Hints help couples move from wedding bells to sleigh bells

It is possible to keep both families happy during the busy holidays.
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
When a couple become husband and wife, expectations from all sides of the family are bound to shift. And as much as you'd like to, it's almost impossible to accommodate all your family members for every holiday. It may take some readjusting for each set of parents to accept that their way of celebrating the holidays is changing.
Bridal Guide offers these tips for keeping everyone happy -- including yourselves!
Plan ahead: By keeping everyone informed well in advance of the holidays, your family will have the chance to digest your plans and know they can look forward, say, to seeing you at Christmas if they missed you at Thanksgiving. If you alternate holidays, make sure you give both families equal time over the course of the year.
Bring everyone together: House hopping during the holidays may sound like a solution, but it may be easier to have both sides of the family over to celebrate at your house. The hosting and entertaining should not be left solely to the senior family members. After all, you two are now on the path to creating your own family.
Keep it simple: Whether you're overwhelmed by the size of your new family or budgets are tight after the wedding, you may want to rethink gift giving with many more nieces, nephews and cousins. Perhaps purchase gifts for all the children and suggest a Secret Santa for the adults. This means fewer presents to buy and more time to select them.
Swap stories: Even if you celebrate the same holidays, your family traditions may be different. Talking in advance about your families' respective customs will make get-togethers educational and enjoyable, and make it easier to meet everyone's expectations.
Create tradition: You should discuss what your expectations are for the holidays and decide what aspects from each religion and upbringing you will incorporate in your own celebrations going forward. By integrating aspects from each of your backgrounds, you will embrace the new union and establish your own core of family traditions and values.
Save time for the two of you: Vow to spend at least one celebration just the two of you, to begin your own family traditions.