There are very good arguments both for and against real Xmas trees. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference and your situation.

In a perfect world I'd have a big 10 foot real tree covered in decorations and lights with piles of presents underneath just like in Tom & Jerry cartoons. Most people's idea of the perfect Christmas comes from films or cartoons. However it's difficult to replicate that perfect Christmas feeling in the real world. But that shouldn't stop you trying and a real tree is a big part of the perfect Christmas.

Of course there's a downside to having a real tree. For a start the needles which will continuously fall off the tree throughout the Christmas period and get everywhere. A decent quality tree can be expensive. You also need to dispose of it post New Year.

Fake trees, while they don't have the traditional look and smell of real trees, can look really good if you decorate them well. Once you've bought one, it'll last you for a number of years. My parents have had theirs for about 10 years now and it's still looking good.

As I said, given an ideal world, I'd have a real tree but if circumstances dictate you can't have one then a fake tree will do the job. Just spend a bit extra on decorations and make it look good.