The celebration of equinoxes and solstices goes back to ancient times and Easter’s roots reach far back into distant, pagan history when a spring festival was a celebration of fertility, rebirth and regeneration. Easter is, of course, a Christian festival, but for many people it is simply a long-awaited celebration of spring, a time to enjoy long hours of daylight, balmy weather and burgeoning nature.

Like all major festivals, Easter has been heavily commercialised, as anyone who has surveyed Easter egg-packed aisles in the supermarket will attest. But despite this cornucopia, Easter is much less freighted with commercial and emotional trappings than Christmas. There is an expectation that we will all enjoy socialising, eating, chocolate-gorging and the great outdoors, possibly with our families. But there are far fewer established norms of behaviour than at Christmas, much less pressure when it comes to buying cards and presents (you can if you want to but it’s not an expectation), and very little sense of homogeneity about Easter celebrations and family get-togethers.

Every family will have its own Easter traditions, or not (it passes some people by completely), and thus Easter entertaining is a much more relaxed affair than the annual Christmas bonanza. If you are choosing to host an Easter lunch or an Easter weekend for friends or family, or if you are a guest at one of these celebrations, bear in mind the following considerations:

•Be cautious about the weather

In the words of the old English proverb, ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out’; in other words, don’t cast off your winter wardrobe until spring is truly underway. It is perfectly possible to have beautiful, sunny days in April, but it can also be bitterly cold, or grey and wet, so it is a good idea to plan for these contingencies.

If the weather looks well and truly settled, think about your guests before dragging them all out into your garden for a long, al fresco lunch. At this time of year, the middle of the day can be very warm, but the temperatures drop quickly towards the end of the afternoon. Older guests (and anyone who feels the cold for that matter) might baulk at the prospect of lingering outside as a chill begins to fall. Make sure you’ve got plenty of warm wraps or even a fire pit and be vigilant about your guests’ comfort.

•It’s not all about chocolate

Most children would disagree with this statement, and you would be much reviled if you removed the chocolatey component of the celebrations. But as a guest, it is probably a good idea to eschew gifts of chocolates for Easter hosts – they will have made more than adequate provision for their children (and themselves) already, and a further dose of chocolate might well push the children over the edge. We all know that chocolate highs can make children over-excited and ungovernable. If in doubt about rationing the chocolate, you can always check with your hosts beforehand.

Think about alternative presents for hosts: a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine (or two); a decent bottle of port, cognac or whisky; a lavish spring bouquet or thriving house plant. Instead of bringing chocolate for the children, give them a book, board game, or an Easter-themed soft toy (eg a rabbit) – the choice will depend on their age.

•Think about Easter decorations

Christmas decorations are de rigueur; Easter decorations are much more a matter of personal choice. But it is fun to enjoy the spring/growth/renewal theme by choosing to decorate your table with seasonal spring flowers and blossom.

Children will enjoy hand-painting Easter eggs and the shops provide a rich array of wooden Easter bunnies, fluffy yellow chicks, colourful papier mâché eggs, and so on. These make attractive table decorations or can be put in baskets as prizes for Easter egg hunts.

•Accommodate religious obligations

If you are hosting and you want to go to church on Easter morning, tell your guests that is what you are proposing, invite any guest who would like to join you, but do not expect them all to follow suit – it would be wrong to impose your own religious practices on non-believers.

Similarly, if you are a guest in a household where religion is not practised, warn your host that you would like to go to the local church on Easter morning. The host should make every effort to facilitate this: driving you to the church, walking with you to the church, organising a gang of children to meet you at the church gate, and so on. It is only polite to respect each other’s wishes.

•Is lamb on the menu?

While there is nothing like the ubiquity of turkey at Christmas, many households will go along with the age-old tradition of eating lamb at Easter, which has both Jewish and Christian roots. Many of us will simply opt for lamb because it is at peak quality at this time of year.

However, these days many people are eschewing red meat, or opting to follow vegetarian or vegan diets, so it would be wise for Easter hosts to check with guests beforehand about their eating preferences – it will help with menu planning. If you find yourself confronted by a split table, with some diehard meat-eaters and some vegetarians, you could choose to roast a shoulder of lamb (rather than the much more substantial leg), and also offer an alternative vegetarian or vegan main dish (ideally something that can be prepared in advance and reheated to reduce the pressure on the cook).

If you are a guest who does not eat meat, it would be a good idea to inform your host beforehand – not all hosts will ask you, and the onus is on you to make your dietary preferences known. If you forget to do so and find yourself being offered lamb on Easter Sunday, you will have to grin and bear it. Politely turn down the offer of meat and help yourself to a generous serving of vegetables.

•Check on other people’s Easter plans

Because Easter is less of a big deal than Christmas there is a chance that some friends and family will not be participating in your Easter celebrations. It is always a good idea to check what people (especially older people, or friends or relations who are living alone) are doing over the Easter weekend. It is, after all, a four-day holiday, and if they have not received any invitations, it can be a hard slog negotiating Easter alone. Even if they are not coming to the main Easter Sunday meal, you might be able to suggest alternatives – a walk on bank holiday Monday, or an invitation to join you for tea and hot cross buns on Good Friday, for example. Remember, bank holidays are not everybody’s idea of fun, especially when they reinforce feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Top: A 1923 Easter postcard