How I Celebrate the Holidays

In case you couldn’t tell, I adore this time of year. Although summer is my favourite season, I fall hard for the magic of December. Growing up in Australia, we’d have all the traditions of a Northern Hemisphere Christmas (going to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree, singing carols that talk of snow, and big roast dinners more suited to cold weather) but it never made total sense when it landed in the middle of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. So when I moved to England (10 years ago next week!), all those traditions made so much more sense and I fell in love with everything about this season. In my mind no city in the world does Christmas as spectacularly as London (perhaps with the exception of New York), so I try to make the most of every festive opportunity I can.

But Christmas is also a bittersweet time of year for me, like it is for so many others. I always miss my mum terribly around the holidays (I definitely inherited my love of the holidays and most of my traditions from her), we suddenly lost my beloved uncle (who was more like a dad to me) to cancer two Christmases ago, we’re thousands of miles away from our siblings and adorable nieces and the rest of our family in Australia, and I always feel acutely aware of how lucky I am when I think of all those less fortunate than us – which makes me feel both blessed and sad at the same time.

So the way I celebrate this season is a mix of some of the traditions I’ve known for as long as I can remember and still maintain out of tradition or in memory of happy times as a family, as well as those I’ve adopted since moving to England and now couldn’t imagine the holidays without.

My favourite traditions (old and new): 

1. See a performance of The Nutcracker // I’ve mentioned before that I studied ballet until I was 16 (at which point I was diagnosed with scoliosis and my crooked spine put an end to my dreams of being a ballerina), so it’s one of my great loves in life. I never got to dance the role of Clara or the Sugarplum fairy myself, but I absolutely adore going to see a performance of the Nutcracker in the lead up to Christmas. Every time those lights dim, the orchestra strike up the first notes of Tchaikovsky’s magical score, and the first dancers pirouette onto the stage, I get goosebumps and don’t stop smiling until those red velvet curtains draw closed. This year I took my husband for the first time (thankfully he loved it – I was so nervous he wouldn’t) and it was so fun to get all dressed up and go out for dinner at Balthazar and then around the corner to the Opera House.

2. Go and see all the Christmas windows and decorations around town // Every year for as long as I can remember, my mum and I would always go into town to visit Father Christmas (as Santa Claus is known in Australia) and to see all the department store window displays. Even when I was too old for the visits with Father Christmas, we maintained our annual tradition. She’d always buy a new perfume (I got my love of fragrance from her), we’d go for lunch, and we’d see all the festive displays to find our favourites. It’s a tradition I’ve brought with me and still maintain to this day; I make a point to visit all the places I remember going with my parents when we used to visit London (Liberty and Fortnum & Mason were her favourites then, just as they are mine now), as well as all the other places I think she’d adore.

3. Make mince pies // Every year my mum and I would spend an entire day making several Christmas puddings and a huge batch of mince pies from scratch to give to neighbours, friends, the postman, and basically anyone who came to our house in December (and ourselves of course). I’ve never attempted the puddings by myself, but still continue her tradition of making homemade mince pies to give as small thank you gifts and to have with coffee over Christmas week.

4. The Carols from King’s service on Christmas Eve // Funnily enough, I grew up watching the annual ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ service every year on TV in Australia (the BBC have broadcast the famous celebration around the world live from Cambridge for the last 100 years). So to now be invited to attend every year (one of the perks of my husband being a Fellow at King’s College) – especially when people travel from all over the world and queue the night before to be able to be attend – is both a strange full-circle tradition for me but also a tremendous honour. The combination of the vast candlelit chapel, the organ, and the angelic voices of the King’s choir is truly a magical experience and one we treasure every time we attend.

5. Have a hot chocolate + holiday movie party // This is another new tradition I started since we moved into our own apartment in Cambridge four years ago. We are lucky enough to have neighbours who have become some of our closest friends, so every year we pick a Friday in December and spend the evening drinking hot chocolate and watching our favourite Christmas movies in our pyjamas.

6. Have an afternoon tea date with a friend // I love planning some fun festive dates with girlfriends in December – preferably those that involve tea and cake with a side of old-school London glamour. My friend Alex and I started it at Brown’s a few years ago, and now I look forward to planning at least a couple of dates somewhere decadent. This year my dear friend Brenda and I got all dressed up (as you can tell from our pink outfits, we’ve both clearly been watching The Marvellous Mrs Maisel lately) and went for tea at Laduree after taking in all the festive windows and displays around Mayfair and Old Bond Street. When you’re an expat, the friends you make in your adopted city become like family so I love making and sharing traditions and memories with them.

7. Help those less fortunate // We don’t go over the top with gifts at Christmas, but I can’t help but feel aware of how privileged I am to have a warm home, people who love me, presents under the tree and food on the table when so many others do not (a lesson my parents always taught me). I hope I demonstrate kindness and generosity year-round, but I make an extra effort to help those in need every Christmas – not to be boastful, but to (I hope) genuinely brighten someone else’s day. This year I spent a big chunk of December gathering warm clothes, food, toys, essential supplies and funds to donate to various charities doing great work in London and Cambridge, but next I want to make sure I give my time as well as resources.

8. Go ice skating // This is a new tradition, since Australian summers don’t exactly lend themselves to outdoor skating rinks. The first time I tried skating at the rink in Cambridge years ago, I had romantic notions of twirling around the rink hand in hand, but I fell so spectacularly that I got concussion and was too terrified to attempt it again for years. But this year my husband and I finally went to the beautiful rink at Somerset House and it was such a cute date night – and I successfully managed to go the whole hour without falling – that we’ve vowed to make it an annual tradition from now on.

9. Open our stockings on Christmas morning // My mum used to make the best stockings full of tiny treasures that always made me smile or laugh, and now my aunt Claudia loves playing Father Christmas and hanging stockings on our beds when we’re asleep on Christmas eve – it doesn’t matter in the slightest that me, my husband, and my cousins are all in our thirties. On Christmas morning the first thing we do is make tea and croissants and open our stockings in our pyjamas (presents are then opened after lunch).

10. Christmas day feast // Even though it was usually swelteringly hot on Christmas day in Australia, my family would still do their best to pretend it was a European midwinter (ha!). My mum would make eggnog, we’d have an enormous roast dinner for lunch (much of which my dad had grown in the garden), pavlova and Christmas pudding drowned in custard, followed by the Queen’s Christmas message and an epic board game marathon. When I moved to England, my beloved uncle Everard (who – like my mum – was a spectacular chef) would whip up similarly extravagant feasts, and anyone who didn’t have anywhere else to go on Christmas would be welcome. So when we lost him, my husband and I took on the mantle of hosting at our place in Cambridge for the first time last year, and I took my duties as head chef and host very seriously and planned a four-day feast and itinerary I thought he would approve of. We’re hosting again this year, so I have now officially entered full-on Martha Stewart mode. Wish me luck!

Wearing: Kate Spade coat (now on sale + also in black) // J.Crew pants (now on sale + also in other colours) // Boden blouse c/- // Kate Spade heels (past season but similar style here + here) // J.Crew hair bow (now on sale + also in other colours) // Chanel bag // Tom Ford sunglasses // Kenneth Jay Lane earrings // Charlotte Tilbury ‘Electric Poppy’ lipstick. 
Brenda wears: Atlantic Pacific jacket // Sezane pants // J.Crew blouse // Boden shoes.

I would love to know some of your traditions (both old and new) below! And however you celebrate, have the most wonderful holidays everyone!

Love, Briony xx

Photos by Michaela Efford