Holiday decor and client gifts without the December scramble: a yearly plan for a business

The plan, in a few sentences

Treat holiday decorating and client gifts as one calendar that starts in late summer, not as two emergencies in December. Decide the look, the scope and the budget for your space by early fall, book installation and take-down dates, build and verify the client gift list in the fall, and order gifts early enough to arrive before the holiday rush. In January, write down what worked so next year starts from notes instead of memory.

At Willow Creek Florist in Dallas, I design custom holiday and seasonal decor for residential and corporate clients, with on-site staging, installation and take-down, and I put together fruit baskets, gift baskets and appreciation gifts for businesses that want to thank their clients and staff properly. The businesses that enjoy the season most are the ones that planned it in September.

A calendar for the whole year

Every business has its own rhythm, but this calendar works for most offices, showrooms and lobbies. Adjust the months to your busy season and to when your clients are most likely to be in the office.

• January: confirm take-down is complete, note what guests and staff liked, and update the client list while it is fresh
• Spring: decide whether to mark Easter or spring with seasonal accents in reception
• Summer: set the holiday budget and choose the look for the lobby and common areas
• Early fall: approve the design, book installation and take-down dates, and refresh the entrance for autumn
• October and November: finalize the gift list, verify addresses, write card messages and place gift orders
• Late November to early December: holiday installation, ideally before your first client events
• December: gifts delivered, decor maintained, and a date set for the work to come down

What full-service holiday decorating should include

Full service means you approve a design and then do nothing else until it is time to enjoy it. For our clients, that covers the design consultation, the materials, on-site staging, installation and take-down. The work ranges from a fresh tree, garland and wreath for a reception area to a complete lobby installation with trees, swags on doors and stairs, poinsettias and centerpieces for conference and event tables.

If you are comparing vendors, ask the same questions of each, because quotes that look similar can cover very different amounts of work. The last item on this list is the one most often left out, and it is the one your staff will notice in January.

The same service works for homes. Owners who decorate the office often ask for their own house as well, from a fresh wreath and garland on the front door to a tree and mantel for a holiday party. Booking both at once means one design conversation and one set of installation and take-down dates.

• Is the design custom for our space, or chosen from a set package?
• Are fresh materials, permanent materials or a mix included?
• Who installs, on what date and at what time of day?
• Who maintains it during the season, including watering a fresh tree?
• When is take-down, and does it include removing every last needle and hook?

Fresh trees and greenery in a commercial space

A fresh tree in a lobby is beautiful, and it needs to be handled with care. The National Fire Protection Association's Christmas tree safety sheet, which the City of University Park also shares with residents, advises keeping a tree at least three feet from any heat source, including fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents and lights, making sure it does not block an exit and adding water to the stand every day. The same sheet says fire departments respond to roughly 260 structure fires a year that begin with Christmas trees.

Before you order a fresh tree, ask your property manager whether the building has its own rules about live trees and decorations, because many commercial buildings do. Plan the location with exits and vents in mind, and decide before installation who will check the water every day. NFPA also advises getting rid of the tree when it dries out, which is one more reason to set the take-down date at the time you book.

Where a fresh tree is impractical, a permanent tree and garland designed for the space can look just as generous, and it can be stored and reused. I explain the trade-offs in more detail in my guide to silk versus fresh flowers.

Client gifts that people remember

The best client gift fits the recipient. A team that works together appreciates a fruit or gift basket they can share in the break room. A single decision-maker may prefer a fresh arrangement or an orchid for the office, something that stays on the desk with your card beside it. A client who works mostly from home may be better reached there, which is worth confirming before you send anything.

Timing helps a gift stand out. Many businesses send gifts in the second and third weeks of December, when desks are crowded with tins and boxes. A Thanksgiving gift, or one timed to the anniversary of when the client started working with you, often gets more attention. And a short handwritten note in the card, from the person who actually works with the client, is worth more than anything in the basket.

Watch the calendar on the receiving end as well. Many offices close or run with a skeleton staff between Christmas and New Year's Day, and a basket of fresh fruit delivered to a locked suite is wasted. Deliver office gifts early enough that the people they are meant for are still at their desks, and ask your contacts about holiday closures when you verify addresses.

What the IRS says about deducting business gifts

This is general information, not tax advice, and every business should confirm its own situation with a tax professional. According to IRS Publication 463, you can deduct no more than $25 for business gifts you give directly or indirectly to each person during your tax year. A gift to a company that is intended for the eventual personal use of a particular person or a limited group of people is treated as an indirect gift to those people.

Publication 463 also says incidental costs such as packaging, insuring and mailing are generally not counted toward the $25 limit, but only if they do not add substantial value to the gift. It gives an example that matters for gift baskets: an ornamental basket used to package fruit is not an incidental cost if its value is substantial compared with the value of the fruit.

None of this means you should spend less on clients who matter. It means your gift budget and your tax deduction are two different numbers, and your accountant should help you plan both. If you need a CPA in the area, Joe Hockaday works with small businesses on exactly these questions.

Building a gift list that survives staff changes

Most gift mistakes come from the list, not the gift. A list that lives in one person's head or inbox disappears when that person changes jobs. Keep a simple shared sheet with the details below, and review it every fall.

Verifying addresses before you order is the step that saves the most trouble, because clients move offices, change suites and switch to hybrid schedules. My guide to the mistakes people make when sending flowers covers the delivery details in more depth.

• Recipient name, title and company
• Delivery address with suite number, confirmed this year
• A phone number for delivery questions
• Allergies, dietary preferences or pets you know about
• What was sent last year, and any thanks received
• Who signs the card, and the message

The rest of the year counts too

December gets the attention, but a few well-placed moments through the year keep an office feeling cared for. Spring accents in reception, a fall wreath on the front door and a table display for a client event all signal that someone is paying attention. Seasonal work we have designed includes Easter displays, fall door wreaths, pumpkin arrangements and Thanksgiving arrangements.

If you want the space to look good every week, not just in season, weekly flowers on the reception desk and plants that someone else maintains take care of the rest. I described how that works in my guide to office flowers and plants that keep dying. And the same account can handle the moments that come without warning, such as a sympathy arrangement for an employee's family or flowers for a colleague's new baby.

How I handle holiday decor and gifts for a business

It starts with a conversation about your space, your clients and your budget, ideally by early fall. For decor, I visit or review photos, propose a design for the lobby and common areas, and book installation and take-down dates that suit your calendar. For gifts, you send the list, we agree on what each recipient should receive and the card messages, and the baskets and arrangements are designed and delivered on schedule.

Businesses in Dallas and the surrounding area have trusted us with this work for years, and one of them described Willow Creek Florist as a most valued partner for its company. What you should expect is simple: the lobby is finished before your first holiday visitor arrives, the gifts reach the right desks at the right time, and in January everything comes down without anyone on your staff climbing a ladder.

Questions people ask me