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Christmas truly is the best time of year. No other season has so many wonderful meanings and traditions. When you are married or in a long-term relationship, sharing old Christmas traditions together (and creating new ones) makes the season even more special! Here are some Christmas traditions for couples you can try, making this year (and future years) extra meaningful and memorable.
Whether you are newlyweds searching for your ‘first married Christmas traditions’ or you’ve been together for many years, it’s never too late to create more magical holiday traditions.
🎄 25 Beautiful Couples Christmas Traditions to Add to Your Holiday Celebration 🎄
1. Plan some special Christmas dates
It’s Christmas. You’re a couple. Get out there and have some romantic holiday date night experiences! We have a list of 32 cozy Christmas dates ready for you right here. Also check out our winter date ideas for even more festive suggestions on how to celebrate Christmas with the one you love.
2. Light the Advent Wreath
An Advent Wreath can be a special way to welcome the season every year. In the Christian calendar, Advent is the first season of the church year, leading up to and including the four preceding Sundays before Christmas.
Advent is a season of expectant waiting for the birth of Jesus, symbolized by the lighting of one candle on the Advent wreath each week.
The Advent wreath is a horizontal evergreen wreath which symbolizes the four weeks of Advent with 4 purple candles, with a white candle in the center, which is lit when Christmas has arrived.
3. Share the Christmas chores
During the Christmas season, there are ample opportunities to create or continue traditions. Some ideas include sharing Christmas chores and decorating around the house.
Everything is more fun when it is shared, especially tasks like writing Christmas lists, shopping, putting up Christmas lights, and writing cards.
4. Get a new ornament for each year of your marriage
Here’s one of the best Christmas traditions for married couples (and definitely one of the top Christmas traditions for newlyweds to start together). Each year, pick out a new Christmas ornament to add to your tree. Do the same next year, and the one after that. In a few decades, you’ll have an incredibly sentimental tree—not to mention an awesome story of marriage success.
5. Bring home the Christmas tree (or construct it!)
Finding and bringing home a tree is a Christmas tradition couples and families can enjoy.
You don’t have to drive into the woods and chop a tree down with an axe (although that is one way to do it, especially in New England) but simply choosing the perfect tree from the lot is also a great deal of fun.
6. Plan an annual romantic Christmas getaway
For couples, a Christmasy and romantic idea is to create at least one date night together during the holidays. Buy tickets for a show, have a great dinner out, go ice skating or sledding, anything fun that you both enjoy together.
If your budget allows it, make the date last a night or two with a quick romantic getaway. Perfection: spend a romantic weekend in a snowy bed and breakfast inn!
7. Take a fun, relaxed shopping trip
Shopping together is one of our favorite sweet holiday traditions, especially when we set aside a few days in December to have our holiday shopping be laid back, unhurried, and actually fun. Take care of this tradition a few weeks before Christmas itself if you want to avoid crowds. It’s also much less stressful if you’re only in search of a couple of gifts, such as toys for nieces and nephews, silly gifts for siblings, or perhaps small items for your stockings.
If you’re shopping for kids, try and make it fun and stress-free. Turn it into a date and combine shopping with some other Christmassy activities like ice skating or caroling. You can also have a special tradition together the night before Christmas, as you put out all the gifts for your kids. Together, you can assemble that adorable dollhouse, or pop a sparkly bow onto that brand new bike!
8. Make an occasion of trimming the tree
Trimming the tree together, whether the day after Thanksgiving or on Christmas Eve, can be a special tradition between partners. When I was growing up, my parents had a tradition of trimming the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, after the children had been tucked into bed with visions of sugarplums.
My parents would quietly string the Christmas lights (accompanied by glasses of wine I am guessing!) and place the ornaments, filling the stockings with care and assisting Santa with the presents. When we woke the next morning, we were stunned to see a beautiful, sparkling tree with presents underneath.
9. Do lots of cooking, baking, and sampling
A fun tradition for many couples is to enjoy cooking together. To make it even more special, bring family recipes to share or create new ones together. A special meal or dessert that grandma used to make can bring the generations closer.
You can also make cookies, fudge, or the dreaded fruitcake! to share with neighbors and friends, or invite some relatives over for a wine or cake tasting holiday party.
10. Hang the Christmas Stockings
Another Christmas tradition in our family was hanging Christmas stockings on the mantle. The stockings started from left to right according to the age of the family member.
Stockings aren’t just for adults, either. It is fun for couples to hang (and fill!) Christmas stockings for each other, filling them with special tiny treats. I especially recommend doing this on your first Christmas together.
11. Attend Christmas Eve mass or church services
Going to church on Christmas Eve is another wonderful Christmas tradition for couples and families. Many churches have a midnight candlelight service. You may already have a church you attend together, and if not, Christmas Eve would be a perfect opportunity to find a church that you both like.
12. Exchange a gift or two on Christmas Eve
While many choose to wait ’til the morning to open all their gifts, one of the sweetest Christmas Eve traditions for couples is to exchange a gift on Christmas Eve.
Particularly for couples with children, this can be a great way to quietly give your partner a gift while the kids are securely tucked away in bed. You could even wait until midnight to add that extra little bit of Christmas magic and romance. Creating Christmas eve traditions for adults? Now that’s adulting.
13. Volunteer together
Giving back during the holiday season can become a meaningful Christmas tradition that a couple can share together. Choose a charity of your mutual choice, and commit some time to helping others in need.
Giving of your time is a wonderful way to serve others during the holidays. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter or assist at a charity event. Why not dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus and visit a children’s hospital?
If you’ve got a pretty packed schedule, you can still do something worthwhile. Fill a shoebox for children, donate money to a favorite charity, or write Christmas cards to send those serving in the armed forces.
You can also do something more personal for a family in your area. Maybe a busy single parent could use a babysitter for an evening?
No matter what you choose to do, spending this worthwhile time together is sure to create special holiday memories, as well as begin a new tradition together.
14. Create a unique new tradition
Want to change up some traditions? While we each bring our own childhood and past traditions to the table, it’s also fun to create new ones.
Did you grow up having a special Christmas dinner? For a change, try making a great Christmas breakfast together.
Make all the days leading up to Christmas special by singing or playing Christmas music together while cooking or driving in the car. Leave gifts under the tree throughout the month to increase the anticipation and fun.
15. Go caroling
Participate in a local carol stroll in your town, or if one isn’t available, gather some friends and create your own wandering singing group. If you’re not quite confident enough in your singing skills to do that, relax at home and enjoy your favorite carols together….where only your partner can hear them.
16. Fill each other’s stockings
One of the simplest Christmas gift traditions for couples is to fill one another’s stockings. We absolutely love doing this! It’s easy to forget about stocking gifts when you’re not a kid anymore, but stockings were always the highlight of my Christmas. Reliving the magic with my husband Nathan is one of my favorite things to do at the holidays.
To make it extra fun, wrap each small gift individually; it increases the anticipation.
17. Watch Christmas movies – have a holiday movie marathon
This is such an easy tradition! Especially if you’ve got Netflix, Hulu, and, most Christmassy of all, the Hallmark Channel. Surround yourselves with blankets and chill the day away viewing Christmas movies old and new. Here are some suggestions here: The Best Christmas Movies Ever. Or maybe you want a romantic Christmas movie? Some of the films on this list will help!
This is one of the traditions that you can do with friends and family, too.
18. Host a Friendsgiving with other couples
Surely you’ve heard of Friendsgiving? It’s the friendship answer to Thanksgiving; a gathering of close pals enjoying a sumptuous feast together. This is a great and fun Christmas tradition for adults as a Friendsgiving is usually more laidback and relaxed than a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Plan your Friendsgiving at any time of the season.
19. Eat Santa’s cookies and write magical notes to your kids
If you have kids, Christmas is extra magical. One of my favorite Christmas Eve ideas for couples is what takes place on Christmas night, as the Santa parents sneak all the presents under the tree and eat up Santa’s cookies (being sure to leave a few tell-tale crumbs). I always used to get special notes from Santa every Christmas, too, penned in his fancy, swoopy handwriting. Needless to say, I think our future children will receive similar notes each year.
20. Write each other a Christmas love letter
How is this for romantic Christmas traditions? Write your spouse a love letter! What could be sweeter than written words of love, adoration, and appreciation? And there’s no better opportunity than Christmas and year’s end to pen such a note.
21. Go attend the ballet, and see The Nutcracker
Have the two of you ever seen this classic ballet production? It’s a wonderful show. Catch a performance of The Nutcracker, whether given by your local ballet school or a professional dance company.
22. Build a Gingerbread house
A gingerbread house combines a delicious treat with a fun construction project. Your husband might be really into this tradition! You can start simple with a basic house kit, or get more complicated: build a gingerbread train or village or try to replicate your own home in gingerbread form!
23. Kiss under the mistletoe
One of the most classic and romantic traditions for couples is to kiss under the holly jolly mistletoe. You can put some up in your house to remind you to be affectionate all season long.
24. Enjoy a delightful Christmas morning breakfast
Whether or not you have kids, this can be a fabulous addition to your list of Christmas day traditions for couples: Christmas breakfast! Take time to savor this holiday morning, eating a piping hot and delicious breakfast. Ideally, you can eat a casserole or some other premade item that simply needs to pop in the oven or microwave come Christmas morning.
After breakfast, it’s time to open presents!
25. Treasure your alone time
In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, shopping and parties, make sure to find some time to be alone together to relax, share a special meal, and maybe some champagne or hot chocolate?
Snuggle in front of the fire, read a good book, watch your favorite Christmas movie…the possibilities for creating your own Christmas traditions for couples are endless.
Whatever ways you celebrate, be sure to savor the season! It flies by before you know it!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours! What your favorite Christmas tradition?
Check out these other ideas for couples:
- New Year’s Eve Date Ideas
- 45 Late Night Date Ideas
- Romantic Dinner Recipes for Two
- Romantic Desserts for Two
Amy Hartle is the author of Do You Love Me? How To Stop Seeking Reassurance in Relationships, a book on reassurance seeking and relationship anxiety. Both her book and this blog are born of personal experience; Amy shares expert relationship advice from the lessons learned during her own 10+ years with her husband, as well as couples travel tips and romantic getaway recommendations, all gleaned while traveling the world together.