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Everyone has their own traditions for the festive seasons they celebrate. Fans of Friends will recall the Season 1 episode featuring their very first Thanksgiving dinner together. The host – Monica of course – ended up making three different types of potatoes, because Phoebe, Ross and Joey all expected them to be done a certain way. That was their tradition.
So as Christmas approaches, what are the festive traditions in your household? Some of them may be things that many others do as well. But some – just like the potatoes – may be unique traditions that have evolved over the years without you realising.
Just for fun, let’s take a quick look at ten typical Christmas traditions in the UK.
The pressure in the UK to decorate your home at Christmas is tremendous. Or should that be tree-mendous! It seems as soon as the schools go back in September, the Christmas countdown is on and shops start to display their Christmas stock.
It can be tempting not to bother decorating your home. After all, when you think of getting everything out, arranging it, only to have to clear it all up again just a couple of weeks later it can feel a bit like a waste of time and effort. But you’ll probably realise that there is now a tradition of decorating your home in a certain way for Christmas and there is no way you’re going to get away with not doing it.
And then of course there’s Christmas food. There seems to be an unwritten rule that you simply have to have certain things at Christmas : whether you like them or not! This list could include any combination of turkey, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, brussels sprouts, mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, brandy butter.
Even if you’d actually prefer something completely different, the food you have at Christmas is likely to be the same food that you always have, simply because that’s the way things are.
Don’t we all love to hate Christmas crackers! The terrible jokes, the tatty hats, and the whole process of linking arms, pulling crackers then having to scrabble around for the contents that always seem to fly off somewhere else. But still we have them.
There’s something a little nostalgic about the whole Christmas cracker process that just seems to bring everyone together. And of course you can pay more for luxury crackers or even make your own. But somehow the cheap crackers with the corniest jokes and the tattiest gifts are still the best.
Just why do some of us get so worked up about Christmas ads? Just as with the decorations, Christmas ads start horribly early. But the main hype is for some of the biggest ads which tend to appear around the end of November. Think John Lewis, M&S, Sainsburys, Tesco and the like. And this year the competition has been particularly intense, with Asda’s Elf and Cadburys Secret Santa also gaining a lot of attention both from customers and marketing experts.
So yes, they are all only ads, and we know that the aim is just to get us to buy stuff. But for many people they have become a Christmas tradition we would now miss if it didn’t happen.
Entertainment is a big part of Christmas too, and every family has their own traditions here. One very popular tradition for many families is to watch the Queen’s Christmas Day broadcast.
Sadly, the last one for the late Queen Elizabeth was Christmas 2021, so that tradition has now gone. But King Charles will be making his first broadcast on Christmas Day 2022, which will be the beginning of years of a new CHristmas tradition for those that will be watching.
Of course, one of the main places we see the big-hitting Christmas ads is on TV. And there are also a whole host of Christmas TV specials to watch as well. Which are the traditional ones in your household?
This year’s Christmas TV special line up includes Strictly Come Dancing, Dr Who, Pointless Celebrities, Top Gear and Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas. To name but a few. So whatever floats your boat, make sure you check the TV schedules so you don’t miss out.
As well as Christmas TV specials, there are seemingly hundreds of Christmas films to watch : there are even dedicated TV and streaming channels just with Christmas films. The Christmas films being shown range from old favourites such as It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street to the seemingly endless new Christmas and holiday films appearing every day.
But many people have one or more Christmas-related films they simply have to watch, otherwise Christmas is not Christmas. Tastes differ, but perhaps one or more of Elf, Love Actually, Home Alone, Die Hard, The Polar Express or The Nightmare before Christmas may feature on your “must see” list?
Christmas is also a time for getting out and about, and the UK now has a wide range of Christmas markets if this is your thing. Some cities have them running over the whole of the festive season, whereas local towns, villages or pubs may just have them on for a day or two.
Time flies past so quickly, particularly at this time of year, so if you love a Christmas market, check out what is do-able for you and make it happen.
If you have children you are still likely to have to make the pilgrimage to visit your local Santa. But don’t automatically go to the first one you think of. You may be able to get a more fun experience – and a better deal – if you go more niche, and look for smaller venues with a Santa rather than large stores, garden centres or leisure parks.
Check out local festive events such as Christmas fairs and community events, historical venues such as National Trust, museums and galleries. Find Santa in a place that you will enjoy anyway, and you can’t go far wrong.
Last but not least, if you have a tradition of visiting a pantomime, you’d better get on with it. Oh yes you had! Perhaps you always go to the same venue but take a look around to see if there are others you could go to instead, which would mean maintaining the tradition but also ringing the changes.
Or take a look at other forms of entertainment happening locally. There is a lot going on in many small towns and villages. Perhaps you’ll find open air carol singing, or a pub visit by a traditional group such as the mummers, who perform dramatic folk plays based on a central fight, all in impressive costumes.
So take the opportunity to vary your tradition and be entertained, but perhaps in a slightly different way this year.
Whatever traditions you either maintain or change this Christmas, we hope you have a wonderful time. And don’t forget that you can preserve your happy memories by taking some great photos and letting Print Your Memory transform them into wall art or table art for your home. You can then keep your top Christmas traditions live for years to come.
Check back here soon for more lifestyle and photography tips from Print Your Memory.
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