We have 2 fake 6ft that I put up really early and then we also get a real on around Dec 8th
we go to a Christmas tree farm and ride in a hay covered trailer pulled by a tractor and then we pick and cut our own tree...its a family tradition since before we had children
we also had our real tree fall over one year all 9 feet of it...needless to say I lost a lot of ornaments that year
most Christmas tree farms will give you the limps that they cut off and you can make swags and garland out of it so you can still get that smell but with less clean up