Hosting Christmas For The First Time: Does It Stress You Out?

Hosting Christmas For The First Time: Does It Stress You Out?

Are you hosting Christmas Day at your house this year? More than 3.2 million Brits will host their first Christmas Day this year, according to new research, and a quarter of these first-time Christmas Day hosts are already feeling the pressure.

Six in ten admit to feeling nervous and worried about being charge of the food and festivities on Christmas Day, with four in ten people saying the expense of hosting Christmas Day is what's giving them sleepless nights.

A third of the 1,000 people surveyed by Skipton Building Society said they were shocked by how much Christmas is costing - and had already splashed out around £650 on the cost of hosting Christmas Day.

Stacey Stothard, spokeswoman for Skipton Building Society, which conducted the poll of 1,000 people hosting Christmas for the first time this year, said:

"Hosting your first Christmas is a big deal, something not helped by all the TV chefs making it look so easy. What's more, it's likely that your guests will be those people whose hospitality you have enjoyed on previous Christmas days. So you not only want to return the favour – but to give them the best Christmas you can. As a result the pressure can build – together with the list of things that could go wrong."

Yeah, cheers for pointing that out, Stacey.

First time hosts apparently also spend over two and a half hours a day worrying about holding Christmas at their home.

Of those surveyed, 45 per cent said they have written endless lists to help cope with the demands of hosting Christmas Day, while a third have done research online to help get prepared, and a fifth have had practice runs at cooking various elements of their Christmas dinner feast.

Finally, three quarters of the people polled claim they have been getting money together for months, with one third putting money aside each month, and 27 per cent having bought things towards Christmas on a monthly basis to spread the cost. Twelve per cent of those polled have taken out a credit card to cope with the costs of hosting Christmas and 14 per cent have cut back on other luxuries to help meet the expense.

All of which leaves me feeling faintly anxious about the fact that Christmas is at my place this year - and aside from having booked my Christmas groceries delivery slot, I've barely begun to think about what's required of me. Oh dear.

These are the top 20 worries for those hosting Christmas Day for the first time:

1. Being able to afford everything
2. Burning the food
3. Not having a big enough table for everyone to sit around to eat
4. Cooking the Christmas dinner
5. What type of alcohol to buy and how much
6. People enjoying themselves
7. Not being able to fit everything into the oven
8. That you have enough dessert on offer
9. How good the quality of the fit inside the crackers should be
10. Forgetting something essential like cranberry sauce
11. Having enough time to do everything
12. Not having any time to actually enjoy yourself
13. Not getting the timings right, so some food goes cold
14. Not cooking enough for everyone
15. The oven breaking
16. The mess you would be left with after the event
17. Making the house look festive and decorative
18. Creating the perfect in a blanket
19. Tolerating certain family members for a whole day20. Having enough nibbles

What about you? Are you hosting this year or do you manage to avoid that responsibility? And if you are the host, do you worry about any of the above, or take the day in your stride? We'd love to hear all about your Christmas Day plans over on our Facebook page.

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