What may be the most helpful in deciding what to do for your first Christmas may have more to do with
your family and friends’ view of the holiday. If they are from a religion like Catholicism, Episcopalian,
or Lutheran, they view the celebration as a religious feast (meaning a date chosen to commemorate a
historical event, and not necessarily the historical date itself). If they are very religious they will
celebrate the holiday closer to the actual 25th of December and for about 12 days following up to Epiphany.
Before that they celebrate Advent for four weeks leading up to Christmas. This means different customs and
different decorations for both Advent and Christmas, and sometimes a celebration on the 12th night (known
as, what else, Twelfth Night).
If they are of a different Protestant branch from the above mentioned, they may only celebrate the day of
Christmas. In this case it is not a religious feast but a religious memorial. Once the date of Christmas is
over, for many of them the celebrating comes to an end.
It may be they are like many who are somewhere in the middle that tend to follow the secular way of
celebrating. There is no Advent or Twelve Days of Christmas, and they decorate or follow certain customs but
aren’t sure why (they generally all have specific religious meanings for the first few religions mentioned).
They play Christmas carols from Thanksgiving until December 25th and enjoy parties and gatherings without
much concern about the religious connections. This doesn’t make the celebration any less enjoyable, just less
of a religious emphasis.
Regardless of the way you choose to celebrate, it is best to find out how those you are celebrating view the
holiday. Then adjust as you best can conscientiously. Don’t worry about sending out so many number of cards or
what kind of lights or decorations to use or what foods to serve. It is about enjoying the customs and in some
cases learning about them. If you have more stress than fun, it isn’t worth it, even if you aren’t a
Witness anymore.