Exact date you're officially allowed to put Christmas decorations up

If you like to put your Christmas tree up early, then good news! As this is the exact date you're 'allowed' to put your tree up - and it's actually earlier than you might think.

Now Halloween is officially out of the way - and Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey has officially spoken, declaring on social media that 'it's time' - you might be thinking about getting about putting the festive decs up.

But when is the right time to put up your tree?

According to tradition, a Christmas tree should actually be put up at the start of Advent, which begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas.

This year, Advent falls on Sunday 27 November - which means if you do like putting your tree up in November, you'd only be following tradition by doing so!

If you do put your tree up early, it's worth remembering that (if you're using a real tree) you'll want it to last until at least the big day itself.

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association recommends buying your tree at the start of December to ensure it stays in good condition. Pine needles can begin to drop and branches can often droop if the tree is bought too early.

But buying your tree within four weeks can keep it looking at its best over the Christmas period, too.

Tatyana Tomsickova/Alamy Stock Photo

The BCTGA explain: "A well looked after tree should last up to 4 weeks. Once you get your Christmas tree home, take it out of the net and ideally leave it in a bucket of water until you are ready to take it inside to decorate."

Of course, there's no right or wrong time to put up your tree - in fact, in the Victorian era, it was tradition to dress the tree on Christmas Eve, but many love to get theirs up as soon as Halloween is out of the way.

It seems there could be something in putting our decorations up earlier. Apparently, it can make us happier.

Steve McKeown, Psychoanalyst, founder of MindFixers and owner of The McKeown Clinic, told UNILAD: "Although there could be a number of symptomatic reasons why someone would want to obsessively put up decorations early, most commonly for nostalgic reasons either to relive the magic or to compensate for past neglect.

Cultura Creative RF/Alamy Stock Photo

"In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood.

"Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extend the excitement!"

We're getting ours up ASAP!

Topics: Life, Christmas

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot.

@lucedevine