A small debate began on Twitter last night that I thought I’d like to expand. When do you put your Christmas tree up? Is it a symbol of Advent or of Christmas itself?
My family were always pretty disorganised and the tree would not go up until Christmas Eve. Although since the Twitter discussion, where there some pretty strong proponents of Christmas Eve tree decorating, I’m not sure that it was only because of disorganisation.
Since I got married, in a spirit of marital compromise (the Vicar comes from an early tree family), the tree has gone up earlier, and now the official date is as soon as we’ve bought our tree (always real, natch) and as early as possible after the Engineer’s birthday, which is 5th December. So this year, we may spend the afternoon of the Engineer’s birthday purchasing the tree, and possibly even decorating it.
I’m actually quite keen on having the tree up early now. I enjoy having the twinkling lights up through Advent, and especially since we have festive events in the Vicarage. We also have our Jesse Tree, of course, to take the kids through the story of the first Advent of Christ. And the nearer to Christmas, the bigger the flap in the Vicarage. It’s a busy season for Vicars, you know…
So what do you think? Leave a comment if you’d like to explain!
The Vicar's Wife 
When we moved we discovered that we had three Christmas Trees [this may sound excessive but at least one goes into school and class celing heights dictate the size] and having just moved again (we finally bought a place) now find that we cannot locate any of them! Found the wooden advent calendar for school this morning.
Rowan Williams has walking Magi who start their walk on Christmas Morning and end up at the nativity on Epiphany. has any one else done that?
Our magi start on the opposite side of the room and move a little (if I remember) each day. Our crib has Jesus in the manger but by the time the magi arrive the crib, animals and shepherds are long gone and the Jesus figure stands upright in front of Mary as the ‘child’ in the ‘house’ (as opposed to the ‘baby’ in the ‘stable’). I never have shepherds and magi round the stable at the same time. Its about being true to the story!
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
Traditionally trees weren’t supposed to be brought into the house until Christmas Eve, when they could then be decorated and were supposed to be taken down the day after 12th night. That’s what always happened in my vicarage as a youngster but that probably had more to do with my parents lack of organisation. In some countries it is regarded as bad luck not to abide by these rules. It’s also quite nice to do it all on Christmas Eve because it does sort of focus the mind on what it’s all supposed to be about. Putting it up early in December almost feels like paying homage to the great god of shopping and greed. Having said that decorations can cheer things up a bit. I remember one year, having left the vicarage, we kept our live tree in the house and fully decorated until March!
Here in the U.S. commercial observance of the “Christmas Shopping Season” begins, well, in mid-September I think, and most families begin putting away their house decorations in the first week of January. We’re pretty careful about keeping Advent Advent in Church, but in the home and around in the wide world we enjoy the season with our neighbors. Our tree goes up, with other holiday decor, on Advent Sunday or just before (our Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend at the end of November is the key to time-off for this), and then we have an Open House at the Rectory Reception with music, food and drink, etc., on the first Sunday of December. So, this weekend! Most of our neighbors seem to be in a hurry to take decor down beginning on 12/26, but we tend to get distracted. Sometimes we sweep the trees out by the Presentation. Or anyway by the beginning of the summer holidays . . . .
Must protest about the ‘disorganised’ slur! First we had to buy the tree and the nearer to Christmas the cheaper they get. Second we had to wait for daughters to be available to decorate it. Now the latter no longer applies we often have it decorated at least a week before the day…
Robbie tradition wins. Yay!
2 of us have December birthdays. As a child nothing was done until after my birthday. When our children were small, cards and letters weren’t started until after my birthday. The tree and decorations came down from the loft on the evening before the children broke up, and we started decorating as they came in from school – usually about 2. This year we will do the same – even though our only unmarried daughter will be 21. And we always listen to Make Way for Christmas (now rebranded The Gift) by Graham Kendrick as we decorate.
Our decorations don’t go up early – even if people are coming in to the vicarage!
We start Mary and Joseph on the far side of the room from the stable and move them nearer each day too.
Advent Sunday for us – builds a sense of anticipation with the kids. Love the idea about the ‘walking’ Magi – sadly we have a wooden nativity set which the kids play with, often resulting in cries of ‘where’s Jesus? I can’t find him? Oh, he’s in my slipper’ when the youngest has been at the set!
I’m pretty militantly anti-early tree. My experience growing up was that we waiting for my grandmother and grandfather to arrive on Christmas Eve to decorate. In my own family, I may buy the tree earlier, store it outside (in the chilly Long Island December air) until the weekend before Christmas Eve when I would put it up, but not decorate it until the 24th.
I have an Advent wreath and Moravian star which I put up outside for Advent. Christmas decorations are saved for Christmas and stay up through the Epiphany.
I voted 24th December, but often get co-erced into slightly earlier by eager children. Otherwise I like things when they’re mean to be and not aeons earlier…
So Advent calendars go up on 1st ( AS for the Jesse Tree) Stockings on the 5th for St Nick and outside lights ( only a row along the gutter) and the window light on 13th for St Lucia.
I do have some fairylights in my sitting room all year round anyway – so they’re on too, but they don’t count!!!
I have a twisted branch this year, from larger tree that was coming down in the middle of Penwith Moor. It’s cheap and doesn’t drop needles. I am going to spray some fake snow on it and it will be up asap.