What are your dream Christmas Day timings?

[Elpheba]

Hosting for the first time, family visiting but all just coming for the day and from within a 30 min radius, no requirements for anyone to leave early to return a kid to a blended family, so we can kind of design the day/timings to suit us!
What would you do? In an ideal world I think I would serve Christmas dinner when it’s dark- say 4pm or 5pm so that people can get out for a walk while it’s light? People arrive at 11- light lunch/nibbles, some presents, optional walk, play games while food cooks? Interested to hear what other people do!

Arrive at 11, nibbles at 11.30. Eat at 1pm, finished by 2.30. Walk from 3-4pm, getting dark, winky lights, good digesting. 4.30 pudding and cheese. 5.30 exchange gifts. 6.30 movie on, chocolates and biscuits out. 8pm, sandwiches if desired.

Arrive at noon, nibbles, full lunch at 2, have a walk, collapse on sofa

My family always do dinner at 4 which realistically ends up being anywhere between 5-6pm and I hate it. I’d always opt for lunch 1-2pm then relax afterwards. That being said no point asking all of us, just ask the people your catering for if they’d sooner eat at lunch or late afternoon

Arrive at 11, light nibbles and gift exchange. Lunch with all the trimmings at 2, walk at around 3 so ots going a bit dark and you can see all the Xmas lights. Back home for games and lots of Xmas snacking/ drinking

Very much what you suggested @Elpheba.

As a single parent worried that Christmas Day might fall flat, I asked my DS’s for their ideas of what could make it special.

They wanted to eat a full Christmas meal, have us all dress up and eat later so that we could have lit candles on the table. 🥰. Meal at 17.00 ever since.

(we do have a lovely breakfast/brunch, bucks fuzz, pastries, cinnamon buns, yoghurt and fruit, mid morning).

What do people serve as nibbles? Never seem sure of this especially before a Christmas dinner!

Nibbles

hummus and bread sticks
olives
crisps and dips
the tiny cheeses you eat with a cocktail stick in the green / red packet
blinis with salmon and cream cheese
hot (as in heated up) spiced nuts

Arrive 11/11:30. Nibbles and gifts 12 ish, eat 2pm, then relax (games, TV, walk, catch up).

I'm hosting thanksgiving on Thursday. Dinner is planned for about 5 pm. there are 9 of us - 7 in the house the night before. We'll have breakfast and then will all go for a hike in the woods. Then back in time to put on the turkey (bought two turkey crowns this year so will only take 2 hours in the oven).

I'll have stuffed dates, blue cheese dip, smoked trout pate, salsa, chips, carrot sticks, and a cheese and charcuterie plate and drinks and people will chat in one room or watch the football in the tv room. DD2 will make an apple cider sangria. Then dinner when it is dark, candles lit, etc.

This way we get a walk in and I don't spend the entire day gazing at a turkey cooking. I simply couldn't manage a 2 pm lunch (although my mother did it for years at xmas - but we were up at 6 to tend to that damn turkey).

This. Early linch with walk, grazing, films, games etc later.

Otherwise it just feels as the sword of damocles is hanging over one’s head. Get the lunch faff out of the way early so everyone can relax.

People eat fast! We start lunch at noon and we’re lucky to finish by 3. We don’t have starters but that does include dessert.

That’s what I was thinking! We eat at 1 pm and are usually finished around 3.30 pm - the cracker pulling takes a good 10 minutes then we have the full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, Christmas pudding which has to be lit then coffee and after dinner mints. We have a leisurely meal with lots of wine and talking. Everyone is too stuffed afterwards for a walk! Nobody has mentioned being finished for the Kings Speech at 3.00 pm, a must when my Grandparents were alive, I guess nobody cares now it’s not the late Queen.

We typically like a walk late morning, take some fizz and mince pies with us and meet up with friends. Back for nibbles and gifts then lunch around 2pm (as others have said don't want to wait to have to cook all day), likely afternoon naps and film for a couple of hours then cheeseboard, puddings and games and silliness in the evening. Though we are at in laws this year so timings will be up to them and I will just go with the flow as not having to cook/host for first time in years!

I'd like to get up early, before DD and enjoy the quiet of Christmas morning before the rush starts.

But DD(9) naturally gets up very early on Christmas day, and I am no early bird, so it may not come to fruition until she's a teen.

Then breakfast at 8.30
Guests arrive at 11
Canapés 11.15
Presents 12.00
Walk 13.00
Lunch at 15.00
Board game 16 00
Film, cheese, and snacks 17.30 on wards

I'd like to get up early, before DD and enjoy the quiet of Christmas morning before the rush starts.

But DD(9) naturally gets up very early on Christmas day, and I am no early bird, so it may not come to fruition until she's a teen.

Then breakfast at 8.30
Guests arrive at 11
Canapés 11.15
Presents 12.00
Walk 13.00
Lunch at 15.00
Board game 16 00
Film, cheese, and snacks 17.30 on wards

Ooo double post.

For me when visiting family

arrive midday.

lunch at 1pm.

presents and a walk.

Home by 6, PJs, crap tv specials!

If I had nibbles at 11 there’s no way I could eat a full Xmas dinner at 1 !

Why are you gobbling down your Christmas dinner so fast that you’ve eaten, have cleared away and set up for a board game within the hour? Do people really do this?

We eat the dinner quickly, autistic young adults who don’t enjoy sitting at the table for long, elderly parents who find it hard sitting on dining chairs for too long. It will be different this year as one is now in a care home so not sure what we’ll do yet but typically:

Up around 7.30
Breakfast pastries in the oven
Turkey in the oven
Present opening interspersed with tea, coffee, pastries, juice etc from about 8
Phoning other relatives, go for a walk
Parents arrive about 11, gift exchange
Dinner prep proper starts at 12
A few nibbles, nothing substantial, we found proper canapes spoiled our appetite so just crisps, olives etc
Dinner at 2
Grandma watches King’s speech while the non-cooking people clear up
Snooze on the sofa, board games, TV whatever
Pudding about 5, grandparents leave
More snoozing, board games etc
Crackers and cheese etc around 8

We eat at 1. Cleared up in time for King's speech, then walk, then afternoon tea.

Ideally just the two of us and a house full of dogs. Up at 7 for coffee and one present. Then dog walk chaos. Then luxury breakfast - kippers and scrambled egg, bucks fizz, fruit and yogurt, cinnamon swirls, and lots of coffee. Then another present each. Then showers and get dressed. Then another present. Then ring family to say thank you for presents! Then pub for drinks with dogs. Then nibbles at home whilst dinner cooks. Presents. Dog walk. Then dinner around 6 with the final present. Then flop in front of a film.
If I am having my dream Christmas there will be a hidden present / late present to open on Boxing Day ... I hate it when they are all gone! Can be a bar of choc or a book or a pair of new warm socks ...

@Missingducks sounds like the perfect day to me!

I prefer to eat around 2.00pm: less time for people to get drunk before they eat, plus I can then relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Later dinner for me.

The catch is obviously that the chef misses out on any walk because those happen before dinner.. but for me, if I am hosting - I like that. Gives plenty of time for kids to play, means that I'm not rushing around in the kitchen in the morning when the kids are opening presents, and then when everyone goes out for a walk, the peace is perfect for getting the final bits of the food sorted. Everyone is then happy and hungry after a nice walk - whereas going from breakfeats to snacks to big lunch earlier feels so squeezed.

Dinner then winds down into kids playng, adults chatting around the table over drinks/coffee, and then eventually board games/TV.

So I guess it would be:

Presents/santa/family - Early - 10:30/11am
11am - family arrive for coffee/cake
Presents
Play
Walk
Dinner 4-5pm
Drinks/coffee
Games/TV