So you've got a lead on creating a big time commercial display?  Rest assured this is not as easy as putting your house display on steroids.   Commercial Christmas displays are incredibly demanding, expensive and time consuming in ways you can never imagine.

First consider the physical scale of the venue.  Just because eight reindeer look good in the front yard of your two story house, don't even think they'll look appropriate in front of a ten story office building or on top of Santa's workshop in that million square foot shopping mall.  Scale is the key.  The bigger the venue, the bigger the Christmas decorations.

A popular idea is to outline the structures in lights.  It's pretty easy on a wooden house where you can use nails or a staple gun but how do you attach lights to brick, concrete, steel and glass?  You're going to have to get the architect involved.

Now consider the actual decorations.  Stuff you buy at the big box discount stores isn't designed to last for years in harsh environments much less built to standards required for a commercial installation.  Where in the world do you buy a 50 foot tree that will withstand 75 mph winds?  Where do you find giant commercial rated stars and snowflakes?  These questions can go on forever.

Don't forget access to power.  It's easy to lay an ugly orange extension cord in your yard to get power to that 8' inflatable snowman... but in a commercial environment those cords become trip hazards.  Big venues require lots of power and chances are good the outlets won't be anywhere close to where you really need them.  You also have to worry about temporary cables being acceptable to the local codes enforcement people so a licensed electrical will need to be involved.

Amazing how great the idea of doing a commercial venue can quickly require expertise you don't have.  Rest assured your potential customer has very high expectations but won't have any useful resources you can tap into.  You can also assume they will want the setup and teardown work done during non-business hours so as not to disturb their existing customers.  And, oh, by the way, they need this turned on Thanksgiving night and there will be plenty of last minute change orders as the deadline approaches.  No pressure. 

For starters, don't panic.  There are plenty of companies out there specializing in professional Christmas displays and each has developed their own niche.  For your own sanity, you need to link up with a professional company that knows what they're doing but allows you to be the liaison with the customer.  While decorations are being hung at 2:00 on a snowy morning, you can be at home sound asleep knowing you're still part of a big commercial display.

What's the first step?  Meet with the customer, ask a lot of questions and do even more listening.  The customer will give you subtle clues of what they expect.

And the second step?  Give the Planet Christmas Consulting group a call.  They'll digest your information and steer you towards the appropriate company to help.