Celeste Sprague’s guest list this year included 35 members of her family.
Last year, there were 22 for Christmas dinner at the Spragues’ home.
At that point Ms Sprague decided some out-of-the-box thinking was required and opted to hire a local hall.
It turned out the St Kilda Scout Hall in Victoria Rd was the perfect fit — the family ate there last year, and again yesterday.
While there was a good deal of preparation required to feed that many people, the space meant everyone could eat, drink and have fun together without feeling crowded.
Even adding another 13 people this year — family come from Dunedin, Christchurch, Gore and the North Island — was not an issue, she said.
To be ready, she and her mother, Paulette Sprague, spent the week leading up to Christmas decorating the hall, including dragging in a large Christmas tree, sourcing tables, buying and putting up decorations and helping wrap a massive haul of presents to go under the tree.
Paulette was in charge of the cooking — on the menu were roast pork, roast lamb, mutton, ham, chicken, peas and carrots, potatoes and "lots and lots of salads".
"It’s a whole week of setup and we’ve been flat out ... it cost a lot of money to get together, but it’s going to work out, everybody’s going to be very happy," Paulette said.
