Christmas Porch Decorating (Not Roofline Lighting)

The front porch is the first thing a guest sees and the last thing they pass on the way out. It is also the part of the house that a little care transforms the most. A wreath on the door, garland wound down the columns, a pair of potted trees flanking the steps, and an urn filled to overflowing can turn an ordinary entry into the reason the whole street slows down. Portico Seasonal decorates that porch and that entrance for the holidays, by hand, styled to your house, and we do it well because it is all we do. We are not a roofline lighting crew that also tacks on a wreath. We are a porch and entrance decorating service, and the difference shows in the finish.

This is our own service, not a referral. Portico designs and styles every porch with our own crew, and we are honest about where our scope ends so you know exactly what you are booking.

What a Portico Christmas porch includes

Every porch is planned to the house it sits on, but the elements we work with are consistent. Here is what goes into a styled entrance:

• Wreaths and door surrounds. A wreath sized to your entry, dressed with ribbon and picks, plus a surround that frames the door instead of floating above it. The door is the anchor of the whole display.
• Garland on columns and railings. Fresh-looking garland wound down the columns and along the rail, wrapped and secured so the cord and the twist ties disappear and the greenery reads as one clean, full line.
• Potted trees and topiaries. Potted trees and topiaries flanking the entry, wrapped cleanly and finished with bows or lights so they frame the doorway like a pair of sentinels.
• Urns and container arrangements. Filled urns and container arrangements built up with greenery, branches, berries, and stems, so the porch has height and fullness at ground level, not just up on the door.
• Bows, ribbon, and lanterns. Hand-tied bows, ribbon runs, and lanterns down the steps that carry the eye from the street to the door.

Materials, greenery, ribbon, and the labor to build all of it are included in the package price. We can also light the porch greenery with commercial-grade lights and set it on a timer, and we can carry the look inside to the mantel, the staircase, and the entry console as part of a whole-home package. For the full package list and prices, see our Christmas decorating service, and if you want the greenery lit on a schedule, our Christmas light installation page covers how we handle timers and in-season maintenance. If you are planning ahead, see when to book holiday decorating so your dates are locked in before the season fills up.

Why porch-focused is a specialty, not a shortcut

There is a reason we draw the line at the roofline. A porch styled by hand is slow, detailed work. Sizing the wreath to the door, tying ribbon that holds its shape, building an urn so it looks full from the sidewalk, wrapping a column so the garland is even from top to bottom: none of that happens when a crew is spread thin across an entire roof outline. By keeping our scope to the porch and the entry, we can give every piece the attention it needs. The result is a display that looks curated and intentional, the kind you see in a magazine, rather than a house wearing a string of lights. When you focus, you get good at the thing you focus on, and the porch is the thing we are good at.

How the process works

Every porch begins with a quick read of your entry. We look at the door, the columns and rails, the steps, and the containers you already have, then plan a display in a palette that suits the facade. Some homes want the traditional warm red-and-green treatment. Many of our clients ask for the quieter evergreen, cream, and natural-texture look that photographs beautifully and does not fight a painted door or a stone front. We plan the porch against the house you actually have, not a catalog photo, and the design is included in every package with no separate design fee. On install day, our crew brings everything, builds the display, fluffs the greenery, hides the cords on anything we light, and does not leave until the porch looks the way it looked in the plan.

Book teardown too, so January is handled

The part everyone forgets to plan is January. If you book it, we come back, take the porch decor down, pack it, and take it out. January teardown starts at $150 and is priced to the size of the display. Because we supply the greenery and materials, none of it ends up crammed in your garage or dragged to the curb. Book the teardown at the same time as the install, because a teardown slot in the second week of January, when the whole county wants the same thing on the same weekend, is a bad position to negotiate from.

Where we decorate

We style porches and entrances for homes and businesses across South Florida, from central Broward County where we are based, up into Palm Beach County, and south through Miami-Dade. Our metro Atlanta crew covers Greater Atlanta from Fairburn out to North Fulton and Lake Oconee. In the Northeast, our Brooklyn crew handles New York City, northern New Jersey, the Long Island Gold Coast, Westchester, and Fairfield County in Connecticut. Delivery is a separate line priced by how far we drive, and the quote tool on the home page adds your zone automatically so the number you see is the number you pay. Decorating for fall first? Our South Florida pumpkin porch guide is worth a read before October, and returning clients get first pick of December dates.

Book before Thanksgiving

This is not a manufactured deadline. The Christmas install window is only about four weeks long, one crew can only style so many porches in a day, and the weekend dates in early December go first. In practice the calendar is largely spoken for by Thanksgiving. If you decorated with us in the fall, say so when you book, because we hold a block of December dates for returning clients before the calendar opens. The easiest way to get the porch you actually want on the date you want is to reserve it early. See the Christmas packages, or reserve a date and we will confirm your install within one business day.