Christmas Dinner - Do you pay?!?

[watermelon sugar]

No… I’ve been for Christmas dinner at many places and no one has ever asked me/us to pay. We usually bring our own drinks or a dessert, though. Imo if you have offered to make dinner that’s you offering to pay. I wouldn’t ask someone over for Christmas dinner and say ‘can you bring the £1 for the potatoes and the 54p for the sprouts please’

 

[Podcat]

Never been asked to pay, though I often provide dessert or starter. I wouldn't mind if a host asked for money, especially if I knew they didn't have much.

 

[Skyeball]

I cook it for whoever wants to come, we're low on numbers this year, there's only 5 of us. One epic year there were 10 and I had an overflow kids table. It was mad, so loud we didn't hear the crackers popping.
My mum is doing the wider family get together on NYE.
I don't charge and neither does she, we want people to come free of charge because we invited them in the first place.

 

[lemonlime]

Never heard of guests being asked to pay their share for the Christmas dinner tbh

I've never been asked to pay and while I never hosted an xmas dinner before, I don't think I could ask people to pay if I'm inviting them over. (That being said, I'm not married and I don't have in laws or relatives that expect/hope/demand to be guests and I am free to choose whether I want to entertain or not. Not saying that married people can't choose but as far as I can see, the whole Christmas dinner thing can be more tedious if you have a bunch of in-laws to consider.)

I personally wouldn't be offended if someone asked me to chip in but I'd rather do that in the form of bringing a side dish, drinks, dessert or what have you.

 

[Scorpihoe]

I personally think it’s a quite rude to ask someone to pay for the food, if you have invited them over.

Should I tip them and write a trip advisor review too?

 

[Warpaint]

Nope never been asked to pay. I was invited for a boxing day meal at my cousins once and I think they got a bit offended when I brought something to contribute.

So now I just get stuck in

 

[nbt]

We do a family thing every year for Boxing Day and each family contributes a dish, so we have a selection of food. Then we tend to bring whatever we fancy drinking but all share.

There are normally about 15 of us from 4/5 households and whoever is hosting still tends to provide the most.

 

[Booington]

We only ever stay at home (preferred) or go,to the in laws for Christmas dinner, I wouldn't charge anyone but I would expect them to bring booze or dessert. I think it’s ok to split the cost if it’s agreed by all in a family situation, but it needs to be decided like that beforehand!

 

[Peaches_xox]

So I would never expect anybody to pay, but one Christmas I hosted for 15 people most being my fellas family and not one of them offered to help in any way and I thought that was quite rude. I think if there’s a lot of people at the dinner then as a guest you should at least offer to bring something. It was very expensive to provide Christmas dinner, dessert and alcohol for 14 adults not to mention the cleaning up after that I didn’t get help with. Won’t be having people over again

 

[emm]

So I would never expect anybody to pay, but one Christmas I hosted for 15 people most being my fellas family and not one of them offered to help in any way and I thought that was quite rude. I think if there’s a lot of people at the dinner then as a guest you should at least offer to bring something. It was very expensive to provide Christmas dinner, dessert and alcohol for 14 adults not to mention the cleaning up after that I didn’t get help with. Won’t be having people over again

I agree with this, I would never charge people, but I have also been disappointed when people have come over for a group dinner (albeit not an xmas one) on more than one occasion (the sam person) and not brought one thing with them.... even when people ask me if they want to me to bring something I say no people generally do bring something (flowers/chocolates or whatever) for me it just seems polite to bring something, obviously does not cover the price of the food etc but it is just a gesture of thanks

 

[HoGi]

I host each year and pay for all of Christmas Dinner.

But my mum always pays for a take away on Xmas eve that easily comes to about £80 and my sister pays for bits on Boxing Day buffet.

I also only supply a limited amount of booze (I have expensive/good taste in wine and my family don't they will happily drink cheap tit) so I ask everyone to bring a bottle or two or whatever they want to drink, as I don't want to waste the good stuff on them or be left with crap I wouldn't drink.

 

[Niamhm]

I'd never pay and I'd never charge. I would offer to bring a dish or drinks. I think if a family agree to take turns hosting each year and split the cost every year then that's great but I would never invite people for dinner, then say 'oh and you have to pay x amount'.

 

[Happy35]

I usually host and pay for the Christmas meal, but this year I have been told that our guests are giving a joint of beef to go with the Turkey which is a nice contribution

 

[CatCafe234]

I would never dream of charging someone for a meal, especially not if I’ve invited them for something like Christmas dinner. However, if we are asked somewhere then I will always ask (discretely if necessary) if I can contribute or if there is anything that I can bring to help. We often go to my parents for Christmas and I always take some things and offer to pay for a big shop or something specific, like the turkey. To me, that’s polite - I would hate for someone to feel stressed because it’s all fallen on them and they’re struggling.

 

[judgejohndeed]

This has stressed me slightly as we always go to my Mum’s for Christmas, she’s a single parent and doesn’t earn a huge amount but it’s literally never occurred to me that we should maybe offer to pay I think she would be offended though. We do often take a dessert and wine, and we host on Christmas Eve which obviously we pay for. Christmas dinner must cost a fortune though.

 

[Peaches_xox]

This has stressed me slightly as we always go to my Mum’s for Christmas, she’s a single parent and doesn’t earn a huge amount but it’s literally never occurred to me that we should maybe offer to pay I think she would be offended though. We do often take a dessert and wine, and we host on Christmas Eve which obviously we pay for. Christmas dinner must cost a fortune though.

I think if you take dessert and wine and host Christmas Eve it’s fine! It’s more when you do nothing and just turn up on Christmas Day without even so much as a box of chocolates it’s quite rude

 

[Very traditional]

I live by myself and always host christmas, my brother and his girlfriend being the wine and my parents buy the Turkey, my aunt and uncle provide dessert, i cook and provide everything else. It is really expensive hosting Christmas even with everyone chipping in a bit, I don't think it's bad at all to be asked to contribute, as the host you're doing ALL the work plus paying for the majorly (or all) of the meal, often with very little thanks. The way we do it works great but I guess all families are different

 

[Dickydoo123]

I wouldn’t offer to host what I couldn’t afford. Some of our guests drink, some don’t. Some eat a lot, some don’t. But I do find they don’t come empty handed, so bring a bottle or cheese board etc. It’s fine we’re all catered for. However, I do know in between Christmas and New Year we go to other houses and a spread plus drinks will be put on for us and we return the favour by taking treats plus a bottle and we always help clear away.
I wouldn’t ask for a financial contribution but an extra pair of hands washing up is always gratefully received