Jen Thomas
Confession time... my Christmas tree has already been up for a week, but if you're still waiting to put yours up, then the ideal date has been revealed.
Whether you're a traditionalist with a real tree decked in red and gold for the festive season, or you go for something wild and colourful and artificial there are traditions which can be used as a guide.
There's a particular date for your diary which has been established over the years as the ideal time to decorate.
Whether you agree with it or not is another matter, as some people think it should be even later...
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Drumroll please... your tree is meant to go up on the first day of Advent.
For the uninitiated it goes up on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and for 2024 it's this Sunday 1 December.
This date is particularly important if you prefer a real tree, as experts say they last around four weeks on average.
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Nobody wants a dead tree on Christmas day.
Waiting until the first weekend of December ensures any real foliage should hold out until the big day.
It seems I'm not alone in my taste for the tree going up in November, as John Lewis has found more people than ever have been buying their tree earlier than normal.
Tree sales have rocketed by 32 percent in recent weeks.
According to the aptly named Christmas Tree World experts: "In recent years, it has not been uncommon for families to get ahead and welcome the festive season early, with some setting up their trees as soon as Halloween is over!
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"Another popular choice for when to deck the halls is the slightly earlier date of December 1st.
"Many households like to set up their tree and other festive decorations on the first day of the month to mark the start of the official countdown to the big day!"
Debate has been raging online over whether putting your tree up earlier is 'common' or not, and there's an etiquette on everything from the time you should open presents to when to eat Christmas dinner.
Laura Windsor is the founder of the Laura Windsor Etiquette Academy and is the etiquette consultant for Bridgerton, and she insists any earlier than the 1st is just too soon, and it should ideally be later.
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“Ideally, a Christmas tree – made of real fir – should go up in mid-December, around the 17th, so that the tree lasts until the Twelfth Night,” she told Good Housekeeping.
“Traditionally, trees were displayed as late as Christmas Eve. Nowadays, people are putting up their trees much earlier [but] the earliest acceptable date is 1 December.”
Apparently only a star should adorn your tree too, never an angel or a fairy.
When is your tree going up?