To prefer having Christmas dinner on 24th nor 25th

[Traballi]

Dh is from a country where they celebrate on 24th, not 25th. This year we decided to do a Christmas dinner at 7pm Christmas eve with dishes from both countries and skip the faff of cooking on Christmas Day.

We'll still do present opening on Christmas Day and spend it eating leftovers/ cheeseboard etc but it means the pressure to do it all on 25th is gone and things feel spread over a couple of days.

It's the first year we've done it like this and I much prefer it, I feel so relaxed this morning and just looking forward to relaxing today. WIBU to just do it like this every year from now on? We're in the UK and I've always done everything on 25th like my parents did but I remember my mum used to treat 25th like a military operation of coordinating timings to cook dinner for 2pm and it felt like entire day was too focused on that

Same here, we do a big meal on the 24th every year then an English breakfast and leftovers on the 25th. It makes the 25th so much more relaxed.

We kind of do the opposite, we have a buffet/picky bits on the 24th followed by presents. Then 25th is super chill as we just have picky leftovers (and a fancy breakfast) as anyone wants it and can slowly make Christmas lunch with no pressure and no extra trying to watch the kids open presents.

but how is that any different to having a Christmas dinner on the 25th and a lazy Boxing Day? Surely that’s the same thing? You’re just cooking a day earlier.

I’m long time married to another Christmas-on-the-24th-er

I find that things are not spread out at all and just over very quickly. Christmas Eve (23rd) is barely a thing as Santa comes on the evening of the 24th (a neighbour comes in a costume) so you aren’t ’waiting’ for him, and nothing festive happens then.

The main event doesn’t start until late afternoon on the 24th.

And nothing is done on the 25th. There is no ‘boxing day’ equivalent.

I have done it in a couple of the nordics, different branches of the family and it just feels like a much compressed event compared to British Christmas.

Christmas dinner on 24th, presents on 25 th with left overs, more time for everybody to relax and watch kids open/ play with presents. 26 th repeat of 25th eating something with chips. Said goodbyeto the chaos of Christmas day years ago and better for it

We're also doing an English breakfast on 25th!

Yes I think this is the way to go. Well be doing this going forward

What’s the problem or the AIBU aspect? You have Xmas dinner on the 24th. So what?

Yeah, we prefer it too. Haven't done it for the past couple of years for various reasons but will hopefully be going back to it next year.

The dinner on 24th wasn't a full on UK Christmas dinner, we did some slow cooked beef, then various salads from his country and roast potatoes. It was fairly easy to prepare.

We're still doing presents on 25th then seeing family on 26th.

We do this which means we simply start eating all the Christmas food one day earlier which I like 😁

When all my kids have left home, this is exactly what I will do. Have a nice meal on Xmas Eve, and cook extra so we can have leftovers as part of a buffet on Xmas day.

I think it sounds great and is what I would do if I cooked at xmas at all (so far always gone to my parents).. in fact I might suggest it for next year!

We had our Christmas dinner yesterday for the first time and so far I definitely prefer it 😊 Present opening will be today when everyone decides to get up lol 😆

Good to see a few have tried this! I think it works really well if you don't want all the pressure on 25th

My husband's a vicar and is really busy all day Christmas Day (including having a big lunch with the homeless charity). So we have presents on Christmas Eve and a family lunch on Boxing Day. It works really well.

I'm doing a low pressure buffet today and we went out for a meal and panto yesterday. You can do Christmas however you like so do the bits you enjoy and drop the bits you don't. Glad you're having a relaxing day @Traballi

There is no way this would work for a lot of people.

Most years I finish work at 4.30pm on Christmas Eve. Trying to get home and then cook a Christmas meal would be a nightmare. We'd end up eating at midnight!

DS' girlfriend is from a European country that does the Christmas meal on the 24th, but in that country it's a bank holiday, along with Christmas Day. They don't have a day off for Boxing Day. Also they do salmon which is much quicker to cook than turkey.

ETA I'm always amazed by the number of people on MN who seem to be able to take Annual Leave on Christmas Eve. I've never worked anywhere where the office has been closed on Christmas Eve.

In many European countries, the big celebration is Christmas Eve diner, while Christmas Day is much more relaxed than in Anglo countries with a stronger tradition on Christmas Day on the 25th.

In Spain, kids today have 2 different days to get presents - Santa on the
the 25th and the important one, the Reyes Magos (the Epiphany) on January 6th. Traditionally presents were always exchanged in January but Santa's global marketing made parents (and relatives ) dividing their presents into 2 lots.

I live in Australia and Nochebuena (Christmas Eve dinner) is still Christmas Dinner with my family. On the 25th we can go to friends, invite friends or do a salad if the kids (adults) are doing their own thing.

Do what works for your family.

But then it’s nothing to do with dates, it’s just doing less!! 😅

I'm always amazed by the number of people on MN who seem to be able to take Annual Leave on Christmas Eve. I've never worked anywhere where the office has been closed on Christmas Eve.

It's not amazing. DH and I always take annual leave from the 22nd of December to the 1rs Monday in January. Only twice my application for leave was rejected because I had to be part of skeleton staff. I work for government and my DH works for a large multinational company.

Many colleagues on both sides prefer to work thru Christmas. It's usually a very quiet time because the majority of businesses are closed or working at a minimum, and prefer saving their annual leave for later in the year.

I've worked Christmas Eve for years, but I'm term time only now 🙂

We're in a country where there isn't really a fixed special Christmas day. You can meet family and do the stuff on 24, 25 or 26, and it's all fine. DH and I had a cracking meal last night after DS went to bed. Today we'll go out to a cosy bar for a lunch (a lot of things are open here), snack on leftovers and I'll maybe put some of the chicken into a curry or something simple. Then tomorrow we've got family in law at dinner for the big meal and fancy celebrations. I much prefer this way than the stress of it all being on 25. But everyone is different and I know of other British immigrants here who couldn't deal with it well and wanted the home routine - fair enough!

Christmas eve is the 24th, Boxing day is the 26th

We had our meal yesterday for a change.

Yes, I am aware that those are the British dates!

why are you telling me this?