Planning Your Business’s First Holiday Lighting Display

September 22nd, 2026

By Ben McBurney, It’s A Wonderful Light

There’s something welcoming about pulling into a parking lot in December and seeing the whole building lit up. At It’s A Wonderful Light we design and install holiday lighting for restaurants, stores, office buildings and shopping centers across the Chicago suburbs. Our technicians are on call all season, and we take everything down after New Year’s.

Restaurant with warm white roofline lights and tall evergreens covered in lights out front, snow on the ground — A restaurant with its roofline outlined and the evergreens out front covered in warm white lights.

Quick answers

Book before fall. October and November install dates fill first.
You approve a mockup of your building before we order anything.
A good first display is the roofline, the trees out front and some greenery at the door.
We take it down in January and store it for next year.

What should a first-year display include?

Start with the roofline. Warm white lights along the edge of the building are what people see from the road.

Next come the trees by the entrance or along the street. We wrap them or cover them in mini lights. A wreath and some garland at the door finish it off.

That’s plenty for a first season. Next year you can add lit shrubs by the sign or garland over an arch.

Storefronts with warm white roofline lights, tall narrow trees wrapped in lights, an outdoor fireplace and a large evergreen covered in lights, snow on the ground — Storefronts with the rooflines outlined, the patio trees wrapped and a large evergreen covered in lights.

When should a business book?

Before fall. Install dates in October and November fill first, for businesses too. Booking early also gets you first pick of colors, wreaths and garland.

Want something up in October? We can start you with Halloween lighting and change it over to Christmas lights when October ends.

Two evergreens covered in warm white lights on a lawn in front of a lit building at night — Two evergreens at a building entrance, covered in warm white lights.

How does the design get approved?

Call us or send the contact form. A designer visits, takes photos of the property and goes over the options with you. We build a mockup of your building with the lights on it, and you can ask for changes by email.

We order materials and set an install date only after you approve. If an owner or a property manager has to sign off, you can forward them the mockup.

What if something goes out during the season?

Call 630-201-9627, email info@iawlight.com or send a service request. Our technicians are on call all season for weather damage or a section that goes dark. It works the same way as in-season service for homes.

Shopping center entrance arch with lit garland across the top, red and green lights in the two tower windows and trees on both sides wrapped in warm white lights — An entrance arch with garland across the top and the trees along the drive wrapped in warm white.

What happens after New Year’s?

We take your display down in January and come back a second time for the clips. Then we label it and store it, so next season it goes back up the way you approved it.

Tall evergreen covered in warm white lights beside a lit building entrance at night — A tall evergreen by a restaurant entrance, covered in warm white lights.

Call 630-201-9627 for a free consultation or see the commercial holiday lighting page. We’re based in Downers Grove and work across the western, northwestern and northern suburbs, from Naperville and Elmhurst to Barrington, Winnetka and St. Charles. We’d be glad to help you plan your first season.