Yuletide festivities are nearly upon us. For proponents of the Weihnachtsbaum tradition, this means dusting off the baubles and festooning your house with decorative flora — be it pine, fir or plastic. But when is the right time to put up your Christmas tree? Or should it be up already? We want your opinion!
Christmas tree image from Shutterstock
In Australian households, Christmas trees are traditionally erected on 1 December. (Unless you work in retail, in which case you presumably start decorating in early October.) Others wait until the second or third week of December, with a few lazy/sensible types holding out until the week before Christmas.
Personally, I prefer to wait as close to the big day as possible. When Christmas cheer is in the air, the ritual of building and decorating a tree feels a lot more festive. Plus, you can listen to Christmas carols without feeling like an idiot.
With that said, I completely understand why most people opt to put theirs up earlier. If the tree is only up for a few days, the whole thing feels like a massive waste of time. You want to get maximum tree enjoyment for all that effort expended.
But how early is too early? And when is it too late? We want to hear from you on this important topic. (And while we’re at it, let’s decide how long you’re allowed to keep your Christmas tree up after December 25.) Have at it in the comments!
Comments
14 responses to “When Do You Put Up Your Christmas Tree?”
1st December to 6th January.
I don’t !
Whenever I damn feel like it.
It went up a week or two ago, the kids love it. We aren’t religious, so it is our Triffmas tree and we decorate it like a triffid each year.
A venom filled appendage and rotten body parts?
Normally 1st of December but as I’m going overseas to spend Christmas with family, I can’t be bothered this year.
any time after the 20th of November is acceptable. I am a Christmas crazy man who forgets his green cred in December does his whole house as a beacon of Christmas spirit.
This year Tree went up on Monday November 26
Lights started going up on November 1st.
My defense is that the lights didn’t get turned on until Nov 29th
But I confess myself as an insane person
Normally December 1 but this year it was last week of November. Goes down as soon as January hits.
I don’t have a Christmas tree at all.
When we were kids, putting up the Christmas tree was usually a first day of summer holidays activity, so mid December sometime. It went down on January 6.
On the Sunday closest to Dec. 1, then down again when we get around to it.
Up on Christmas Eve, down after 12th night (i.e. 6 January).
Well that’s the theory.
We go for the fake tree so the putting together I do each year before hubby and kids and I are all in the house at the same time to do the decorating, always within the same week, nothing as sad as a tree not decorated. But overall the fortnight before Christmas.
I don’t have one now, but my mother is from Europe, and so when we were kids we did it European style by celebrating on Christmas Eve, not Christmas day. Lunchtime Christmas Eve, the living/dining room was locked (and keyholes blocked – still big keys in those days) and curtains closed on the windows. My parents decorated the tree and we weren’t allowed to see until the big reveal just before dinner. After dinner, the candles on the tree were lit (yes – real candles, real tree) and we all oohed and aahed, and presents were given out. Not from Santa. From each of us. Mum to children, dad, to children, children to parents etc… Of course, my parents bought it all so EACH present was a suprise for all us kids (3 +2 toddlers). The tree was only lit for another couple of days after, then packed up.
For South Australians its generally anytime after the Christmas Pageant which comes at the end of November