Holidays are supposed to be enjoyable. But everyone, every family, has their personal tale of decorating gone terribly wrong. These (mis)adventures often make for side-splitting merriment when retold years later around the holiday table, disaster participants excluded. Haha. Perhaps a holiday catastrophe can be averted by considering some of these tips during advance prep.

• Every live tree type has its own distinct advantages and occasionally a downside. For example, if you're the  family that puts the tree up Thanksgiving weekend and keeps it up 'til New Year's Day, a balsam shouldn't even be a consideration. Instead, choose a Concolor, Fraser, Noble or Nordmann fir. They'll perform for the long Christmas stay.

• Apply an antidessicant spray, such as Wilt-Pruf, to the undersides of the branches of wreaths, roping, fresh greens and trees to reduce dehydration. If indoors, try to keep fresh greens in arrangements in water.

• Divorce is expensive and seldom amicable. Your tree is the center of the festivities so buy the correctly sized stand for your cut tree and be done with it. Don't try to whittle a 6" trunk into a pencil point for a stand with a 4" diameter opening. If you spend the hour(s) and somehow succeed in this engineering miracle be prepared for the fallout, or more accurately "fall over". Stability in all aspects of the holidays shouldn't be underestimated. The aesthetics of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree are somewhat lessened when guy-wired to the walls to stay upright. Trust me, this happens regularly.

• Sorry, but tree stand again. Example, 6" trunk in 6" stand. Even without high school physics this scenario means there is no room left for water. Can you say dangerous?

• NEVER let your fresh tree run out of water. A dry tree is a hazard. Make a fresh cut just before placing the tree in the stand indoors. Fill immediately with warm (not cold) water. Check the water reservoir at least twice daily the first few days when the tree is hydrating. Once uptake slows a daily inspection of the stand should be sufficient. You know the only fire you want for the holidays is in the fireplace!

• Follow light manufacturers' recommendations for the limit on how many light strands can be put together for one continuous sequence. Failing to do so may result in all manner of electrical hijinks.

• Test your lights before stringing the tree. Holiday cheer fades quickly after weaving them artfully in and out of the branches and the plug-in ceremony reveals they're not live. Use cardboard tubes to store individual light sets after the holidays. Only cats enjoy playing with tangled light sets.

• Ask if the artificial berries or greens you're purchasing for outdoors are suitable for that purpose. Don't assume. Usually the water-resistant ones will be labeled as such. If they aren't, dyes may bleed and stain surfaces. Colored berries or podded stems may crack and expose their white interior. I'm pretty sure that's not the look you're trying to achieve.

• Be mindful of leaving ceramic, terracotta or ceramic containers full of soil outdoors for the winter. Alternate freezing and thawing of wet soil may cause cracking, deterioration and the premature demise of these porous pots. Instead consider using the plastic or composite containers with the faux finishes. No one will ever know what they're not.     

Hope this saves even one family from a holiday disaster, large or small!