This post is all about the best Christmas traditions for couples to start this year.
Can you believe it’s that time of year again?! And if you’re reading this post, then this is an extra special season because you will be spending your first Christmas together as a married couple!
So grab your cup of hot cocoa, cozy up in a warm blanket, grab your other half and let’s talk about the best Christmas tradition ideas you can begin your first Christmas as a married couple.
This will be me and my husband’s third Christmas together as a married couple so we have already started some wonderful holiday traditions, but we are always looking for more ways to spice up the holiday season and get that true child-like Christmas feeling every year.
So without further ado, here are the absolute best Christmas traditions for couples to start this year that you will continue year after year.
This post gives you the best Christmas traditions for couples.
1. Drive around and look at Christmas lights
This is a tradition I have always done with my family growing up, and have continued in my marriage. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, get in the car and drive around the neighborhoods and look at all the beautiful Christmas lights displays that people put up. It is so much fun!
You can even take this a step further.
Your town most likely has a park nearby that sets up a drive thru Christmas lights experience every year. Sometimes you need to pay, but a lot of times they are free. Some are also walkable which are my absolute favorite!
2. Cut down a REAL Christmas tree
This might be my favorite Christmas tradition of all time. Being from the north, cutting down a real Christmas tree is a MUST.
I am a total stickler about real trees. There’s just no comparison.
It makes your whole house smell incredible and it really adds to that Christmas feeling.
Riding on the wagon through the snow, freezing cold with your hot chocolate, finding the perfect Christmas tree and cutting it down with those old saws. Ahhh…doesn’t get better than this.
Now I understand it’s not possible for everyone to get to a Christmas tree farm, so if you can’t cut down your own tree, you can usually get pre-cut trees at your local grocery or home improvement stores…even your local nursery.
We purchased a pre-cut tree on our first Christmas, and it was still a really special experience!
So have your pick, just make sure it’s real. It is so much fun and really makes all the difference!
A bonus tip is to keep the shaving off the bottom of the tree stump and turn it into an ornament! Our local nursery did this for us on our first Christmas, and I wrote our names and “first Christmas tree 2021” which made it so special!
This is a really cute way to always remember your first Christmas.
3. Decorate the house and play Christmas music!
This might sound like a no-brainer, but you can really make an event out of it! Put on your favorite Christmas music or put your favorite Christmas movie on the TV and have fun with it.
I also recommend having a tasty holiday treat on hand to enjoy while you decorate your home.
4. Build a gingerbread house together
You can either build a gingerbread house together, or make it a competition! Trust me, you will have some pretty big laughs either way.
We all know it never comes out how it looks on the box, but that’s the best part about it. Consider making this a Christmas tradition, starting with your first Christmas together.
5. Start a Christmas countdown
I love to do this with tea! I bought a 12 Days of Christmas tea set that had a different flavor of tea for each day leading up to Christmas. But you can do it with anything! You can even make your own DIY Christmas countdown.
Here is a great Christmas tea advent calendar you can buy on Amazon.
6. Read an advent book together
I have made it a tradition to get the She Reads Truth Christmas Advent book every year and read it leading up to Christmas day. It even has some really fun crafts, recipes and songs to enjoy as you work through the book. It’s such a great tradition to start as a married couple and center your thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas together every year.
7. Do a Christmas photoshoot and send out Christmas cards
Who doesn’t love receiving a Christmas card in the mail?
Get a friend or a professional photographer to take your photos playing in the snow, or cozying up in front of the fireplace and make a really beautiful Christmas card to send to all your friends and family each year!
8. Display a nativity scene
This is another one that I love because it’s just another way to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
I recommend getting a good quality set that you can keep for years to come, it will make it more special and can even be passed down as a family heirloom to your future children and grandchildren.
I love this nativity scene from Amazon.
9. Go Christmas caroling
Don’t forget the Christmas caroling!
A lot of churches will organize a caroling event, especially to nursing homes which is my favorite. It’s such a blessing to the elderly to hear the beautiful carols in the hall and to know they’re not forgotten. It not only blesses the elderly, but it will bless you too! You will leave feeling so fulfilled.
Bonus blessing if you make Christmas cards to pass out as you carol down the halls.
I love seeing their faces light up! Christmas caroling is such a great Christmas tradition to start, especially for couples.
10. Build a snowman
If you live in a colder climate that gets snow…and I’m talking the good stuff.
The kind that packs together for good snowball fights and snowman building…
Then this is the tradition for you!
Have fun in the outdoors, get creative with your snowman, dress him up fine, then head inside and cozy-up with a cup of hot chocolate by the fire and watch your favorite Christmas movie.
Which brings me to my next point….
11. Watch a Christmas movie
I recommend picking your top 2 or three Christmas movies that you watch EVERY year. For me, that’s Eloise at Christmastime, Home Alone, and the Grinch.
12. Bake Christmas cookies
I love making the traditional sugar cookies with icing and colored sugar on top, but you can get really creative and make all kinds of special cookies.
I think it would be fun to try making a different Christmas cookie every year. This is even more special if you do it together as a couple, so start the tradition this year!
13. Host a cookie swap with your neighbors
This is a great way to meet and get to know your neighbors if you have just moved into a new place together. Host or attend a neighborhood cookie swap, and make it super festive with holiday décor and snacks.
14. Attend your town’s Christmas tree lighting
Most cities host a Christmas tree lighting event in the city center.
Make a special day of it.
Try a new, fancy restaurant, or visit your Main Street bakery, get a treat and some cocoa and watch the spectacular tree lighting!
15. Go ice skating
The best way is if you can ice skate on a frozen pond, but if not, a lot of warmer climate areas will have artificial outdoor skating rinks that you can ice skate on.
This is a really fun and romantic way to celebrate the Christmas time of year.
16. Plan a Christmas getaway
Wanna get out of town?
Find a cute Christmas town that goes all out every year and plan a trip!
Visit a ski resort or travel to spend Christmas with your family that live out of town.
This can especially be a great idea for newlyweds who don’t have kids yet or don’t have many friends or family around where they live.
17. Pack a box for Operation Christmas Child
Tap into the season of giving by packing a box for Operation Christmas Child.
This is a wonderful way to help the less fortunate and make a child’s Christmas who wouldn’t otherwise get anything.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of things and obsess over our own Christmas lists that we forget there are many children who don’t even dream or expect anything on Christmas. Start your marriage off with a heart of giving, and keep the tradition going on each year.
18. Attend a local Christmas event
In Nashville, the Gaylord Opryland hotel always puts on Christmas events for families to enjoy. Our first Christmas, we went to the Christmas Movie Walk-thru and we had a blast! They put on a different Christmas event each year.
So check you town’s event site and see what Christmas activity or event you can participate in each year.
19. Start a Christmas Village collection
I have not done this yet, but I want to so bad! My grandma has one and I always love going to her house around Christmas time and looking at all the little things going on in her little Christmas village. It’s so Christmasy and such a fun tradition.
Walmart has some great options to start your Christmas village.
20. Get new matching Christmas pajamas every year
I think this is by far the cutest tradition for newlywed couples.
Pick out a cute pair of Christmas pajamas and wear them to bed on Christmas eve and all Christmas morning.
It will also make for really great Christmas morning photos together.
21. Attend a Christmas Eve service
Most churches have a candlelight Christmas eve service the night before Christmas.
I love refocusing our hearts on Jesus the night before Christmas.
You can also read the story of Jesus in the Bible on Christmas eve or Christmas morning together.
22. Cook a Christmas morning breakfast
Mmmm…No better way to start Christmas morning than with a delicious Christmas breakfast spread.
Whip up some waffles, eggs, toast. Warm up some hot chocolate and get ready for the day.
This post was all about Christmas traditions for couples to start this year.
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22 Best Christmas Traditions For Couples To Start This Year