Christmas Traditions from the de Fiddes Team
Just like that Christmas is almost here! Another year is almost over and what a year it has been!
We have worked on some incredible aged care and interior design projects throughout Perth and all over Australia. We want to say thank you to all our amazing readers who we have shared them with.
We look forward the new and exciting times ahead for de Fiddes in 2020!
December brings with it festive feelings. Whether its catching up with family, carols, picnics in the park or fish and chips at the beach, everyone does the silly season differently – none more so than our amazing team!
We asked everyone for their Christmas Traditions and weren’t disappointed with their fun and jolly answers!
Read on to find out more!
Traditions:
Debbie: Xmas has always been a big thing in our family. My Mum always insisted on the full Xmas lunch - turkey, ham and Xmas Pudding with clotted cream and custard and on Xmas morning we would have a Kahlua and milk and sit down together as a family and open our presents. We always had extra people for Xmas lunch as Mum would hate to think that anyone was on their own Xmas Day. So whilst my Mum and Dad are no longer with us and the tradition of the food has changed somewhat we still make sure that our door is open to anyone who has nowhere to go on Xmas Day.
Erin: We start the day with champagne fresh fruit and croissant. It’s then either Xmas lunch or dinner depending on who is hosting. There is always way too much food, luckily as we generally have a few extra guests at the table, friends at a loose end or travelling family. We converted to Kris Kringle about ten years ago feeling that Xmas was too consumer driven. It’s always a lovely day with a (very competitive) board game in the mix
Sam: Vrolijk Kerstfeest! Merry Christmas from The Netherlands! Dutch children love 5th December which is when Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) brings their presents! Tradition says St Nicholas lives in Spain and every year chooses a different place to come to The Netherlands so as many children can see him. He travels with his Zwarte Pieten who gives away Pepernoot biscuits and tells any naughty children that they will be carried in a sack back to Spain for a year if they don’t behave…. Sam didn’t make it to Spain so all’s well there! Happy New Year (Gelukkig Nieuwjaar) everyone.
Vanessa: Traditional English Xmas – turkey and all the trimmings regardless of the weather.
Kat: Traditionally we have always gone to either Midnight Mass or Christmas Eve Mass, Chrissie presents at the end of the bed from Father Christmas, and then pressies under the tree in the morning from Mum and Dad. I catch up with family members and friends for an early morning brunch or drinks if they will not be at the Christmas Lunch. Always a hot meal and in later years we have fresh prawns and seafood as an appetiser before the hot lunch. (Already full and lunch has not started!) As the grandkids arrived, they would get pressies just before lunch in a wild and chaotic Christmas whirlwind from the North Pole! Never to know who gave what as pressies discarded for the next rippfest!!
Bree: Our family are true blue Aussie so we tend to have a BIG seafood lunch (with the crays that Pa would have caught) on the barbie, swimming races in the pool followed by naps on the couch. Doesn’t get much better than that! I also celebrate the week before with friends. We have an annual Christmas dinner where we each bring a random plate of food (the more unconventional the better, last year was tacos, lasagna and Vietnamese rice paper rolls) and we all bring the worst/ funniest Secrete Santa gift you can find for $10 – such a good laugh.
Amy: Christmas eve we gather to decorate gingerbread houses and drink egg nog – a fun way to get into the festive mood! The morning starts bright and early with family and all the kids excitedly opening presents. Depending on who is hosting we generally have a large seafood lunch followed by relaxing by the pool or sneaking away for a nap! This is followed by an annual Christmas dinner and secret Santa gifts in the evening.
Christine: Leading up to Christmas we decorate the house, put up the Christmas tree and make Christmas sweets! In my church the young people usually organise to go to different people’s houses to sing Christmas carols in the weeks leading up to Christmas. On Christmas we go to church, spend time with family and friends, have a big Christmas lunch and open gifts!
Larissa: My Mum’s family is from Mukinbudin (in the wheatbelt) so I will be spending a few days there, relaxing, catching up with the family and eating lots of food!
Mollie: The morning is spent early with coffee followed almost immediately by Veggnog (Vegan eggnog) while everyone chips in to help Mum make the lunch feast. There is so many of us, it’s chaos! My brother hosts a beer tasting around 10, then at 12 my Mum hosts a Champagne tasting before lunch at 1. We eat a lot, have rounds of presents followed by traditional Christmas pudding flamed with brandy and with silver sixpence hidden inside.
That’s it from our team’s traditions, as for at de Fiddes us this year we are planning to end with Lawn Bowls and a BBQ. We have organised matching T-shirts and hats so it’s expected to be a merry time indeed!
From all of us here at de Fiddes Design we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and an incredible New Year.
We also asked our team how they give back during the holidays and what their 2020 resolutions are, click to read their insightful and hilarious answers.
We will be closing the office from Thursday 20th December and re-open on Monday the 6th January.
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