To think it's a little sad to pay someone to decorate your Christmas tree

[DuckyMcDuck]

and house for Christmas?

A colleague of DH's was telling everyone how they pay a company to 'Christmas' their house including buying and decorating the tree and buying and wrapping all the presents. The kids come home from school to find it's all done.

I know everyone does things differently but that would take all the fun out of it for me.

Oh, and she takes them all down and packs them nicely so she knows where it all is for next time.

This is a wonderful idea. I would do it in a heartbeat.

I don't understand the "impersonal" comments. It's a service. Presumably they ask you what style you like and fit out accordingly. It's like saying that getting a seamstress to make your curtains is impersonal.

Seems a waste of money to me - but we don't decorate for Christmas at all, and we're definitely in the minority for that

This is the first year I’ve not enjoyed Christmas decorating - I thought it would be the highlight of my year and I had been looking forward to it.
However, I’m absolutely exhausted and just can’t be bothered. I’ve not long gone back to work after maternity leave and have spent most of my time removing baubles from my 1 year old! If it wasn’t for my 5 year old I’d take the tree down.

I love the idea of someone coming in and just doing the house and wrapping up. I actually saw on one of these threads recently that you can buy a ready decorated tree - this might have to be a gift from me to me for next year.

They can spend their money however they want but bloody hell that sounds awful. My DC say that decorating the tree is the second most exciting part of Christmas (the first obviously be running to their stocking on Christmas morning). Surely part of gift giving (and even my DC appreciate this) is the time, thought and care that's gone into it and paying someone else to put that time in is hardly the same!

@User77898

I pay a company to do this. They also do all our Christmas shopping including food (I let them know what to buy).

Dh and I both work full time. I have a big family and paying someone to Christmas our house means instead of running around frantically trying to get everything done I have more time to spend with my dc. How is that sad?

That sounds wonderful!

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee

Your tree sounds really lovely *@oakleaffy*. It’s nice to have long term deccies that make a reappearance

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee, I think it is how traditions go on the family.. If one’s parents or relatives do this, one gets the habit of it. My brothers are the same, they do their trees. As a kid, dad would make me sad pointing out the trees on Christmas Eve that no one had bought..

There was a story mum read about a Christmas Tree that a woodman dug up for his kids, but on Christmas Eve the tree donated it’s cones and needles to various people so they could keep warm.. and the Woodman saw the tree bare and ugly and cast it out..

But St Nicholas saw the bare tree and magicked beauty to it, as it had been selfless.

I can’t remember name of story, but it was a Christmas tradition!

Can anyone recognise the story?
Alison Uttely perhaps?

Is anyone able to share the cost of this service?

It’s nice to have deccies that mean something
I have ones the kids made, some I was given years ago.

Think the Christmas story is Alison Uttley “
The little Fir Tree, in an anthology of Christmas stories?
Another era for sure.

Yanbu. We don't do decor outside but I personally love doing the inside. We made a tradition of it. Music, wine, delicious food and my ds having a great time. It may sound silly but I love that we do this together. My ds gets so so excited and adds his own touch to everything, for me thats so special.

@Bzzzzzbumblebee @SomeonesRealName

Ifangyu ...

I think it's 'I thank you' said a la Eric Morcambe style (shows my age)

@chopc I pay £280 for my parents in the North to have this done. It includes two trees, lights, ornaments, nativity, banister wreaths for a 4 story house, front door wreaths, stockings and hangers, they leave little organza bags with cedar wood tucked away to make the house smell like Christmas, a centrepiece for the dining room, and gift wrapping gifts. They even give the house a clean for the needles etc. when they come and pick everything up. This year, they offered homemade christmas crackers with gifts from local businesses to help boost the economy a bit, so we bought a few which were about £40 I think. I'm sure it varies nationally, and I didn't really shop around as I live abroad so needed to be able to pay online and communicate over email.

I don't believe they offer a food service, but if I find out they do will come and update with the services/costs. My DM would not like someone else picking her food, and she likes to tell my dad they didn't have beef and so gets salmon

FortunesFave maybe a bit 'mean' but hardly controlling.

@FizzyPink I think it was about £800 off the top of my head. We did it through the business, with one of those companies that supplies office plants. That included the tree, all decs and lights, and they took it all away again after.

I wouldn’t want anyone else doing our tree. They’d presumably want to do it ‘stylishly’ and would sniffily look down their noses at our much loved decorations collected over the decades - some nearly as old as me. And I date back to the Very Olden Days. A very good vintage, though!

Here's a really quick way of wrapping presents.

1. Wrap your presents securely with clingfilm.
2. Paint the wrapped presents with red paint (or any colour that you like) using spray paint in cans from Halfords or a similar business.
3. It's important that you wear a mask whilst spraying the paint - but you can easily find these on the ground outside most shops and in car parks.

I enjoy decorating the tree badly with my children. If I didn't I probably wouldn't bother. I understand how it is a little sad to some but it doesn't bother me what other people do.

Everyone has different traditions and enjoy doing different things.

I found myself judging a colleague for paying for someone to teach their child to ride a bike. Then I reminded myself everyone is different and who the fuck am I to judge them🙂

Fuck me, I love this idea. Too late for this year sadly.

Personally I love decorating my tree and house, but it never looks right.

So I'd love to pay someone to make it look film-perfect.

Last year I was so exhausted I threw the christmas lights on the outside tree. That was how I stayed. I didnt throw them in a temper or anything I just had no energy left to wrap them round the tree. (I work full time and do overtime and run my own business plus I'm a single mum). If someone could have done the Christmas decorating for me that would have been one less thing for me to have done.
This year things are easier as due to covid the kids hobbies are cancelled so I'm not doing the running round for that as well.
Christmas chores are only fun if you have the time and energy to do them. If you are overworked and tired already its absolutely not fun so paying someone to do it isnt sad. Its sensible. Maybe it's sad that people dont get hardly any down time but not sad if they pay for some help

@PoppyOppy

It's only what a lot of menfolk do anyway, outsource it all to their wife...

This is so true. I don’t know any household where the man thinks what to get the children and family members, buys the presents and wraps them.

Marnie76 Sat 19-Dec-20 13:48:30
PoppyOppy
It's only what a lot of menfolk do anyway, outsource it all to their wife...
This

What a ridiculous comment (and agreement) . I dont undertand why certain people turn any topic and make it into a gender bashing bias. The stupidity of it is shown as so many women agree with the idea.

For what its worth , and if I had the spare cash I would do it too.
I dont enjoy it and its just a chore.

@MerylStreet

you do realise the OP doesnt specify if its a man or woman taking the service, but please dont let that stop your sexism