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When is the right time to put up and take down your Christmas tree?

By Amy Lyall|

Christmas Day is over for another for another year, and while we're still eating the leftovers, lazing about and hopefully enjoying your presents, you might be wondering how much longer the tree should be up for.

Well it turns out there are some dates that are considered more acceptable than others.

We've taken a look at where the tradition of the Christmas tree comes from, and what that might mean for you and decorating your home.

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There is a date when it's considered most appropriate to set up your tree. (Getty)

When should you take down your Christmas tree?

When it comes to the right date to take down your Christmas tree, there's a little bit more clarity around what is acceptable. But it still depends on your tree and personal choice.

There are some people who will be taking off the baubles and putting it back in the box on Boxing Day, while others wait until January 1 to take it down and ring in the new year.

But one of the main traditions is waiting 12 days after Christmas, which falls on January 6. This ends the celebrations with the Feast of the Epiphany.

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When should you put up your Christmas tree?

Well, if you were following the tradition set out by the ancient peoples of Europe, you wouldn't put up your Christmas tree until just before Christmas Eve. However, many people tend to put up their Christmas tree much earlier than that.

For Americans, this may fall on the Friday after Thanksgiving, at the end of November.

For many people, December 1 marks the date when it is socially acceptable to put up your tree จC any date before then is too early to put up Christmas decorations.

As Christmas was traditionally a Christian religious celebration, you could go by the date on which the Church commences celebrating the pending birth of Jesus on Christmas Day: the beginning of Advent.

Advent is the first 'Advent Sunday' or the first of four Sundays that come before Christmas Day. This date falls on December 3 for 2023 so that would be the right time to put up your Christmas tree and start celebrating Christmas.

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Christmas decorations and a garland on the tree in a living room
While there is a traditional date, you can put up your tree whenever is right for you. (iStock)

Ultimately it's up to you

However, as many people with a variety of beliefs and backgrounds now celebrate Christmas all around the world, the right time to put up and take down your Christmas tree these days tends to come down to personal choice and personal preference.

There have been studies that say you're a happier person if you put up your Christmas decorations earlier, so if you want to do that it's your choice.

In Australia it's pretty common to see Christmas decorations start popping up in malls and department stores in early November, so if you want to follow that lead you can put yours up whenever you like.

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Where did the tradition of Christmas trees start?

According to history.com, the tradition of using pine or evergreen trees as decoration in December dates as far back as when ancient peoples in Europe hung Evergreen boughs on December 21 or December 22 (when winter solstice falls in the Northern Hemisphere).

This was to remind them, "of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return".

While these were nothing like Christmas trees as we know them, many would credit this as an early example of people using pine trees as decoration at this festive time of year.

A small Christmas tree
When it comes to putting up the Christmas tree, history does say there is a 'right' time to do it. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Where did modern tree decorations come from?

It is actually Germany that's credited with starting the tradition of decorating trees for Christmas as we do today.

A 16th-century Protestant reformer started the trend when he placed a decorated tree in his home with candles to resemble the beauty of the night sky. This then became a tradition throughout German homes.

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As the people of Germany migrated and moved to countries all over the world like Australia or America, this trend then spread, with the first recorded 'Christmas Tree' in the US being around the 1830s.

The tradition of the Christmas tree was then widely popularised by British monarch Queen Victoria in 1846, when she was drawn with her husband, German royal Prince Albert, standing by a Christmas tree in the palace with their children.

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