Arzoris Hernandez and Ekin Ilseven have never had a Christmas tree before — she grew up in Puerto Rico where real holiday trees are hard to come by, and he is a Muslim. But for their first holiday season as a couple this year, they decided to try it.

Because he lives in Zurich and she lives in Cambridge, Christmas Eve day was their only opportunity to buy one together.

Ilseven had flown in Friday night to visit Hernandez over the holidays. In the pouring rain Saturday, they purchased their first tree at Boston Christmas Trees, a small setup in a lot on Harvard Avenue in Allston.

“We wanted to have the whole experience together,’’ Hernandez said.

The couple had just one ornament as of Christmas Eve afternoon: a pair of little penguins with their names on them, purchased during Ilseven’s last visit.

Nearby, co-owner Chris Gregory answered his cellphone. “Boston Christmas Trees! ... Yes, we do ... Well, it depends on the size. They range from 25 to 60 or 80 dollars.’’

Tradition, procrastination, and non-Yule holidays brought a stream of people to tree lots and farm stands Saturday. Gregory had been fielding calls all day from shoppers, quite anxious as many popular Christmas-tree venues had already closed for the season.

“Some people have a [Christmas Eve] tradition and they plan it,’’ Gregory said. “Other people — you'd be surprised, a lot of people live check-to-check. This last check is when they’re going to get their Christmas tree.’’

Lenny Rotman, who owns Boston Christmas Trees with Gregory, said many people buy trees for winter holidays other than Christmas.

Russians and Eastern Europeans buy trees for the New Year, he said, and many Christians buy them for the Epiphany. Hernandez said she hopes she won’t accidentally kill her tree before the Epiphany holiday, also known as Three Kings Day, on Jan. 6.

Knowing this well-established pattern of late buyers, Gregory and Rotman said they purchased extra trees this week to be sure that they had “plenty’’ for Christmas Eve, their last day of the season.

A couple hours earlier at Wilson Farm in Lexington, Alexander Shkolnik of Wilmington, whose family is Russian and Jewish, selected a New Year tree.

The New Year tree tradition — a secular wintertime observance — began during the Soviet regime, when religious celebrations, including Christmas, were banned, he said.

“Instead, they started celebrating New Year,’’ Shkolnik said. “Everybody would get a New Year tree and exchange presents. There was a jolly guy wearing a hat. They’d call him ‘Father Frost.’ He would give gifts to the kids.’’

Shkolnik said he meant to get a New Year tree a week ago, but with three small children during a busy time of year, “it ended up being a last-minute thing.’’

Mike Crawford, marketing and promotion manager for Wilson Farm, said the business expects to sell about 30 to 40 trees on Christmas Eve — a “nice little bump’’ right before the big holiday, he said.

“A lot of families will buy it [during] the day and put it together [during the night],’’ Crawford said.

Chandran Seshagiri and Ilana Brownstein brought their 20-month-old son, Bhaskar, as they chose from a line of trees leaning against a fence, marked with a sign that said: “Charlie Brown trees.’’

Although Brownstein is Jewish and her husband is Hindu, they both grew up with Christmas trees in their homes, she said. But they hadn’t bought a tree together yet.

“We were trying to decide if we really wanted to go to the effort, and whether it would be worth it since [our son is] so little and he’s totally going to pull it over,’’ Brownstein said.

“And then I remembered that Wilson Farm has these Charlie Brown trees, which are the perfect size for our little house.’’

Brownstein got a bunch of stuffed ornaments — “Lucky me, everything is on sale!’’ — just in case the small tree was brought down by the toddler, she said.

On Cameron Avenue in North Cambridge next to a bike path, Penny Freseman and her adult children Brad and Christie selected their tree from a lot run by Boy Scouts, shivering as “Do You Hear What I Hear?’’ played from a white trailer.

The family is from Florida, visiting Brad, who now lives in Somerville, they said. The chilly, rainy Massachusetts weather was an unwelcome distraction from their tree shopping.

“We’ve actually never bought a tree on Christmas Eve before,’’ Freseman said.

“We’ve never been this slacker-y before either,’’ said her daughter Christie.

But regardless of the date and the weather, Freseman said, “We had to get a Christmas tree.’’

Nicole Fleming can be reached at nicole.fleming@globe.com.