Do you envy (or pity) the women who have their Christmas decorations up already?
IT’S ONLY mid-November, with the rain pouring down and pavements covered with autumn leaves, but the shops are already festooned with Christmas decorations. John Lewis has unveiled its much anticipated TV advert and Mariah Carey is warbling away.
Yet which of us would start our own celebrations quite this early? Isn’t December soon enough for gaudy seasonal displays? For Aileen Shah, 46, who writes a blog on home interiors, the answer is a firm ‘No’. On November 6, with woodsmoke in the air and the sound of fireworks still ringing in her ears, the mother-of-three was hard at work decking out a 7ft artificial fir tree with stars, stags and holly berries at her Glasgow home. ‘I’ve got earlier every year,’ says Aileen, without the least embarrassment. ‘I used to wait until December 1, but now as soon as Halloween and Guy Fawkes night are over, it’s time.’
Protests, including from her own family, are ignored: ‘My husband always says, “It’s too soon, the tree’s not going up yet,” but because I do it all myself, he can’t really complain.
‘I put on festive films and music while I’m putting up the decorations, and I absolutely love the ritual. The Christmas spirit can’t start soon enough for me.’
However snooty about early Christmases some of us might feel, it turns out Aileen is far from alone. Last weekend, socialite Tamara Ecclestone pictured her five-yearold daughter Sophia on Instagram hanging decorations on an enormous artificial tree with the caption ‘Feeling festive’.
Another photo showed them in festive red pyjamas as they displayed their handiwork. Waiting until December is, to some, as unimaginably passé as leaving your winter wonderland private and unphotographed.
In fact, an early Christmas is becoming the latest game of one-upmanship, with social media influencers and celebrities rushing to unveil this year’s spectacular efforts, as a cursory look at Instagram makes clear. For those so minded, hashtag #Christmas inNovember brings up thousands of images of Yuletide 2019, from dogs dressed as Santa to plastic fir trees groaning with trinkets.
Top interior stylist Keri Sheehan, known as the ‘Queen of Christmas’, specialises in dressing trees for department stores and confirms that the quiet art of festive decoration has turned into a competitive sport.
‘It’s no longer a case of dragging some tinsel and lights out of the attic – people want their houses to look as beautifully styled as celebrities’ homes,’ she says.
‘As a result, they’re putting their trees and decorations up far earlier so they can enjoy them for longer. Six weeks before Christmas is becoming increasingly common. Instagram has caused everyone to raise their game, so they’re spending far more time, effort and money than they used to. People don’t care about tradition. For some, it’s more about showing off and keeping up with the Joneses.’
Coronation Street actress and Strictly contestant Catherine Tyldesley, 36, is already showing off a glittering tree bedecked with dramatic white and silver decorations. She has also revealed that she needed a bit of help this year and employed a team of ‘elves’ – another growing trend for those who can afford it.
There’s certainly no shortage of advice on hand for those who want to join the rush. Aileen’s Instagram blog is particularly popular as December approaches and her 20,000 followers look for inspiration. ‘I get a lot of messages from people saying they’re looking forward to seeing what I’m going to do this year because they know I’m usually one of the first to unveil my tree and decorations. Even if I didn’t have the blog, I’d still put everything up early,’ she says.
‘This year, I’ve gone for a Nordic look, with bold white stags, stars and flowers. I reuse a lot of what I’ve already got and add new bits to it each year. I don’t spend a fortune. I’ll add to what I’ve done over the next few weeks but it makes me feel calm and organised knowing I’ve already decorated the house. It gives me time to focus on shopping and other jobs.
‘I know some people think it’s too early – in fact, a woman messaged me telling me so – but I do it for my own pleasure. It’s a miserable, dark time of year and it brings joy into the house.’
Becky Evans, 41, shares a plethora of festive tips and tricks with her 71,000 Instagram followers. ‘At this time of year it’s crazy. I get as many as 500 messages a day asking me questions about Christmas decorations,’ says the mother-of-two from Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Last week, she festooned the 7ft
For some, it’s about showing off and keeping up with the Joneses
tree in her living room with pink and silver flowers, baubles and ribbons and another in her conservatory with navy blue and silver ornaments.
Some of the adornments were gifts from companies hoping to harness Becky’s selling power. As far as they are concerned, the earlier Becky shows off their products to her audience, the better. ‘This year has been the earliest I’ve put it all up,’ she says.
She also specialises in tutorial videos on how to spread some seasonal cheer throughout your home without spending a fortune: ‘A lot of what I buy is from eBay and Poundland, and I love using DIY to transform things. ‘I have a 3ft chocolate tree which I made using a polystyrene cone, a plant pot, a lot of cocktail sticks and five tins of chocolates, which I attached one by one. I say, put your tree up in July if it makes you happy. It’s not harming anyone.’
Traditionalists claim that Christmas trees should be put up 12 days before December 25, while others insist it should be done only on the afternoon of Christmas Eve – unthinkable in today’s culture of instant gratification. For those who want a real tree, the British Christmas Tree Growers Association recommends they are displayed from December 1.
A real tree should last about four weeks, and with Twelfth Night – the generally accepted time to take it down – falling on January 6 (though some say it is the day before) early December would seem a good time to bring it indoors.
Not that any of this concerns the ‘early Christmas’ supporters as they prefer artificial trees that come fitted with lights, which photograph well, last for years and don’t shed unsightly needles all over the floor.
Children are among those campaigning the loudest for a November Yule. Mother-of-six Sarah Phillips, of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, has noticed that her youngest children, Harrison, eight, and Ava, seven, now begin nagging her to put up the tree far earlier than her eldest, Gaby, 25, ever did.
Sarah says: ‘When the oldest were little it was always the beginning of December, but the youngest two were so excited from the start of November. The shops are full of tinsel and baubles, all the adverts are for Christmas and even at school they’re counting down, so they were begging me to decorate the house.’
Last Tuesday, she gave in, dusted off the family’s artificial tree and covered it in silver, white and pink decorations. ‘They were over the moon when they saw it, so I don’t mind looking like a bit of an idiot if they’re happy,’ she says. ‘I’m more indulgent of them because I’m aware now how quickly childhood goes, and the phase where they believe in Santa and all the magic is so sweet – I want to embrace it.’
Some have good reason to stage an earlier Christmas than normal. For Rachel Wood, whose son Taylor, 20, has Asperger’s and dyspraxia – a problem with physical co-ordination – it helps take her mind off the difficulties of the past 12 months. ‘It’s been a tough year, trying to juggle my job with taking care of Taylor’s needs, and starting the countdown to Christmas brings me happiness,’ she explains.
Rachel put up her decorations last weekend – and so great was her enthusiasm that she even redecorated her living room to match her festive theme. ‘I painted the walls silver and dove grey and sprayed my furniture silver, including my dog’s bed. I just love Christmas so much and thinking about what I’m going to do to my house is a big part of it,’ she says.
The 43-year-old mother-of-two from Luton took inspiration from her job as an experience host at London’s Warner Bros Studio, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Harry Potter films.
She says: ‘The theme is the Yule Ball from The Goblet Of Fire – it’s black and silver and at the top of the tree. I’ve attached a Hedwig the owl soft toy, with smaller owls further down. My friends tease me for putting up the tree so early, but I put so much effort into the decorations that I want to make the most of them. I want to enjoy them for longer than four weeks. I’ve already made a Christmas playlist to listen to in the car and in the evenings, I love putting the twinkly lights on and watching Love Actually.’
And as for the doubters, she replies: ‘Why wouldn’t I want my favourite season to last as long as possible?’
I’ve painted the walls and furniture silver, including the dog’s bed