Decorating for Christmas? We've got you.

One of our dear friends Hannah grew up Jewish, but her mother Leah said that Christmas was too good a holiday to pass up, so they did both. We think of Leah each year, and especially this year with Hanukkah coming right on the heels of Thanksgiving, allowing some beautiful breathing room before Christmas. Not that Hanukkah and Christmas should compete, they are not equal holidays in any way. But the festivity of everything at the end of the year cannot be ignored, and according to Leah, worthy of participation.

Many interfaith couples do this with joy and verve, some pick a holiday and go with it. One of our team members chose to just go with Hanukkah for years. "I'm not very religious," she said, "I grew up with agnostic parents, but we always had a Yule tree and celebrated Christmas." This year, she's determined to do both. "I can't remember the last time I put up a tree. 2005 maybe?" 16 years later, she's looking forward to bringing it back. "I'm going to wait until after the latkes are fried and the Menorah runs out of candles, but then I'm all in on the Yuletide spirit."

When we wander through our Westside neighborhoods, especially at night, it's pretty obvious who celebrates what. If you celebrate Christmas and you want to have lights, it's a lot of work. Thankfully, if you want to just scratch a check and have it magically happen, there are some people with ladders and a talent for lighting design. We found three great companies on the Westside who perform holiday decorating services. These people do design, installation, maintenance, removal and storage:

  • Christmas Brothers, Manhattan Beach https://www.christmasbrothers.com/ (Residential & Commercial)

  • LA Holiday Lights, https://www.laholidaylights.com/ (Residential)

  • The Holiday Dudes, Manhattan Beach https://www.theholidaydudes.com/ (Residential)

If you're just going for the tree and want to get a real one that will make you house smell amazing, you can pick one up and a number of near-by pop-up lots. Some even deliver.

  • Shawn's Christmas Trees: 3443 S. Sepulveda, Los Angeles

  • Mr. Jingles Christmas Trees: 11852 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles

  • Chauvet Tree Farms: 11281 Washington Place, Culver City and 2973 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica

  • Lopez Ranch Pumpkin Patch & Christmas Trees: 1020 Victoria Ave, Venice

  • Delancey Street Holiday Trees: 1200 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica

Whatever you celebrate, happy holidays!

Cecilie KorstChristmas, Hanukkah, holiday, decorating, /