The best time to celebrate Christmas isn’t December

Part 1. Before the party

A candle-lit gingerbread village glows on a window sill

One of the only downsides, if you can really call it that, of living in Australia is that Christmas falls in summer. 

So much of the Christmas imagery we have grown up with comes from the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, I can’t name a single Australian Christmas movie at all. There’s a gap in the market for any film makers out there.

So, we are familiar with scenes of snow-covered villages, mugs full of steaming hot chocolate, roast dinners scenting the house with savoury aromas, twinkling lights as night closes in early.

Instead, our December is warm, not usually at the height of summer heat, but warm enough. Cold ham and prawns are more welcome than casseroles, children play under the backyard sprinklers, and seeing Christmas lights at their most magical means a late bedtime.

I wouldn’t swap our Christmas for anything, but there is something enchanting about the cosy winter traditions that I have seen and read about.

December is also hectic; for many of us, work is winding down for the Christmas break, the children are on summer holidays, and it is a juggling act to get the shopping, decorating and socialising done.

For too many years, I have exchanged texts with people saying that we must catch up before Christmas. 

For too many years, we haven’t. 

Time ebbs away, Christmas comes and goes, the Boxing Day Test match and Sydney to Hobart yacht race are watched and then all too quickly, we are back at work, and another year rolls around, without having seen our friends.

Winter Christmas without the Long Haul Flight

I have wanted to have a wintery Christmas for many years as a way to indulge in the traditions that have become familiar from books and screen, without the long-haul flight, expensive accommodation and unfavourable currency exchange rate

So, I decided to host a Christmas party in July, to take part in the cosy holiday festivities without the pressure of buying gifts and finishing up work for the year. Also, people seem less busy in July than in December.

What started off as a little idea has suddenly snowballed.

I created an invitation in Canva and sent it out. Initially to family, but then I included a couple more people. Then...a couple more.

To be honest, I was really nervous about sending this invitation out. Would people think it silly?

 Frivolous? Would they even want to come?

My nerves quickly changed to excitement when the responses came in. Last count, we have over 30 people coming along. It seems that our family and friends are longing for a chance to see each other without the pressure of a December Christmas too.

Choose the mood early

As Stephen Covey famously stated ‘begin with the end in mind.’ So, before I chose a menu or hung a decoration, I asked myself one single question.

How do I want people to feel when they walk through the front door?

The answer was, “relaxed, welcomed, cosy”

Every decision has been measured around those three words, and not only for my guests, but for me and my family who were helping me host too. After all, we deserve to enjoy the evening too.

Planning

Having worked with engineers for the vast majority of my career, using spreadsheets is as natural to me as breathing. So, when planning anything, I create a spreadsheet, and this event proved that this was even more crucial than ever.

I listed who had been invited and were coming,  also noting any dietary requirements I need to allow for.

I took the guesswork out of working out the quantities of food I needed to buy and serve by Googling ‘catering quantities for 30 guests’. After I read the results I made a cup of tea and sat somewhere silent for a few minutes to gather my thoughts and rethink my budget.

However, this was invaluable to ensure that I didn’t either over or under cater.

The final piece of the puzzle was a run sheet. Having a rough serving time in mind—drinks and cheese platters at 6.00 pm, the main meal at 7.15 pm, dessert and coffee at 8.30 pm—made it easy to work backwards. If the cheese platters needed to be ready by six, then the vegetables had to go into the oven just beforehand, while everyone happily helps themselves to a drink and something to nibble. 

Having the run-sheet written out is useful so that you are not relying on your memory once people arrive and you’ve shared a welcome drink with friends. It also allows you to delegate a task if someone asks what they can do to help. Look at the sheet and get them working.

A hot tip for you: When you have found a recipe that you want to make, write down not only the page number but also the name of the book or website where you found it.There is nothing quite as frustrating as knowing the turkey and cranberry sausage rolls are on page 56, but not remembering which of the many Christmas books they're hiding in. You would think I'd have learned by now. 

Catering for a crowd at home

A buffet is the only practical way to have food for that number of people in our space. I have chosen dishes that can not only serve a crowd, but prepared ahead, so that I can mingle rather than be tied to the kitchen.

People have also generously offered to bring a contribution. My only request was that it was something that embodied Christmas for them - a family recipe perhaps, or a sweet treat that always finds itself on the Christmas table. Beyond that, I have no idea what will appear - and I like it that way. It will all be made with care and love, and for me, that is what matters most.

So, while the food side of things is a little bit of a mystery, we have been busy making the house look and feel cosy.

Cosy Decor

Although the evening was Christmas-themed, I wanted it to hint at Christmas rather than recreate everything we do in December. I assembled our Christmas tree, partly because no cosy winter gathering has ever suffered from a few extra twinkly lights, but also tucked in the corner of our living room it brings a sense of joy. 

Our Christmas tree decorated simply with white fairy lights and small gift boxes helped set the mood for a cosy winter party

My partner has earned a reputation for handing out Ferrero Rocher chocolates every Christmas morning, so it seemed only fitting to weave that little family tradition into the evening. I cut tiny gift boxes on my Cricut, tucked a single chocolate inside each one, and they’ll be waiting for our guests to take home as they leave.

Tiny boxes cut on the Cricut cutting machine had a gold wax seal with the imprint of a willow tree fastened to the front. Inside are Ferrero Rocher chocolates. These will be given to our guests as a small thank you gift.

The tree itself is decorated very simply - the white chocolate filled gift boxes, and the twinkly  white lights.

Perhaps my favourite decoration of all is the tiny Scandinavian-inspired paper houses. Cut from brown kraft paper and vellum on my Cricut, each glows with a battery-operated tealight. There is a small village of these on a ledge, and other, smaller, versions will be tucked inside some spare Christmas tree branches adorning the dining table.

When we visited Santa’s Village in Rovaniemi a couple of years ago, I bought some tiny figurines - little people wearing hats and scarves. I placed them near the houses, like they were visiting each other as part of their day to day business.

The tiny villagers are having a chinwag on their way to do the marketing. Just a small moment of whimsy.

None of these preparations have been elaborate or expensive; again it is using what I already had on hand. They have simply required a little time and a bit of creativity, and if inspiration isn’t flowing, Pinterest is always happy to lend a hand. 

Now, all that remains is to prepare the food, light the candles and wait for the first knock at the door.

If all goes to plan, the house will be filled with warmth and laughter, and the feeling that Christmas joy, community and celebration can happen at any time of the year.

Part two …after the party coming next week. What worked, and what I would do differently next time.