Christmas - a time for traditions?

Traditional Christmas Nativity Scene

Christmas is, for many in the UK, a time for traditions; for some they are steeped in the Christian message of the birth of Jesus, light and saviour of the world but for many of other faiths and of no faith Christmas traditions are important culturally and personally.  For Christians the significance of Christmas traditions is clear and shared across the Christian community although many have their roots in pre-Christian traditions as this blog explains. For others their significance might come from uniting with friends, family or their community. The village Christmas Light Switch On, the annual Carol Concert or perhaps the school nativity play - these are all important to many beyond any religious significance they may or may not have.

I am a great believer in traditions – they connect us to the past, reinforce links between communities be they based on faith, interests, location or especially relevant for me, over a thirty year teaching career, schools.  Traditions also serve to mark the passage of time and ensure due significance is made of momentous events in life – birth, first and last days of school, significant birthdays and marriage to name but a few.  As an Independent Celebrant, I consider the marking of such occasions to be of huge value and relish the chance to work with individuals, couples and families to mark these occasions in a way that is meaningful to them.  You can find more information on how I can help you mark a union, celebrate a naming , say farewell to a loved one, or mark another important occasion by following the links.

As a child, I went to Boarding School and the rituals associated with the end of term have stayed with me forever.  The penultimate afternoon of school was cancelled and whilst day girls watched a film, us boarders returned to our boarding houses and packed our trunks ready for them to be stored or collected along with us, by parents the following morning.  Looking forward to returning home after ten or more weeks at school was a special kind of excitement.

Putting up the tree, visiting relatives, watching the King’s speech or eating turkey; they

An edible tradition!

each hold significance within our communities.  I read an article recently that suggested that when you open your Christmas presents signifies the socio-economic class to which you belong.  Well, I am not sure about that but I do remember a Christmas of my young adulthood when friends and I hired a cottage in Devon to do our ‘own’ Christmas.  It was chaos because each person wanted traditions from their own family Christmases re-enacted by this new community – we ended up with a Christmas dinner that included turkey and beef, onion as well as bread sauce and as many vegetables as there were people.

Of course, sometimes traditions need to or are forced to change.  A change of circumstances be that for happy or sad reasons can dictate that a tradition is no longer workable in any given community and I firmly subscribe to the view offered by a wise radio agony aunt I heard a number of years ago, who said that if traditions don’t work for you or your family, ‘make new ones’.  I remember my first Christmas without my parents whose expectations of Christmas greatly influenced my own.   It was time for my family to choose which traditions of my parents we wanted to maintain - Queen’s (or rather the King's) Speech, Boxing Day walk and The Sound of Music were in and which no longer worked for us.  It was time to enshrine our own traditions which in turn will become those my sons evaluate in years to come.

I hope you all get to enjoy the traditions important to you and your families this Christmas and that those that no longer serve you well are replaced by new and improved ones and leave you with the over-riding message - choose your traditions, make them ones that are right for you and your family accepting of course that some are out of our control.

With best wishes to you and your families this Christmas time. 

By Catrina Young, Leicestershire Heart-led celebrant, Marking Life’s Moments.

© Hardingstone Ceremonies, December 2025