Our team of lighting experts at DW Pro Lights is here to help you make the most of your holiday lighting displays! Today we will walk you through ways that you can incorporate greenery into your exterior light display to take your design to the next level and make all the neighbors envious!
Using the image below as a guide, you can see where your greenery and Christmas light display combinations can really enhance your roofline and whole home aesthetic.
Today, we’re sharing Decorator’s Warehouse’s of high-quality, residential and commercial Christmas greenery that will never fade or wither — which is economical and fairly maintenance-free.This Christmas greenery is ideal for completing a residential or commercial Christmas light display. Here’s how to do it.
Types of Christmas Greenery: Lit and Unlit
First take into consideration if you would prefer lit or unlit Christmas greenery. Both have advantages in which we will further explore. Unlit Christmas greenery, as the name suggests, contains no lights. You will need to manually add lights to these wreaths and garlands if you want to do so — this can be a benefit if you would rather use cluster lights to enhance the look and feel. Or if you don't want to deal with fixing lights that burn out, this can be a great solution. From the practicality standpoint, pre-lit Christmas greenery can also be beneficial.
Choosing Pre-lit Greenery
Pre-lit greenery is slightly more convenient, easier to put up for a commercial project (no wrangling with tangled wires), and much more scalable when creating a large Christmas display, whether indoors or outdoors.
At night, pre-lit greenery, even if there is an uplight to highlight it. It’s worth the extra effort to use pre-lit greenery even if it’s installed on the front door - and you don’t need to worry about power, either. Just make sure you arrange it so that the plug is accessible near the door hinge, and running power there should be no issue.
For customers that do not have easy access to an outlet, consult an electrician to see if one can be installed by the door. Many HOAs may be conducive to allowing these changes, especially if it makes it easier to install beautiful, property-enhancing, pre-lit Christmas greenery.
There is also a wide range of color options in pre-lit Christmas greenery, with two broad classes being white lights and colored lights.
In general, customers will probably want greenery lights that match the color of the lights on the house, but not always. Sometimes, using a different color for the lights on the house and in the greenery creates a pleasant sense of contrast that can make the arrangement really “pop.”
You must also consider the types of lights used in Christmas greenery. Three common classes are mini lights, cluster lights, and combination lights. Mini lights are good for more general applications; cluster lights are great for wreaths and garlands, if you want to create a dense, twinkling “cluster,” as the name suggests. Most modern commercial grade Christmas lights are long-lasting, super reliable, energy-efficient LED lights, too.
Unlit Christmas Greenery
Using unlit Christmas greenery is also an option for some displays. You have the option of manually including string lights with unlit greenery, but you can also leave it unlit. One of our favorite options for lighting your own greenery is the addition of cluster lights. Cluster lights come on a strand and consist of a heavy concentration of mini LED bulbs which create a high impact when added to your Christmas greenery. These lights are suitable for indoor/outdoor use, have 8 functions, timers, and are rated for 50,000 hours. These light strands are a go-to for pro installers and designers alike.
For more information on how to add cluster lights to greenery, be sure to watch David Stokes as he teaches you how to do so here.
If you do leave it unlit, a useful way to “spruce” it up (excuse the pun!) is to include bows and ornaments, which will add color and form to the greenery, if lights are absent.
Types of Christmas Greenery
Wreaths
Circular Christmas wreaths are among the most common forms of Christmas greenery and they can make an excellent pairing with so many different types of commercial Christmas light displays.
Wreaths are available in all sorts of colors, sizes, and configurations. In addition to classic green pine, cedar and hemlock wreaths, we also provide frosted wreaths, fiber optic wreaths, and wreaths that come pre-decorated with ribbons, ornaments and more.
Wreaths are commonly available in several sizes, including 30”, 36”, 48”, 60” and 72”, small enough for small doors and windows, and large enough for commercial entryways and other similar settings.
Garlands
Christmas garlands, which are long and linear, are another common type of Christmas greenery and are also exceptionally versatile. The most common sizes of Christmas garlands are 9’x14” and 9’x16” garlands.
Garlands, like wreaths, are available in multiple configurations, including fiber-optic and ornament-and-ribbon-bedecked options.
Teardrops
Christmas teardrops, which have a unique shape, are sort of like a small, tapered triangle. They are also called “swags” and are commonly 24” to 36”, with the latter being one of the most popular. Like garlands and wreaths, they have a wide range of applications.
Natural Greenery for Christmas
Another trend right now is the use of natural greenery. Garlands and wreaths of the real-touch variety look and feel extremely realistic. Use these in applications where you are striving to achieve a very organic feel. Our Norfolk Garland and Norfolk Wreath are our designers' go to choice when shooting for a more organic look.
Where and How to Work Greenery into a Setting
Decorating with Christmas Wreaths
Christmas wreaths are right at home among commercial Christmas light displays and can be worked into a wide range of settings.
Common applications of wreaths include hanging them above doors and on exterior and even interior walls. They also look beautiful when hung in windows, especially if they are pre-lit. Our favorite hanging hack for wreaths are our Magic Adhesives. These adhere to windows and hold up to 8 lbs.
But you don’t need to stick to these common uses, especially if you are trying to cultivate a unique Christmas scene. Wreaths can also be hung from gables, mailboxes, fences, and even light fixtures, on which they will add a bit of color and form.
Decorating with Christmas Garlands
Christmas garlands, like wreaths, are incredibly versatile types of greenery that can be effectively used to create appeal and intrigue in many different settings, particularly in conjunction with commercial Christmas light displays.
Their linear nature makes them ideal for decorating railings, banisters, mantles, doorways and doorjams, columns, posts and fences. They can also be hung along walls, or up near the moulding, and when lit, offer a pleasant, lambent glow that helps refine the Christmas spirit of a setting.
They can also be festooned from light fixtures and used to decorate stairways and other miscellaneous structures, such as columns, posts, monuments, signs, and even HOA entrances.
Decorating with Christmas Teardrops
Christmas teardrops are also a unique and versatile class of Christmas greenery that offers a lot of value. Due to their smaller nature, they’re ideal for columns,light fixtures, as well as posts, and exterior doorways. For the most impact, add a decorated door swag to your front door. If your doorway consists of double doors, add a swag to each side to create a symmetrical look.
Teardrops also offer a unique advantage in that they can be used to balance a display. If you have a garland running along an entryway, or a wreath above a fireplace, for instance, you can “balance” it by placing teardrops at either end.
Visit Us for the Full Christmas Decorating Experience
Looking for inspiration or guidance on how to create stunning commercial Christmas light displays using unique greenery? Plan a trip to visit us in Arlington, Texas for the full experience, visit our shop, or contact us.
