Why This Year Is Different

INSTEAD OF THE USUAL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS, THESE THREE WOMEN SHARE WHY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WILL BE ONE TO REMEMBER…

‘We’ll be starting our own traditions’

Claire Badenhorst, 31, is a food and decor expert who lives in Northcliff. She married her husband Derik in June and they’ll be celebrating their first Christmas as a married couple this year.

While we were dating, Derik and I lived separately; I lived at home with my parents, while he stayed in his own place. We only moved in together after the wedding.

During past Christmases, we normally spent the day – separately – with our respective families. Often, Derik would visit my family in the afternoon after having spent the morning with his relatives, and vice versa, or my parents would invite him and his mom to come join in our family festivities. While we’re still planning on seeing both our families on Christmas Day this year, what I’m really looking forward to is Christmas Eve.

This year, we will get to celebrate the festive season and create new holiday traditions as a married couple and we have decided that Christmas Eve is going to be a time for just Derik and myself to enjoy. We’ve bought a Christmas tree for our place and we’re both excited to be able to decorate it together.

Now that we’re married and have become a little family of our own, we get to choose how we’d like to celebrate the holiday season. It’s important that, as a couple, we’re able to add a personal touch to our celebrations. I’m sure that in the future we will look back fondly on our first Christmas as husband and wife, as it will be one filled with special memories of where we started.

‘There’ll be no gifts under the tree’