How HGTV’s Fan-Favorites Became the Ultimate Christmas Couple

Published: December 15, 2025

By Michaela Gordoni

HOME TOWN stars Ben and Erin Napier started dating around Christmas time in college, so the holiday season is extra special to them.

“Some people consider my husband, Ben, and me a Christmas couple. I like that,” Erin previously wrote in Guideposts. “Not just because it’s my favorite holiday and Ben is into Christmas year-round. But because our love story is so connected to Christmas—it’s a part of who we are as a couple.”

“The presents, the ornaments, the food, the songs, the scents, the lights, and all that our family does to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The magic and joy of the season are a feast for all the senses God has given us,” Erin said.

Decades ago, Erin worked as the design director for the yearbook at their college. The yearbook did a feature on Ben, and the couple first met when he interviewed for the article. Three days later, they went on their first date—to look at Christmas lights. After just three days, they knew they had each found their soulmate.

“I know it sounds crazy, but that’s why we call that week in December ‘love week,’” Erin said.

Christmas means even more to them now that they have two daughters. One of Erin’s favorite memories is a surprising thing that her daughter Helen did when she was just two.

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“At age two, she was painting something vigorously, swiping the brush around on the canvas. I glanced over her shoulder and couldn’t believe it,” Napier said. “Without her knowing, we could see that she had painted Baby Jesus in the manger, with Mary and Joseph watching over him.”

“How could she picture the scene so vividly? How did she know? Was it because she heard the story every night with the Advent calendar or sang it with ‘Away in a Manger’?”

Every year, the Napiers hang Helen’s picture up to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

This year, they told Us what their favorite traditions are.

Ben said, “This is our girls’ favorite thing — which I feel like a win as a family,” Ben explained. “They both talk about on Christmas Eve, we go to our church, we have a candlelight service and it’s very simple, it’s very short. Then they [get to hold candles in the dark].”

“They get to hold fire but it’s beautiful,” he continued. “It’s a really beautiful service. They never forget it. They talk about it. And then we go home and we have fettuccine alfredo and it’s a very simple night that transcends and means more to them than anything else.”

In 2021, Ben shared a sweet Christmas Eve memory and a photo of Erin reading with Helen.

“Tonight, we attended the candlelight service at church with the girls,” Ben wrote. “Then we let Helen eat supper in the living room while watching It’s a Wonderful Life. At bedtime, @erinapier read to Helen from Luke chapter 2 and a book called Room for a Little One. I hope she gets it. I hope you do, too. Merry Christmas!!”

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