How and when do you celebrate Easter?

[Sandwichlunch]

As a child, I was given a chocolate egg from each set of grandparents and my parents and we ate hot cross buns and toasted teacakes at some point but I don't remember anything more specific and also I don't know if this is supposed to take place on Easter Friday, Sunday or Monday.

Have a baby daughter who has received a few Easter gifts - a cuddly lamb, a new outfit and some books, and I don't know a) whether to wrap them b) when to give her them and c) how to celebrate in general! Doesn't matter this year as she won't know what's going on, but was wondering what other people do for the years to come!

TIA!

As a Christian, I don’t do anything celebratory until Sunday. My kids will have their eggs/little gifts from family on Sunday, we’ll do an egg hunt around the garden and have a big roast.

I’m making hot cross buns tomorrow. Then Sunday we will do egg hunt and have nice meal. Looking forward to it- I love Easter!

DH is Catholic so tomorrow is a day of abstaining/fasting and he'll go to Mass at some point. He'll go to church again on Sunday and that's the main day that we will do anything. I'd be happy to eat chocolate all weekend but that doesn't seem very fair on him!

Sunday.

Chocolate egg for breakfast. (DC- not me)

Hard Boil eggs. Decorate them. Roll them down the hill by our house.

Go to my mums for a roast dinner and mini egg hunt.

I mean, if you’re not a Christian just eat the chocolate.

What does it matter? Are you saying you don’t know about Good Friday, Easter Sunday etc?

Egg hunt and roast lamb dinner on Sunday. Hot cross buns tomorrow and over the weekend. We decorate the house and the DDs make cards for the neighbours.

Growing up we had fish on good Friday, Easter Sunday lunch with roast lamb always hot x bun in morning and in afternoon Easter egg hunt then over to family for sandwiches and more chocolate eggs.

I do Easter Sunday lunch too just normal roast dinner really with lamb and Easter egg hunt. We also do Easter crafts and I decorate the house with little Easter bits

@PuppyMonkey We're not Christians but DD will go to our local school which is CofE when she's older, and I generally want to celebrate the same way other people do! I do know that Good Friday is to commemorate Jesus's death, andEaster Sunday His ressurection but that doesn't meant I know how people usually celebrate!

Thanks everyone who has replied so far! Some of your Easters sound fab.

Good Friday means no meat and mass (dh)
But I will give dcs their treats Easter Saturday afternoon with a nice movie - Hop
Then do a little egg hunt Sunday. Roast.

All Sunday

Small gift max £20 and a few choc items.

Roast dinner not always lamb

Nice family day.

I love Easter it's one of my fave holidays. So relaxed compared to Xmas.

When kids were little we did an egg hunt in the run upto it.

Ok.

Good Friday - sad day, not particularly celebratory. Big church service (Catholic). Jesus dies etc.

Saturday - nothing much happens.

Sunday - Jesus rises from the dead. Hooray. Eat your Easter eggs today. Shops are closed. Easter Parade will be on telly.

Monday - normal bank holiday rules apply. Ben Hur will probably be on telly. Maybe Great Escape?

Oh and I know the meaning of it and have taught it to my kids but we don't go to church at Easter

Enjoy your first Easter with you baby 🐰

Only Sunday. Chocolate egg hunt, church, roll hardboiled eggs in the park afterwards, roast lamb for dinner.

When growing up we used to be more rigourous about lent, eggs blessed on Saturday ready for eating and celebrations on Sunday.
With my own family - I'm relaxing it as I don't always have time at Easter but might have days prior to Easter to do some baking/fun stuff.
So far we have decorated hard boiled eggs and had those for dinner last night.
Made hot cross buns, and today made a mini egg chocolate cake which will probably get started on tomorrow.
Any eggs the kids get from friends/relatives will be added to the little pile I've got for them and will be hidden in the garden on Sunday morning for a crazy run around in pyjamas...

We will have fish tomorrow. No meat.
Easter eggs are for on Sunday. We'll play some garden games and have an Easter egg hunt.
I'll cook a fancy Sunday lunch too. I love Easter.

Apart from eating chocolate eggs not much.

I grew up with somber good Friday mass. Celebration with happy mass, egg rolling, picnic, outdoor walk and chocolate eggs on Sunday.

I’m atheist now though so just go for a general spring celebration with the outdoor walk/picnic part.

@whenwillthemadnessend why do you buy gifts for Easter?

Just because my kids have birthdays very close to Xmas so they never got any garden toys. I used to get them a few little garden bits at Easter. Now they are teens I just get them a small gift. Dd is getting a pair of pretty earrings. Only £9 from Etsy ds is getting a new Beatles t shirt about £15. Plus eggs.

Ahh that’s nice!!

Hot cross buns on Friday for breakfast and no meat (having bbq mackerel this year) normally church but just watching on YouTube this year of course. Sunday (normally) it's church at dawn then breakfast of eggs, more church then Easter egg hunt. Dc are choristers

Tomorrow we are making hot cross buns and our Easter cake (any excuse for cake!)
Saturday - normal day
Sunday - egg hunt and roast dinner - I really enjoy this as my son has autism and Christmas is a living nightmare for us, Easter feels like it’s more ‘special’ as it’s family time and we actually enjoy it.

@PuppyMonkey

Ok.

Good Friday - sad day, not particularly celebratory. Big church service (Catholic). Jesus dies etc.

Saturday - nothing much happens.

Sunday - Jesus rises from the dead. Hooray. Eat your Easter eggs today. Shops are closed. Easter Parade will be on telly.

Monday - normal bank holiday rules apply. Ben Hur will probably be on telly. Maybe Great Escape?

Nothing much happens for most of Saturday, but in the Catholic church on the Saturday evening is the Easter Vigil, celebrating the resurrection, which is my favourite service of the year - there is the lighting of the Paschal candle, readings and singing in a candle lit church, bells ringing and often incense. It's a really joyful service.

Oh and the day before Good Friday is Holy or Maundy Thursday commemorating the Last Supper.

I'm a normal year I would go to church Thursday, Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday. I would try to eat less food than normal on Good Friday. Saturday and Sunday I'd probably eat hot cross buns. Sunday I'd have a fancy lunch or dinner with friends, and we'd give each other chocolate in some form.

Don't mean to be pedantic to the Catholic responses but there is no Mass for Catholics on Good Friday. There is a service at 3pm (the time Jesus died) but the communion hosts are not consecrated so it is not called Mass (if there is communion, hosts consecrated the day before are used). Easter eggs are to celebrate the stone rolled from the tomb so given on Easter Sunday which is the highlight of the year for Christians. Every Sunday celebrates this day in part, which is why the Christian sabbath is a Sunday (changed from the original Fri- Sat)