Oh sweet Christmastime, the merriest, most wonderful, and decidedly most decorated time of the year. Whatever your holiday style, whether you fancy glamorous, over-the-top holiday décor or favor traditional Christmas decorating ideas like festive and charming reds and greens, one thing is fairly certain—you know when you’re going to decorate for Christmas.
Because you’ve likely had the same ‘deck the halls’ schedule for years, the decision has long been made about when and where the fresh Fraser fir Christmas tree is going up, precisely what greenery will perfect the Christmas mantel decorations again this year, and the abundance of welcoming Christmas wreaths—well, each door and window gets one, naturally.
Personal preferences aside and generally speaking, when should you decorate for Christmas? Etiquette-wise, when is the appropriate time to start? Is there any such thing as too early? When should you versus when do you put the Christmas tree up? As we recently learned, this topic is as hot as chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The internet is abuzz with opinion polls, but we conducted some research of our very own and quizzed who we whole-heartedly believe to be the finest Christmas decorating experts—magazine editors. Here’s where the results landed.
A solid, merry majority of our editor friends (65% to be exact) said that you should decorate for Christmas right after Thanksgiving or the first week of December, citing that this timeline gives Thanksgiving its due, thus a clean transition into the yuletide season. No surprise, as this schedule is in accordance with tradition and aligns with the start of Advent. And for what it's worth, the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park decorates on Thanksgiving Day.
Fifteen percent agree that decorating for Christmas after Thanksgiving is indeed the way to go but suggest waiting longer into the month of December. The remaining 20%? Let’s just say they were not shy about craving all the magic and merry well before the turkey dinner is served, proclaiming, “No waiting! Give me Christmas early,” even as soon as November 1. 'Christmas at Biltmore' begins November 3, 2023.
So what is proper Christmas decorating etiquette? According to our research, it depends on who you ask and there's no absolute right or wrong. Responses like “My mother always said to decorate not a minute before December 1” or “Decorating for Christmas is a lot of work. We enjoy our decorations as long as possible, so after Halloween is just right for us” are perfectly acceptable, we say. After all, this magical, spiritual, and often emotional time of year calls for abundant comfort and joy. We declare: Decorate for Christmas when your heart says so.
Amy Mitchell is the managing editor at Country Living and VERANDA. She writes about a wide range of topics, including homes and lifestyle content.
