Welcome to Blogmas Day 3! Today I am going to be outlining my family’s Christmas traditions. This is definitely my favourite time of year, mainly because of the way we celebrate. I hope you enjoy!
My family are Italian and as long as I have been alive, we have always celebrated Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. The gathering takes place at either my mum’s or my aunt’s house. It tends to alternate each year. It used to be held at my grandparents house but now that my grandfather has passed and my grandmother is in a nursing home, this is no longer possible. On December 24th, we play games, eat a big feast and countdown until midnight where we open all our gifts. It used to always be the same, until 2011 when my family decided to get a little bit extra…
Almost 9 years ago, we chose to start dressing up for Christmas Eve. We would have a big theme one year and the following year would be Christmas related and so on.
Our first ever dress-up theme in 2011 was Disney Christmas. I was Maleficent of course! It was such a success, that we decided to keep doing it.
In 2012, we dressed up in Christmas related clothing. I was a more sexy Santa if you will.
In 2013, we did Superheros and Villains. I was Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas.
In 2014, we wore Christmas related t-shirts. Funny ones at that! Points if you know what mine is from.
In 2015, it was musicals! I was Morticia from The Addams Family. Yes, that is a musical!
In 2016, we wore Christmas related pj’s and onesies!
In 2017, we went big with an ‘Around the World’ theme. I picked France, so naturally I went as a mime.
In 2018, we picked out of a hat one of Santa’s reindeer or Mr & Mrs Claus. If you picked Dancer for example, you could come as a ballerina. It was all about getting creative. I got Mrs Claus! Abigail is wearing an adorable Rudolph onesie.
Pretty wacky family right? I wouldn’t change it for the world! This year our theme may be one of my favourites: CHRISTMAS AT HOGWARTS! We will be dressing up as characters from Harry Potter and transforming the evening into a very magical place. I will do a whole photo diary of the night which will be up Christmas Day. I am so so excited. I can’t wait to show you all my costume.
Since having Abigail, we have now changed the events so that we eat first, open presents and then play games until midnight. This gives us the chance to give and receive gifts but also get Abi to bed at a reasonable time. An almost 18 month old just can’t stay up till midnight. Once she’s a bit older though, we can resume as normal. On Christmas Day, my mum typically likes to see us in the morning and give us a stocking stuffer. I then go with my husband to see his family and we celebrate with them for lunch. On Boxing Day, it’s Francis’s birthday so we do something for him. It’s a very busy but super fun time.
Also, one more Christmas tradition that we have is putting up my mum’s tree in early December. We all go over to her place and play a Disney Christmas CD that we’ve been listening to every year since we were children. I am going to do a whole blog post for that particular day.
What do you think of my family’s Christmas traditions? What are yours? I would love know. Thank you for reading and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Peace & Love xoxo
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