Joy to the world: Let someone else hang your Christmas lights this season
Ensure ladders are securely placed on the ground before climbing. Don’t overreach while on a ladder. For maximum safety, hire a professional decorating crew like this one. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama NewsCenter)
During the holiday season, Glenn Bridges and his team at Christmas Décor in Northport are busier than Santa’s elves. Bridges’ team is hard at work hanging decorations and stringing millions of lights, brightening the holidays for homes and businesses across central Alabama.
“There’s about a three-month period beginning in October where we’re busy, running from daylight until after dark,” said Bridges, general manager of Christmas Décor. “It’s very hard work, but it’s fun and rewarding.”
In 2007, Bridges got the idea of offering professional Christmas decorating and lighting services while browsing through booths at a regional pest control convention. Bridges, who also manages Bama Exterminating in Northport, was looking for opportunities for his employees during their winter offseason. When he visited the booth hosted by Christmas Décor, a nationwide company that provides decorating services in 48 states, Bridges knew he had found the perfect solution.
Since then, the franchise opened by Bama Exterminating has provided indoor and outdoor holiday displays for thousands of businesses and homes in Tuscaloosa, Northport, Birmingham and surrounding areas.
“We provide all the decorations, lighting and greenery. We install it, service it and take it down,” Bridges said. “All customers have to do is tell us what they want, and we handle everything else.”
If you love decorations but not decorating, add Northport’s Christmas Décor to your list from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
A daunting task
Holidays on the River in Tuscaloosa is among the annual events that feature decorations and lighting displays by Christmas Décor. The company has installed decorations and lights the past five seasons for the Holidays on the River ice rink and farmers market.
Christy Bobo, Community Engagement manager, Public Services for the city of Tuscaloosa, commended the Christmas Décor team for its responsiveness, professionalism and customer service. Christmas Décor has “perfected the business” of safely lighting Holidays on the River events.
“It may seem like an easy feat, but I assure you that setting the timers and checking every bulb can be a daunting task,” said Bobo. “Imagine the movie ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,’ but think larger scale, larger as in hanging lights for an entire amphitheater and farmers market.”
“Christmas Décor’s design services are catered specifically to the client’s properties,” she said. “It is my opinion that design services of this nature are imperative to a safe and functional event. For the safety of our patrons and facility, and for the uniform classic aesthetics of the final product, the Christmas Décor team and our departmental leaders make for the best pairing to safely brighten our community event.”
Overnight transformation
St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham is another longtime client.
Christmas Décor sets up and decorates the hospital’s three Christmas trees, and hangs lights and wreaths around the outside of the building, said Debbie Davis, volunteer coordinator, St. Vincent’s Birmingham. After the season, the Christmas Décor crew returns to take down the trees and decorations, which are then stored in the Christmas Décor warehouse.
Davis said it was a huge undertaking, with Christmas Décor’s crew hanging about five truckloads of decorations in and around the hospital in only a few hours. By the time the hospital staff arrived the next morning, the building had been transformed.
“It means a lot to me and the administration to know that we have a company that will take care of all these details,” Davis said. “We don’t have the manpower or the time to put up decorations because we are focused on patient care. Because we’re a Catholic hospital, this time of year means a lot to us, and we want decorations that are pretty and pleasing to our guests. It’s nice to work with a company that understands our needs and works with us within our budget to meet those needs.”
Winning awards
Bridges said when designing outdoor displays, the team considers the core elements: roofs, windows and doors; trees and shrubs; ground lighting; and garlands and wreaths. The team works within those parameters to create hundreds of original displays.
The decorations are leased for added convenience.
“Each job is different,” said Bridges. “You can choose what you want in the display. Then, we will prepare a proposal with your requests and throw in some ideas of our own. It’s an a la carte type of job.”
Although employees often get ideas and learn tips of the trade through training videos, Bridges said they get most of their experience in the field. Full-time employees mentor temporary holiday staff, guiding them in the most effective and efficient way.
Three of the past four years, Northport’s Christmas Décor has received recognition for its expertise from the parent organization. The Alabama company won the National Sales Award in 2012, and was named the National Franchise of the Year in 2013 and the Southeastern Franchise of the Year in 2015.
“I think what we like most about what we do is that it brings smiles to people’s faces and makes them happy. We enjoy providing that for people,” Bridges said.
Click here, http://christmasdecorinalabama.com, or call 205-344-9311 for more information.
