Holiday Traditions
Showcasing Traditions at your Holiday Party
Guess what guys - Christmas is less than a week away! Holiday traditions can stretch far and wide, across countries and cultures. If you're hosting an event in the coming days, you may want to highlight some of your favorite ones in fun and festive ways. When it comes to Christmas in particular, over the centuries, the meanings behind some of the practices have been forgotten. Your special events planner Blue Linden wants to shed some light on the origins and help you showcase some favorite traditions at your holiday party.
Hanging Stockings
Where did this holiday tradition come from: The most plausible origin story for this was the old tradition of children leaving hay inside shoes for St. Nick's donkey. The following morning, the kiddies would find the hay was replaced with treats or coins.
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: At your holiday party, decorate stockings together! Glitter, glue, hand-stitching, and more - get super creative, and even turn it into a competition, with the winner getting a stocking filled with goodies!
Ugly Christmas Sweaters
Where did this holiday tradition come from: Canada 2001, apparently! According to The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book, a gathering in Vancouver started to tradition of spreading Christmas cheer through hideous, sequined, bow-adorned, light-up knitwear. It took the old, ugly, "grandma" clothes and made it mainstream!
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: Make it ugly sweater themed with the dress code a must! Have a contest: ugliest, most bells and whistles, etc. It will make for many laughs and fantastic pictures!
Holiday Cards
Where did this holiday tradition come from: England! In 1843 Sir Henry Cole decided that he wanted to send a holiday greeting to his loved ones without writing individual letters. He had 1,000 illustrated cards like the one above printed. Today, Americans send around 2 billion cards every year.
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: Pick a charity, sponsor a child, or find a local nursing home and send cards! Make your own or buy some at the store, and have every attendee of your party fill out a card with festive sentiments to be shipped off to others in need of holiday cheer!
Decorating a (Real) Tree
Where did this holiday tradition come from: Although using real evergreen to decorate dates back to before Christianity, it was popularized by the Germans and later spread worldwide by Queen Victoria. Since evergreen trees stay green even in the dead of winter, having one in your home around Christmas thought to help bring luck into the new year. The ornaments became part of the tradition when a photo of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sitting beside a decorated tree circulated in 1846. Today, 94% of Americans put up a Christmas tree, and 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year.
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: Decorate a tree as part of the traditions at your holiday party! Have everyone bring along a special ornament to hang up, make your own, or put up your personal supply together!
Drinking Eggnog
Where did this holiday tradition come from: Most historians think eggnog is a spinoff of the drink "posset" (made with eggs, milk, figs, and sherry) that wealthy people used to toast with during the holidays. When the colonists brought it over, they substituted cheaper ingredients and nicknamed it after a 'noggin,' slang for a wooden cup.
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: Serve it! Make it as traditional or as fancified as you'd like!
Kisses Under the Mistletoe
Where did this holiday tradition come from: Celtic Druids believed mistletoe to be linked with fertility and vitality because it blossomed in even the most frigid winters. It was thought to bring good luck in relationships, and during the 18th century, it was believed if a kiss was shared beneath it, that was a sign the couple would soon be married.
How to incorporate this holiday tradition: Hang some mistletoe in the doorway of your home and share a "kiss" (doesn't have to be romantic!) with all who enter! You could also have a fun photo booth with props and signs that are mistletoe/smooch themed!
When it comes to showcasing traditions at your holiday party, these are definitely our favorite ones! Incorporating these holiday traditions will help create an atmosphere of make for a fun, festivity, and set up a perfect excuse to keep doing it year after year!!
