Xmas Day - Lunch at 4pm - AIBU

[Moonshine5]

Following heated debate and reading a variety of threads. What say you Mumsnet community?
🎅
AIBU - that's a ridiculous time for Christmas lunch
YANBU - perfectly normal you heathens (note this is a light-hearted thread)

Depends how big/what time brunch was and how many rounds of pre-lunch canapes need to be fitted in

These days we are normally eating by 2:30 but 3:30 or later has happened in the past. No one is ever hungry, it's more about negotiating a long enough pause to digest the previous treats.

We always eat it around that time when at home. Sometimes later if I get the timings wrong! When we go to DH's parents we eat at midday! Much too early for me but they are lovely so I let them off 😀

we have a nice breakfast, quite late, salmon, scrambled eggs, croissants
so a christmas dinner is definitely not at lunch time

I have Christmas lunch ready for 1pm and enjoy running a parkrun at 9am🤣.

Most of the food is cooked the day before, i usually do carrots and Yorkshire puddings on the day!

We have sausage butties with Buck's Fizz and do the pressies around 10. No kids now. Christmas dinner traditionally served after the speech so around 3.30.

But this year we've booked a local pub. Table at 2. I love Christmas but I'm glad to be hanging up my oven gloves.

6-7pm here. Lazy breakfast, then presents, followed by a walk. Back mid-afternoon for mulled wine, cheese & crackers. Start cooking, then dinner, followed by games or movies.

We eat Christmas dinner around 3.30-4, sometimes as late as 5 depending on when people can get there.

My mum used to have to work Christmas Day morning when we were still living there so we would prepare everything while she was gone and we would eat later, it's just stuck now and handy for me and my siblings who visit ILs in the morning.

I don't really change anything vs a normal day - which is an evening meal... so I'm not with the majority!

I think the king’s speech was originally timed so that everyone would have finished eating and probably washing up as well. There’s just no discipline these days.

Not sure whether that was tongue in cheek or not, but indeed we always aimed to be ready for the Queen's speech when I was growing up, and I still do today.

Then a walk.

Same here

4pm is normal for us.

Are you saying 4pm is early or late?

Thank you thank you thank you
There appears to be a clear winner however I will wait until Wednesday before declaring!

The other factor is that it gets dark at around 4pm on Christmas day. So for us, it makes sense to go out for a walk before that. If you're opening presents in the morning, and then eating at around 2pm, that doesn't leave a huge window of time to get out when it's light.

Most of the food is cooked the day before, i usually do carrots and Yorkshire puddings on the day!

A chef friend of mine years ago told me to prepare all the vegetables the days before and slightly cook them, cool rapidly and place them into their serving dishes with some butter. On the big day when the roasties go in the vegetables covered in foil go in too and then they're ready to go to the table. It also means that there is much less washing up on the day, I've been known to have one pan needing washing as we sit down, the gravy pan.

4pm .....

We call it Christmas dinner, I’ve never heard it called Christmas lunch in the UK. We have it about 3:30-4pm. Gives the family time to do any visiting/personal gift exchanges in the morning, then arrive at ours (if we host), about 1pm, presents, canapés, chatting, Kings speech, then ready for dinner about 3:45, then evening drinks/games etc. Nobody needs feeding again. Works well.

We eat about 3. Morning is spent eating large breakfast then opening presents & maybe eating a few chocolates even. Any earlier no one would fancy it.

I like Christmas morning best, so I want to extend it a bit - but not too much!

So, for me: lunch at 2.00 pm, then the King, then just flop in front of the fire, knowing you've done the big event. This allows time for a walk in the morning (or church if you're a church-goer).

Perfick.

I won't finish work until 4, so ours will be closer to 5.
DH will be cooking

Whenever and whatever I like as it's just me on Xmas day 😁 bliss

I don’t want to get up at the crack of dawn now the DC are young adults thanks v much! So later suits. We have always done presents once it’s getting dark in the late afternoon anyway. Shape of our day is stockings mid morning, perhaps a piece of panettone and coffee, pootle in the kitchen prepping food and listening to toons.

12-1ish will put out seafood platter and other snacks eg sausage rolls etc plus fizz. People eat as much or little as they like.

Big lunch 3-4pm then presents afterwards. Games, and then put out cheeses etc at 8-9pm if people interested. Help themselves.

I agree with the posters who say everyone is different and that it depends upon circumstances. I think if there are youngish children, then an earlier lunch makes sense, then perhaps a snack later in the day if people are hungry, but everyone has their own routines, and this earlier lunch would be ideal for some and absolutely a no-no for others. 😁

We usually eat about 3-4pm, we have a big brunch and loads of Christmas nibbles to keep going until then.
We are definitely not a meal at lunchtime kind of family so couldn’t imagine having it at 12/1.

I make Christmas dinner much earlier - Christmas Eve 🤣. I decided a couple of years ago that I’m also allowed to enjoy the day itself and that wasn’t happening when I was spending hours running around a hot kitchen getting stressed with timing it all to perfection, missing out on my kids enjoying the day, them being overwhelmed by everything and needing more attention than usual… so sod it. Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, bung in party food and pizza on the day itself and everyone can help themselves to whatever plus a million bits of chocolate. Win win.