Thursday, March 28, 2024

Decorating your home for the holidays? You might consider letting these guys do it for you

Prestige decorates dozens of homes in southeast Virginia each year. (WYDaily/ Courtesy Prestige Holiday and Event Lighting)
Prestige decorates dozens of homes in southeast Virginia each year. (WYDaily/ Courtesy Prestige Holiday and Event Lighting)

Bright lights, shiny wreaths and glimmering garland can be seen on lawns and hanging from windows and gutters all over the Historic Triangle each December.

But decorating isn’t for everyone. Some people skip the ordeal entirely, while others pay someone else to make their homes and yards festive.

That’s where professional decorators like Prestige Holiday and Event Lighting come in.

Owner James Messer said his company has decorated homes across the Historic Triangle, the Southside, as far west as Richmond and everywhere in between. He and his nine employees have adorned homes with projectors, animated lights shows, wreaths, garland, nativity scenes, bows and Christmas trees.

They even set up a 40-foot tall Christmas tree in Virginia Beach this season.

“The only thing we don’t do is inflatables,” Messer said. “I find them tacky so I don’t do them.”

Prestige owns and provides their own lights. Outside of Christmas they also decorate homes for the Fourth of July and Halloween, but December is their busiest season.

He said Prestige typically decorates about 80 homes each Christmas season, and some businesses, too. They can typically decorate four or five homes each day.

“We put our first set of Christmas lights on the 19th of October,” Messer said. “From usually about the 19th of November through the 16th of December we are seven days a week from sunup to sundown.”

Messer said Prestige provides estimates for each house. Their minimum price is $700 for one job, but their average job comes in around $2,000. The price includes installation and removal of the lights.

Why pay that much to skip decorating your own home?

“Ninety percent of people will tell you straight up, ‘I’m not climbing a ladder,’” Messer said. “The hassle, the fear of heights, the not having time. There’s a ton of factors.”

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