Lady’s British Christmas Traditions Guide

Today I want to share my expat’s guide to British Christmas traditions with you. If you’re feeling bewildered by the festive season in the UK, this can help.

British Christmas Traditions

After many winters in London, I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t spent a single Christmas in the UK. My first one was a sunny Christmas in Sydney. My second was celebrated in a tented camp in Etosha National Park in Namibia.

My third took place in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and my fourth in Singapore. After experiencing Christmas all over the world, I stayed in London this year to discover the British Christmas traditions I had been missing out on.

London at Christmas

The festive season got off to a strong start, with Christmas lights up all over London and festivals in neighborhoods like Hampstead and Marylebone.

But I had seen all of that in previous years. What I wanted was a real British Christmas traditional dinner on the 25th of December.

Traditional British Christmas Dinner

Thanks to a friend of mine, my Christmas wish came true. He invited me to spend Christmas day with his family in London, and I couldn’t wait.

I arrived in the early afternoon and was greeted by my friend’s family. There were around 10 of us in total, including a very friendly Bouvier named Zola.

Soon the Buck’s Fizz was flowing, and we spent a fun afternoon catching up and exchanging gifts as the house slowly filled with the comforting aromas of traditional British Christmas food.

My friend told me that according to British Christmas traditions, dinner usually involved a turkey. However, this year his family decided to add a number of other birds to the feast, which I didn’t mind.

After all the turkey I ate during Thanksgiving in California last month, I welcomed the variety.

In fact, the variety didn’t end at poultry. The entire meal featured a good mix of food, from a starter of salmon mousse with crayfish to sides of red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes.

There was a great mix of dishes to choose from, and naturally, I chose them all.

That included the British Christmas desserts, one of which came in the form of traditional Christmas pudding. My Glaswegian grandmother used to make it with me every year when I was a child, and I always remember her when I eat it.

That said, my strongest memory of Christmas pudding is from the year my mother singed her eyebrows after trying to pour the brandy over it while simultaneously lighting it on fire.

Thankfully that was an isolated incident, and I’ve been able to enjoy it ever since. This year was no exception.

Traditional British Christmas Crackers

Another of the British Christmas traditions I recognized from back home was that of crackers.

There was one slight difference, though. I recently discovered that my family’s tradition of cracking our own crackers was absolutely hilarious to my British friends.

Apparently the proper British Christmas tradition is to take hold of one end and give someone else the other. Whichever person ends up with the middle of the cracker gets the prize inside.

I felt pretty embarrassed that I had been doing it wrong all these years, but I was glad everyone got such a good laugh out of it. It was one of many expat holiday mistakes I’ve made over the years.

British Christmas Charades

At the end of the evening, we indulged in a few other British Christmas traditions, including a game of charades. I never knew the game was a festive staple in the UK, but I was excited to play.

Unfortunately for my competitive nature, my foreignness served as a slight handicap. This was not least when I accidentally used a word that was benign in American English but not-so-family-friendly in British English.

Or when I failed to pronounce the “h” in “herbs”. Despite my cultural ignorance, I had a great time playing.

Classic British Christmas Traditions

Christmas festivities went late that night, and I didn’t get to bed until 2:30am. I wasn’t exactly in top form the next morning, but my minor aches were well worth the great time I had the day before.

If I ever make it back to San Francisco for Christmas, I might just have to bring some British Christmas traditions with me.

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