Founder of The White Company Chrissie Rucker is Queen of The Tasteful Christmas … but even she takes some shortcuts…
A Typical Christmas
Christmas day starts with stockings early (yes, we still do stockings, even though “the kids” are all late teens or older!) with all four children and four dogs in our bedroom. The children used to wake us up, but now they are older, we have to wake them up. After church and between getting lunch ready, there are our horses to sort and dogs to walk at some point. Lunch is always late, and happens after we open presents. (Afterwards, we play very competitive party games!)
The most important thing to me is that we get the family together and everyone has a lovely time celebrate the past year and look forward to the new. It’s an extremely busy time of year for me workwise, so I have to be very organised. I try (but often fail!) to get all my presents bought and wrapped by the end of November and aim to decorate the house two weeks before Christmas. I always want the house and the table to look lovely, but when it comes to the catering, everyone helps, and I cheat quite a lot too!
The Decorations
I don’t think you can beat lots of seasonal greenery (I mix real and faux), white fairy lights, lots of candlelight and of course a good Christmas playlist. Faux garlands are brilliant – across mantlepieces, down the centre of a dining table, along the back of a sideboard or up a banister on the staircase. They look great with fairy lights wound in and are so quick and easy to place or tie. Just before Christmas I add a few real branches from the garden from the tree and then no one notices they aren’t real.
We all know that Christmas is coming when I start lighting a Winter candle, it fills the house with warming cinnamon, clove and orange. This was one of the first scents I created nearly 25 years ago. An extra-large one lasts for the entire Christmas holidays.
I keep the tree quite simple. It starts with our cluster lights (the best fairy lights I have every discovered), they are tiny, but lots of them and look so beautiful you could almost use just them alone on a tree. We decorate the tree as a family with a mixture of glass and white decorations which I have collected over the years.
Throughout the house, we add little touches of Christmas. On mantelpieces and window sills, we add more greenery, fairy lights and candles in storm lanterns. I use lots of scented candles throughout – Winter, Fir Tree, Highland Escape and Fireside are all wonderful at this time of year.
On the kitchen island I place a wreath and fill it with tall pillar candles, and use large silver stars with fairy lights on the window sills, which look gorgeous as it gets dark.
Setting the Table
The table for Christmas Day features crisp white napkins, lovely white china and sparkling glassware. I place a mixture of tall and low candle holders down the centre of the table, together with lots of simply arranged white flowers and greenery. Ranunculus, hyacinths, white roses, flowering eucalyptus, snowberries and fresh rosemary are all favourites.
Bea (my youngest) lays each place, using a beaded placemat for a touch of sparkle, and tying the napkin with some rattan ribbon, a piece of greenery and a placename, so everyone knows where they are sitting. Sometimes we add a small Christmas decoration or soft toy decoration.
Having Guests to Stay
We always have family to stay, and I love their bedrooms to feel cosy. I hang Christmas decorations on cupboard handles and place a small faux Christmas tree with white fairy lights on a chest or the window sill. I also add a cosy hot water bottle, throws to layer up if it turns chilly, a warm bathrobe, a sleep pillow spray, a few magazines, water and Alka-Seltzer!
Don’t Overdo It!
Don’t make the mistake of trying to do it all. As a working mum I have learned it is about being realistic about what you have time to do and being organised quite far in advance. If you have time to cook everything from scratch, that is of course a joy, but sadly I do not. It is ok not to be perfect, and it is even more ok to cheat! It is much more important to enjoy being together than being in a hot, stressed-out sweat in the kitchen or wrapping, exhausted, at 3am in the morning.
With Christmas puddings, pies and other shop-bought treats, simply decant them onto a lovely serving dish, sprinkle with fresh herbs or icing sugar – no one needs to know! I choose foods that are easy and good for feeding large numbers. An amazing cheeseboard with chutneys and fruit, say. I buy a lot of the trimmings for Christmas dinner – smoked salmon and ham, for instance.
We always set up a small bar at home, so everyone can help themselves to drinks rather than us being permanently on duty. Mulled wine is a great choice for the holidays too, I cheat and buy it, but by adding fresh orange slices and cinnamon sticks, it almost looks homemade!
Tips and Tricks
I have to be very organised as November and December is my busiest time at work. I keep a list of what we have given before, so I can try and find a new surprise. I try, but usually fail to have all my presents bought and wrapped by the end of November. Then in December, I tackle stockings, decorating and getting the food ordered. I also have an emergency present drawer just in case I get caught out!
Faking It
Faux trees look amazing these days – if you take time to really spread and bend the branches, it makes an enormous difference. A quick spritz with a Fir Tree scent will also have it smelling like the real thing too.
The tiny flickering flame of a scented candle can instantly transform the atmosphere of a room. If you don’t have a real fire, a cluster of candles can be just as special. I often mix scented candles with unscented, for lots of candlelight without the scent becoming too strong.
I don’t always have time to wrap everything. So, shopping in stores who do an excellent job of this for you is helpful. In our stores we love to wrap gifts beautifully in a lovely bag with lots of tissue. All you need to add is a gift tie and a little sparkly ribbon.
Founder of The White Company Chrissie Rucker’s Christmas Shortcuts… www.thewhitecompany.com
