One of the best parts of Christmas is making traditions. Every family, adopted family or group of loved ones has at least one that's come from years of collective oddness.
For some, it involves fancy dress that's continued from childhood into adulthood, for others it's a yearlong tactical plan on how to win at Trivial Pursuit, and for others still it's something altogether more bizarre.
We asked team Refinery29 UK for their weird Christmas traditions and found out that no two Christmases look the same.
What are your family's strange traditions? Tell us on social media!
Sarah Raphael, Editor-at-Large
My family bought a running machine about eight years ago. It was a mistake. No one ever used it, it just sat in the dining room making us all feel guilty while we ate pizza. My brother came up with the idea one Christmas Eve that we actually use the running machine since we were all home, and suggested we cumulatively run a marathon on Christmas Day.
So Christmas morning, parents were up first, clocking in some walking miles on the treadmill. Then my brother and I did around nine miles each, in two sittings, and my sister did the last five. We all concluded that it was nice to have a focus for Christmas Day, and so carried on the tradition and have done it every year since. This wasn't the first time we've been called overachievers.
Jess Commons, Health & Living Editor
Up until a few years ago, my grandma, who wasn't very well, lived in a home in Bolton and so in order to spend Christmas with her, we'd have to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a hotel.
My dad, being a huge football fan (especially the team from his hometown of Bolton) would book the hotel actually in the Bolton football ground. An added bonus for him was that the players would stay there Christmas Day night in preparation for the Boxing Day game.
That meant that Boxing Day morning was the big event, when we could "celeb" spot the players at breakfast before they went out to play. Did we get asked to go and get autographs for Dad? Of course we did.
Since my grandma died, we just do Christmas at home, where there are no football players. Which is a crying shame IMHO.
Rose Lander, International Co-ordinator
My family spread our presents out throughout the day because we get a bit sad when we have none left. My mum really worried about this so she would hide one of our presents until dinnertime so we would have something to cheer us up. This only stopped when my sister turned 30...
Georgia Murray, Fashion & Beauty Writer
My mum's side of the family is a 30-strong gaggle of Scousers. When my grandparents were alive, every year we'd all cram into their house in Liverpool – cousins, aunties, uncles, the lot – and we upheld some pretty great traditions.
First things first, a Chinese takeaway every Christmas Eve, followed by my grandma's homemade meringues and strawberries. Next, we'd exchange gifts and open them at midnight on Christmas Eve...blasphemy, I know, but that's how the Allens did it.
Then, on Christmas Day, there was The Snowman. A creepy-looking model snowman made of papier-mâché and cotton wool, whose head would be removed by my grandad to reveal inside a gift for every family member. The youngest in the family would then take each gift kept in The Snowman's belly and give them out to everyone. It was usually things under a fiver, like lip balm and tiny toy cars, but it was by far the most joyful part of the day.
Natasha Slee, Social Media Manager
My birthday is on Christmas Day. It is my birthday until midday, and only after then is it Christmas. My traditional birthday breakfast is a full English and champagne in my dressing gown, soaking in my few hours of spotlight before everyone else is allowed to rip open presents. Mum puts candles in the Christmas cake, because two cakes on one day is a bit ridiculous.
After carols and mulled wine in the village square on Christmas Eve, we drive out to the church on the coast for Midnight Mass. Now I don't live at home, this is the only service I attend all year. We count down the minutes to midnight, when my parents give me a silent birthday hug. I think that has to be my favourite moment at Christmas. Once the service has finished, the vicar without fail hushes the congregation and announces: “Now, we must celebrate another special birthday...” And 40 wrapped-up locals turn to face me and my red face in the candlelight to sing "Happy Birthday". It never gets less embarrassing, but it's very sweet and I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Sass Webber, Branded Content Project Manager
Webber Christmas tradition is an afternoon game of Trivial Pursuit which everyone hates as it takes forever but we do every year just because it's tradition. We have just two teams, boys vs. girls, and the game involves the whole family: parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents. The girls' team is no longer allowed to roll its own dice, put its ‘cheeses’ in the counter or be in arm's reach of the loose ‘cheeses’, due to multiple and persistent (as yet unproven) allegations of cheating. The cards are also shuffled at the start of the game following the 2013 year FA (favourite aunty) memorised all the questions and answers to the first 20 cards.
This year the girls are already formulating a plan to purchase extra ‘cheeses’ from eBay that the boys won’t know about. It’s not the taking part that counts, it’s the winning.
Meg O'Donnell, Photo Assistant
Christmas Day is my favourite day of the year without doubt. It starts off very stereotypically with Wham!, Slade, and Wizzard blasting from every speaker in the house. Then we have presents – always and only opened in pyjamas.
Then we have a humongous dinner with all of the trimmings and so on. Once presents are done and the Bucks Fizz has been well and truly opened, myself and my sister then change into our matching Xmas fancy dress outfits (think Christmas trees, Christmas elves, angels etc).
After a full-on wonderful day of all of the Christmas food and booze, we then go round to my aunty and uncle's for Christmas Day round two. This is where the magic happens. Ridiculous games, the annual Men vs. Women quiz ending in raised voices, and more of that Xmas booze.
As soon as the banter has subsided a little, my dad brings out what everybody has been waiting for...the Indian food! I'm talking an array of different pakora, samosas, bhajis. It's brilliant. Odd, but brilliant. The food is so bottomless that we're still usually eating pakora on NYE. I'm not sure why my dad insists on this, but I'm not complaining. Maybe it's a Brummie thing?
Sadhbh O'Sullivan, Social Media Assistant
In my family we always go to the panto on Christmas Eve (my brother’s birthday) and get pizza after but now we’ve moved that so I can go to Denmark this year to visit my girlfriend's family. Over there, they have a weird elf thing called Nissen På Loftet (the elf in the loft) who you leave rice pudding out for to make sure it doesn’t steal your presents or something, the crafty little bugger. So far it's worked for them.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
These 7 Home Decor Trends Will Be Everywhere in 2018
10 Things You Should Throw Away Before 2018
These Celebrities Went All Out With Their Holiday Decorations