I was in NZ last Christmas day - we had, of course, a bbq. This year I am not going out until mid February as grand-daughter's fiance's parent are going to be staying. I have learnt to share my family with all the other families that are involved.

Sadly, I won't be seeing my other daughter in Yorkshire, although I will be visiting her daughter and grandchildren while I am in England.

As a child the tree went up the weekend before Christmas when my father was around to get it and bring it home in the car and get the lights on and working.

We did this for years but we found that as trees and decorations went up earlier and earlier in December getting a decent tree, or in our case, two decent trees, one for the bay window at the front and one for the living room became more and more difficult the closer you got to Christmas. We now buy our tree about 10 days before Christmas.

Ever since DH bought a tree from a garden centre that didnt pass muster with DD we have made a bit of an event of it. We go out to a Christmas Tree Farm among rolling woody landscape, wander around a huge Christmas tree lot and having bought the trees and tied them onto the roof of the car go to a very nice pub and have an excellent lunch. The tree then stays outside in the cool until the weekend before Christmas when it goes up.

I have a few tasteful decorations,a beautiful garland for the fireplace and a tiny tree about 8 inches tall.
They go up when the Christmas spirit hits me, probably a week before the day.
They come down on New Years Day.

I am a bit 'bah humbug' but I always weaken in the end

janeainsworth when I lived in NY most people had real trees which were decorated beautifully and sometimes at great expense. They don't celebrate Boxing Day [we did in Canada] so everyone goes back to work then. They know nothing about the 12th night tradition either so we were always horrified to see trees already out for the garbage man to collect. Xmas dinner often isn't turkey as that is the Thanksgiving meal, we went to some Italian friends one Xmas and had pasta - delicious but not to us very Xmasy. Xmas crackers and Xmas pudding also not on the menu. I think that's why we frequently tried to go to relatives in Ottawa to get 'our type' of Xmas. When there we nearly always had snow and our relatives would drive us around in the evening to see some of the houses which were beautifully lit up.