Season's Special: Deck the Halls!

This festive season, we give you a glimpse of some of the coolest Christmas tree décor around town - and the families and stories behind them

The Themed Tree

Marcel Velez Oyson has lived in the UAE for the last 15 years, but she's done her fair share of travelling. The half Chinese-half-Spanish UAE expat and her family have lived in Hong Kong, Singapore and China in the past, and are engaged in the real estate business. Which more than explains their attention to detail and love for interior decoration - not to mention, unique themed Christmas trees.

"We shifted into this house in March, and my mum and I worked with a contractor to get it to look exactly right," explains Marcel. "We didn't have an interior decorator - my mum and I worked out every single detail and created the overall design. We've having a bit of a monochrome phase right now, and did the entire house in black and white, so when it came to the Christmas tree this year, we decided to keep that theme alive."

Their Christmas tree, as Marcel describes it, is 'monochrome with a hint of turquoise' - the turquoise being inspired by the feathers of the theatrical peacock the family decided to place on the top of the tree. Besides the peacock, their snow-dusted tree also features monochrome jesters' hats and black ribbon. Refreshingly creative as it seems, the Velez Oyson family is no stranger to themed Christmas trees. The family tries out a different one every year, says Marcel and, while some of their themes are colour-based - like a red or silver theme, they've also had a masquerade tree and a 'clown' tree in the past.

Their theme goes beyond the décor though - every year, the Velez Oyson family celebrates Christmas Eve in their favourite hotel, where friends and family join them - and, this year, the guests are encouraged to come in only white or black outfits. "It's an incredibly fun Christmas tradition that my family has. After the party is over, we all come home and open presents together."

Christmas has always been big in the Velez Oyson household, she adds. "My mum and I always say that we should try and make every day like Christmas in our lives. When December comes around, the house is always filled with the smell of good food from the turkey to orange marmalade, and everyone starts trying to buy gifts behind each other's backs. There are so many ways to describe it, but it is always good. It brings back memories from my childhood and, every time December hits, I feel like a kid again."

So what does it really take to get the home ship-shape for Christmas? A lot of planning, says Marcel. "When you go to a store, unprepared, everything looks beautiful - you feel like picking it all up and that can be a mess. So keep in mind exactly what you want, and stick to it. Keeping your Christmas decorations themed according to colour is a classy, unique and simple way to go about it. Luckily, we have all the options here in Dubai - it's the best place to scout for details."

A White Christmas

Hailing from England, John and Sarah Milford are naturally huge fans of the festive season and, as Sarah puts it, 'miss the cold white Christmas back home'. Which is why the couple and their kids always make a bit of an effort when it comes to creating a celebratory atmosphere around the house - as can be seen with their gorgeous and voluptuous 12-foot-tree every December.

"When we first bought the tree, we didn't have a ladder tall enough to decorate the top," explains Sarah (seen left with her youngest son, Henry). "I used to climb over the banister and John used to hold me so that we could reach the top of the tree."

It's easy to see the need for a bigger ladder with their ornate tree that towers over them. Picked up from Irony Homes, their tree is as majestic as they come and, as Sarah says, it takes a bit of effort to assemble as 'it involves quite a bit of electrics'. However, it's not Christmas if you're not seen wrestling a giant tree and, as true fans of the holiday season, the couple have diligently set it up every winter since they moved to the UAE nine years ago.

"We have a lot of traditions this time of the year," says Sarah. "John's family always comes down for Christmas dinner and, on Boxing Day, my aunt always stops by."

She does admit that traditions have changed over the years. "When the kids were younger, they used to leave out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeers," says Sarah. "Now that the kids are all grown up, we're doing new things - like going to a nice restaurant for a family dinner. After all, Christmas means celebration with the family, getting together and spending time with them."

A Tree For Every Room

To call Betty Scott and her husband Keith fans of the festive season may be something of an understatement. Not only is their home decked up in shades of red and green, the couple have five Christmas trees - one for every major room in the house.

"Every year, we do the same decorations because it goes with the rest of the house," says Betty. "We have one in the TV room that I always do up in red and green. Two out in the garden - I call these my little winter wonderlands and love to do them up in silver and blue. Another is decorated in all-black. But our main tree every year has to be a real one, and it is always done up in shades of festive gold."

Betty comes from Belgium and her husband Keith from Britain so, in her own words, 'Christmas usually combines the best of both worlds'. This means there's always the turkey to carve, as well as a hearty seafood dish, a family tradition from Betty's side. In fact, Betty confesses that much of her love for the season stems from her childhood memories.

"Christmas was always big in my family," she admits. "We would start decorating the house from October itself! Not for any reason, in particular - we just liked the twinkling lights and sitting by the fire."

She follows the same traditions even today - beginning to decorate the house well in advance, with the goal being to get one tree done every week. And if you're wondering why someone would take the trouble to buy a real tree every year, despite already having four fake ones - it's for the scent.

"The fake trees get replaced every six to seven years if they don't stand correctly anymore. But the smell of a real Christmas tree is simply amazing - it's like there's a pine forest in your house! There's no other way to describe it. It's not easy to set up a real tree, and it always makes quite a mess with the pine needles falling all over the house - but it's completely worth it."

A South African Sort of Christmas

The Majoor family's Christmas tree may not be the biggest one you've ever come across but it is probably the most unique. Hailing from South Africa, Shaun Majoor and his wife Ann-Louise enjoy travelling and lived in China for a bit before settling down in Dubai five years ago. However, as Shaun puts it, it was a bit of nostalgia for their home country that had the family decorating a wire tree that they had picked up from Pretoria in 2013.

"It's a little handmade wire baobab tree that we decorate every year as an African Christmas tree," explains Shaun, who teaches English in the UAE. "It's 45 cm high, and was quite a feat bringing in our luggage! Down South, our Christmas is usually in the summer and this tree gives us that feeling of home."

The handmade wire baobab tree is accompanied by a much smaller Christmas tree - also handmade - done up in a series of colourful beads. Shaun and his wife picked them both up as 'they like to support local artists in the region'. And later, when Christmas in the UAE rolled around, they decided to decorate it as their tree instead of buying a new one. "It just looks really interesting. We usually do it up with bits and bobs from Ikea," says Shaun. "The colours and the beads really remind us of South Africa, and we've grown quite fond of them now."

With the festive season usually falling during summer in South Africa, Shaun and his wife don't have memories about things people usually associate with Christmas. Instead, Christmas to him was about a lot of barbecues and big family lunches. "Sometimes, people travel down to Cape Town to spend Christmas and New Year's on the beach," he says.

It's a different experience in the UAE, he says, adding that his five-year-old son Kaden (seen above, alongside the wire tree) has only celebrated Christmas in Dubai. However, with his mother-in-law and sister-in-law living in Abu Dhabi and meeting up on Christmas day, it tends to be as special as ever.

His advice for the holiday season - both décor and gift-wise - is to keep things simple. "Don't be too gaudy when it comes to the decorations," he says. "People sometimes tend to overdo it. Christmas is actually a time of giving and reflecting and, for a lot of people, it can be stressful to be buying things you don't really need. If you truly want to be generous, give a gift from the heart, not from the wallet."

janice@khaleejtimes.com

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