Christmas is the perfect time to slow down, get cosy and embrace wonderful traditions from Christmases past. Surrounding yourself with loved ones and enjoying both old and new traditions evoke a warm feeling of nostalgia that makes this season the most wonderful time of the year. Below we share our team’s favourite festive traditions that makes their Christmas truly magical.

"We have two Christmas traditions in my family: on Christmas Eve we always have a glass of baileys before bed (early to bed of course so Santa can come) and on Christmas Day my dad and I always have a glass of whisky and a cigar after eating our xmas pud."

- Alex, Customer Experience Advisor

"I always used to spend Christmas eve with my mum doing the Christmas cake, she would bake it and I would do the decorating. It was a tradition that she had started with her mum when she was younger. I took the decorating portion incredibly seriously, naturally. Each year I would pick a theme, and no-one was allowed to step foot in the kitchen until the grand unveiling on Christmas day. I really enjoyed our time together, we would put some cosy Christmas music on, dig out my grandma’s recipe book with her hand-written instructions, the baking would inevitably go wrong at some stage as we couldn’t understand her writing, even after many years of this tradition and my mum having spent decades watching her bake the cake itself. Somehow, the result was always delicious nonetheless, and (if I do say so myself), beautifully decorated."

- Becky, PR Manager

"Me and my cousin have used the same Christmas plates for our dinner each year since we were little. It's a really small tradition but one that has a special place in my heart. I always choose the Santa plate and she always has the snowman one."

- Octavia, Social Media Assistant

"Our main tradition is to get a load of the M&S Christmas party food, make a big vat of mulled wine and put on Christmas films (always Elf first) whilst decorating the tree – literally cannot wait to do it this year!"

- Amy, Director of Product

"As well as the star at the top of the tree, we hang the dog collars of our furry friends who are no longer with us."

- Susan, Office and Communications Manager

"Our tree always goes up the first weekend of December, we always go to the same Christmas tree farm and choose it together – it has to be a real one as nothing beats the smell (and the arguments over trying to get it to stand up straight are part of the tradition now too!). We buy our little boy a new decoration each year for him to hang on the tree himself. On the run up to Christmas we fill our weekends with winter walks and hot chocolates, and visits to country houses like Harewood House and Castle Howard to see the Christmas displays. Toasting marshmallows at Harewood seems to have become a bit of tradition recently too! Every year I make a special Christmas Eve dinner of lobster thermidor for just me and my husband and on Christmas morning we have chocolate croissants and bucks fizz while we watch our son opens his presents from Santa."

- Francine, Production Executive

"I always go to Mama Doreen's Christmas afternoon tea every year with my family; it's so festive and a really nice way to spend time with each other. I also take my son to get a toy each year to donate to a child less fortunate to teach him the importance of giving back. We also make our own Chrismtas cards together (well I put paint on his hands or feet and take over from there) and then finish the night by cosying up and watching a Christmas film."

- Claire, Senior CRM Executive

"This year we're doing matching pyjamas as a family on Chrismtas Eve and we're hoping to do it every year as the children get older. As a kid I used to always go to the cinema with my parents on Christmas Eve each year and want to share this with my children when they're old enough to enjoy the tradition too."

- Kieran, Managing Director

"I put presents in pillowcases for my 2 daughters even though they are both grown up! I still sneak into their rooms in the early hours if they are staying with us. The presents are opened at 7am on Christmas morning and are always accompanied by a Terrys chocolate orange."

- Hilary, HR Consultant