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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

183 replies

DuckyMcDuck · 19/12/2020 13:41

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.

OP posts:
AcrossthePond55 · 19/12/2020 17:06

I don't mind 'putting up' Xmas, but I hate 'taking it down & putting it away'. I also hate wrapping (and am shit at it). So I'd pay for someone to do my wrapping and take down everything and put it away.

DH and I seriously considered paying someone to put up our outside lights, but it's ridiculously expensive in our (US) area. We managed to do it again this year but it involves DH going up a 12 ft ladder (me holding & passing strings up to him) and stringing lights around the 2/3 of our farmhouse visible to the street, including 2 porches and 2 bay windows. We're in our 60s and I think it's getting too much for him.

Bluebaubles · 19/12/2020 18:21

@sergeilavrov I’m in the north, any chance you could message with their details?
@User77898 and @NastyBlouse, do you effectively hire their decorations, or do they put yours up for you?

Bluebaubles · 19/12/2020 18:22

I’ve spent the last week just looking at my decorations and putting it off. It’s making me so miserable

notdaddycool · 19/12/2020 18:27

I’m with op on this

RightOnTheEdge · 19/12/2020 18:40

If I won the lottery I would definitely do this!
It's one of the things I daydream about.

My tree has no theme, it's got things my dc have made through the years at school, things from markets and odd vintage ones from charity shops and just supermarket ones that caught my eye.
It's colourful and random. I definitely would want all those things on my tree still.

Other than that I'd love someone else to come and transform my house for me!

user1471519931 · 19/12/2020 18:57

Is pay someone to do my Christmas cards with personal dictated messages!

quitecontrary123 · 19/12/2020 19:15

I bet it looks good on Instagram though Wink

Twiddlet · 19/12/2020 22:24

Sounds like heaven. Can they wrap all my cards too?

Twiddlet · 19/12/2020 22:24

*write. You can tell I’ve been at the wine

PatButchersEarring · 19/12/2020 22:56

I agree that this is really sad. To us, the whole point of Christmas is relishing in the kids putting up the tree with all the little decorations they've made over the years and reminiscing about when they were younger etc. I really could not give two shits what it looks like- it's the love and family tradition that it represents that is the important part.

Ariela · 19/12/2020 23:05

I used to work for a small window dressing firm, briefly, but they kept me on file for quite a few years and every Christmas we'd do various house dressings, shop dressings office trees and decorations, and shopping centre dressings. The house dressings were the best, some amazing rooms to decorate, really enjoyed those.

Ideasplease322 · 19/12/2020 23:20

@PatButchersEarring

I agree that this is really sad. To us, the whole point of Christmas is relishing in the kids putting up the tree with all the little decorations they've made over the years and reminiscing about when they were younger etc. I really could not give two shits what it looks like- it's the love and family tradition that it represents that is the important part.
Do you honestly think it’s sad that other people have different lives me enjoy different things to you😆?

In my family we have some lovely Christmas traditions/ decorating isn’t one of them.

I think it’s sad how unimaginative people can be. If someone’s life isn’t exactly the same as theirs is not interesting - it’s wrong

Fozzleyplum · 19/12/2020 23:55

The idea seems a bit pretentious to me, in the same vein as interiors for which the designer provides the client with a "map" to show where each cushion should go. I prefer something a bit less "done".

My teenage DSs make a great job of decorating our tree and the house generally. Maybe next year, I should hire them out!

MsTSwift · 20/12/2020 00:13

Such sexism. Dh is great at presents and gets most of the girls presents. He decorates the tree too with the kids.

I would definitely pay someone if dh and kids didn’t and money no object. Not my skill set just another chore.

Henrysmycat · 20/12/2020 00:14

I’m an interior architect and designer and we do offer this service. Mostly to existing clients but we do others too. We discuss likes and dislikes, we take on board their existing colour scheme, what they’d like to have decorated (front door, staircase, rooms, tree or trees-one client had 3 trees). Then we do the sourcing and decorating and if they have their Xmas presents ready we wrap those too and place under the tree.
All this shorted by early November.
This year, We had to hire a crane to decorate every tree in the clients drive.
Prices start from £200 to £1000’s depending if you want to arrange for real reindeers with your children’s Santa.

Love51 · 20/12/2020 00:23

@henrysmycat
How long have you been registered with these guys?
title-complaints.arb.org.uk/

Henrysmycat · 20/12/2020 00:24

For those that say it’s impersonal, if there are kids and want to participate, I’ve always involved them on the tree. Teach them how to do the tree deco, the ribbons first, the baubles, etc. But most kids are not interested when there’s meters and meters of stair to decorate and outdoor lights to do.

Henrysmycat · 20/12/2020 00:28

@Love51?? What do you mean?

Henrysmycat · 20/12/2020 00:44

Now, I got it. My degree, (BA), was in Interior Architecture. I’m not going to build you a house but I’m registered with the BIID and have enough structural and engineering education to be able to do more than rearrange your cushions.

DecemberDiana · 20/12/2020 00:48

Whenever I decorate it looks a bit amateurish. So no I think if I had the excess money I'd pay!

I pay for a haircut when I could get my DH to do it for free!

Girlyracer · 20/12/2020 01:15

I think my DD would be disappointed if she couldn't help dress the tree. It's rather soulless to get someone else to do it.

I've seen a few on FB and Insta who have had this done and the trees look OTT and chavvy.

caringcarer · 20/12/2020 01:22

DH has not been well this year and we have not got our Xmas lights up.outside the house. I would love to pay someone to put them up and take them down for us. I feel like we are letting down our cul des sac as all except one other house have lights up.

Namechangedforthethousandthtim · 20/12/2020 03:46

I think this sounds perfect!! If I move back to the UK I will be asking for their contact details! Grin

ChestnutStuffing · 20/12/2020 04:04

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.

Huh. Weird. Most of the men in my family do some of the shopping. We usually split it up so dh has the people he shares interests with, we both typically get kid gifts, and he will take the kids shopping to get things for me. Generally speaking he wraps what he picks up.

1forAll74 · 20/12/2020 04:38

No I wouldn't pay anyone to decorate a tree,or any rooms. when I was married to my late Husband, we had quite a largish tree each year, and My husband and two children were in charge of the tree. It used to make me laugh,with the way they all put various things on the tree, like any old how, with no complaints from me at all, as it was all their work of art, however it ended up. I just liked to watch them all, while sipping my sherry , and eating some chocs on the sofa.