A major part of the holiday season in addition to catchy winter tunes, making delicious cookies, and spending time with friends and family, is of course tree decorating! When it comes time to “deck the halls with boughs of holly” and “rock around the Christmas tree” the question is, what is going on said tree? To start, a real or fake tree? Next, the highly debated white lights verse colored? Home-made decorations and ornaments as opposed to store-bought? Ornaments or no ornaments and just a big bow on top? The possibilities are endless when it comes to tree decorating, but what is the correct holiday tree aesthetic? What is your holiday vibe?

Despite all the different possible tree aesthetics, there is only one correct answer to this question: a fake tree, white lights, a mix of homemade and store-bought ornaments, and a big bow tree topper. 

The cozy feeling that warm white lights bring is incomparable to the brighter tones of colored lights. Not to mention that the white lights provide a blank canvas allowing for any color combo of ornaments your heart desires. White lights also have a cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing look to them. They are versatile and can be decorated elegantly or wacky and fun depending on the look you are going for. Colored lights are distracting, messy looking, and take away from the ornaments and decorations on the tree whereas white lights highlight them. 

Now it’s time to discuss the ornaments. Home-made ornaments such as little crafts you made in school during the holidays when you were a kid, gifts from friends and family, or ones that you made with the people you love all have a sentimental value that store-bought ones just don’t possess. While they may not look the best it is not right to discredit these ornaments. However, that being said, store-bought ornaments add a level of aestheticness to the tree that can pull the tree together. They too, can also hold sentimental value if you bought them while on vacation and if it represents something personal to you or a fun memory. That is why the best aesthetic in terms of ornaments is a combo of both because both add to the holiday vibe of your tree! 

In my opinion, the idea of getting a real tree is cute, but a fake tree will always remain superior for many reasons. Starting off with the fact that artificial trees do not have a chance of coming with bugs. I believe in sharing the holiday spirit but not with the possible critters that could be partying in my tree. Second, fake trees last longer. You can put them up in November and leave the lights up till January. Extending the time to experience the holiday joy longer than if the tree was real. 

Since tree aesthetics can look different for everyone what does that look like for staff and students at Point Pleasant Boro High School? What is their Holiday vibe?

For AP Precalculus and Algebra II Honors teacher Ms. Dallicardillo her holiday tree aesthetic is all about the homemade decorations. She described, “I think the cheesiest and least ‘picture perfect’ are always the best. A messy combination of childhood crafts, vacation memorabilia, and other silly ornaments is the way to go. One of the best parts of Christmas prep for me is going through bins of ornaments and reminiscing. I think it best highlights the spirit of the holidays.” 

A junior, Brayden Merritt, shared with us his holiday vibe is white lights and he prefers them because “they are more aesthetic and make the room shine beautifully,” adding that he finds colored lights tacky. 

Another junior, Paige Palumbo, told us her stance on holiday lights is white lights are more aesthetic but added, “colored lights are fun to have too sometimes.” 

Similar to Paige, US II Honors and AP U.S. History teacher Mrs. Switzer added that her holiday aesthetic changes and she although she loves both colored and white lights, it just “depends on what look you’re after. But right now on my own tree, I have big colored lights. Lots of color all over the place! I think the most important thing is to do what makes you feel happy and brings joy.” 

In the end, whether the correct aesthetic is white or colored lights, a real or fake tree, or handmade or store-bought ornaments, all that matters is the magic created and memories made with whatever your holiday vibe may be.