Are you hosting or guesting* this Christmas?

[GreatUserName]

Or just spending it by yourselves?

*Heard it phrased like this on the radio!

We are going to host this year, between 12 - 17 of us 😬

Guesting....all the family plus hangers-on gathering at my sister's, it's so lovely. The only time so many of us get together and catch up on the year and each other, I look forward to it immensely.

Hosting - total six adults

Hosting. Not huge numbers at any one time but a steady flow. 4th year in a row but I genuinely don’t mind if we host or guest. We have the easiest house for hosting and our families are nice.

Just the 2 of us, going to a cottage by the sea. No Xmas food but plenty of cheese, wine and chocolate

Just the two of us. My family are dead, dh's not interested, ds overseas.

@soocool and @LoudPlumDog will you celebrate Christmas at your destination?

Just us for Christmas and new years. Just how I like it. We are grateful to not have family around at Christmas which means we can just do our own thing.

I always cook dinner but I don't think we've got guests this year. Possibly one. A couple round for boxing day for leftovers maybe.

I have only been a guest once in Spain and it was absolute heaven. Spanish Xmas dinner is something else!

We have always spent it by ourselves before and after children. There are so many posts that complain about going here and there and having to host people they don't want to. Start how you mean to go on.

Hosting in my tiny cottage which will burst at the seams, for six Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Then they can all bugger off and leave me with the leftovers. I celebrate New Year on 21 December, so once Christmas is over I breathe a sigh of relief and go back to normal!

Neither 😂 Just us and the kids out for a meal on Christmas Eve and dinner at home on Christmas Day. Seeing friends several times over Christmas, but out at restaurants and bars.

Guesting for 5 nights! Then hosting for the evening on NYE.

I always host, 8 and 3 children this year arriving Christmas Eve 2 leaving day after boxing, the others on the 2nd of Jan. going to be busy but I love it

both - twice for both

Well we go to Estepona in Southern Spain, and TBH it's a working town, so not too many visitors out of season, but some just the same. The real celebrations in Spain are on 6th January, Dia los Reyes, the day of the Three Kings and it's a wonderful day of parades and so on totally focusing on children.

On Christmas Day, the buses are running, the restaurants are open, as are supermarkets. The Spanish have their family Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve. So no, we don't celebrate it much, but have a very enjoyable day pottering about by the beach, and having a tapas feast in the local hostelry around 5pm. We are not late nighters, so it's back, put the feet up and watch some crap on Netflix usually. Very "us" and very enjoyable. This is our 4th year doing this, and so far the weather has been very good. I've put the hex on it now lol! But we have raincoats and umbrellas haha.

Each to their own I suppose though. I hosted Christmas for many years when my parents were alive, we don't have children so this works for us now.

Chilling

We're going to family. I love my family, I hate the place they live. It's a trial to get to, miserable when we're there and a trial to get away from.

Sort of guesting on Christmas Day. Going to my Dad's house. He will cook (with a bit of help from my sister) and I'll wash up.

Going to my brother's house on St. Stephen's Day. He lives nearby. He does the meat/fish and I bring the veg. I also wash up.

Might be hosting on the 27th, but only for two or three extra people, so it's not too onerous.

Neither!

I would love to host, but all my family are doing their own thing this year. We haven't been invited to go to anybody, so we are going to Butlins.

7 of us , skiing in the Dolomites . Cannot wait !!! The relief of having nothing to do for Christmas is great 😊.

I'm in awe at the people hosting large numbers wow fair play! We will have 8-10, one year we did both family's together and to be honest it was very stressful and I didn't enjoy it at all. Broke it into one or the other from.then on to make it more manageable.

That sounds so cool @soocool 😁

As does skiing in the Dolomites and Christmas at Butlins!

A bit of mix really. We bought a big reno project and haven’t started the kitchen yet. The oven isn’t the best and after last years attempt to cook with it I said never again!
Everyone is arriving at mine at 8 to see the kids open presents. Breakfast at ours then walking round to my mums to eat. I’ve made lots of the stuff that can be done ahead of time (and not burnt by my dodgy oven)
We will clear up for her and then come back here for the evening.
Loads coming on Boxing Day for a buffet (little down in the oven a possible 😆)
Its my first time not cooking Xmas dinner in 18 years!

Neither 😀🍾

I guess I’m ‘semi-guesting’ 😏I’ve rented a small cottage near my where my father and his partner live (250 miles from me) but I’ve suggested that I do all the cooking etc at their house and we eat there. Usually they come to me in whatever property I’ve rented and bring some of the food with them. It’s such a faff and my Dad’s partner gets stressed out by it all and is a pretty terrible cook anyway. It’ll be so much easier if they let me do the cooking instead and do it all at their house. His partner can have a lie-in (she’s not a morning person) and I can cook a Christmas meal standing on my head (I used to work in catering) so it’s no stress for me at all. The only reason we haven’t done that in the past is because I’m allergic to cats and his partner has cats so we’ve avoided being in their house but in recent years my allergy hasn’t bothered me as much and I’m fine in their house for a few hours.

The downside is that my father is reluctant to let me cook / hosts at theirs as I’ll have already driven for 8+ hours to get there, and they’re both retired whereas I have a very full-on job so he sees it as unfair on me that I don’t get to have a rest. Frankly, I’d rather eat decent food and I’m more than happy to cook etc. I can rest later. So we’ll see.