Charging Your Family to Eat Christmas Dinner at Your House.

Actually if they can afford it I quite like this idea. We do not do big presents and there are no children so just do 2 x secret Santa at £5.00 each and give £10 each to a charity of our choosing. I think my family would happily pay £20 each ... be a nice £200 for a charity close to our hearts. For other families where money is tight surely it is acceptable to contribute in some way whether it is buying a turkey, a couple of bottles of whatever or some money in the kitty.

A British family was on daytime tv because they intend to do this. There are so many arguments for and against. I am fortunate to be able to put on Christmas dinner for 7 of us but we are all generous by nature so they would never come empty handed. If you cannot afford to put on a dinner but have a big diner and can cook then i see nothing wrong with saying that you would provide the meat and do the cooking if others supplied the veg, trimmings, pudding, starter etc. But I would find it very hard to charge money. Surely any guest worth their salt would offer to contribute?

having everyone contribute by pitching in, bringing food in, or even gifts is fine. but asking for money? perhaps if you are pooling your funds together to get a big slap up meal, then it's ok. but to have an outright charge seems a bit mean

If you are happy to pay £40 per head you may as well go out for Christmas lunch and save the bother of someone being stuck with the cooking

Asking for money from relatives for Christmas dinner is rude and goes to show you aren't really close as a family. Instead of asking them to pay, it would be more appropriate to ask them to help share the menu cost by bringing in some food.