From beautifully laid out Christmas dinner banquets, to the perfectly decorated tree, smiles, enthusiasm and a day of fun and festivities, Christmas day is often imagined as an idyllic family get together, but does it always go to plan?
New research from greetings card marketplace thortful has found that 79% of Brits claim their Christmas day goes wrong. The picturesque, M&S advert vision isn’t always achieved, however 20% say they always laugh off the issues which brings further joy to the day.
Celebrating the perfect imperfections of the big day, thortful asked Brits what normally goes wrong for them, and how they feel about it. From food disasters to family feuds, hangovers, unwanted gifts, people turning down proposals and much more.
Issues in the kitchen take the lead as the biggest Christmas issue, in fact, almost a quarter (24%) claim their food is often over or undercooked, 19% say the food is never on time and 16% forget to defrost ingredients – no turkey!
Relationships are also tested over the festive season, with family feuds erupting across the country. 17% of Brits argue with their family at Christmas, and it’s not just over playing Monopoly. 5% have ended relationships on the 25th December and 3% of people have even had a proposal declined.
See the full list below:
| What goes wrong for Brits at Christmas? | Percentage |
| Overcooked or undercooked food | 24% |
| Food is late / not on time | 19% |
| Family arguments | 17% |
| Forget to defrost food items | 16% |
| Being hungover from Christmas eve drinks | 15% |
| Receive duplicate gifts | 13% |
| Eat / drink too much so fall asleep before games | 12% |
| Oven / alternative appliance stops working | 11% |
| Forgotten presents | 11% |
| Badly wrapped presents | 9% |
| Guests stuck in traffic | 9% |
| Pets eat gifts under the tree | 7% |
| Relationship ended over Christmas | 5% |
| Lost a job over Christmas | 4% |
| Having to go to A&E on Christmas day | 3% |
| Proposal was declined | 3% |
| Re-sell unwanted gifts on Vinted / Depop | 2% |
The season of giving can also end in chaos, with more than one in ten (11%) forgetting presents. 9% also get in trouble for not keeping to the perfect Christmas aesthetic, wrapping presents badly. 2% of Brits even re-sell unwanted gifts on Vinted or Depop the very same day!
Although the Christmas hiccups are frequent among Brits, with some even losing a job (4%), others having to go to A&E (3%) and 15% being too hungover to enjoy the day, one in ten (10%) claim they improvise and make the day better, whilst one in five (20%) laugh off any issues and treat the whole situation with humour.
To help guide the mishaps on Christmas Day, and for support on gifting, card messages, games and more, visit thortful’s blog here: https://www.thortful.com/blog/
