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Kimi Vlahakis hires a designer friend, Michael Clements with Michael Clements Designs in Kentucky, to come to Williamsburg to help with decorating her Governor’s Land home.
Photo courtesy of Nick Vlahakis
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Amber Nester, co-owner of The Flower Cupboard, enjoys decorating her clients’ homes for the holiday season. Their staff of designers and planners represent some of the most experienced wedding and events team in the greater Williamsburg region.
Photo courtesy of Brad Howe
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More and more people are renting china, glassware, chairs, and linens for entertaining at home during the holiday season.
Outsource your holiday to-do list for a more carefree season.
Every holiday season, Kimi Vlahakis hires a designer friend, Michael Clements with Michael Clements Designs in Kentucky, to come to Williamsburg to help with decorating her Governor’s Land home. Clements spends five days collaborating with Vlahakis on making the interior and exterior décor just right.
“I love decorating for Christmas,” she said. “I got the passion for it from my mother. She looked forward to decorating for Christmas all year long. I have a ton of Christmas decorations and I like to mix things up every year. He’s pretty creative and has a good vision of displaying things that I never would have thought of before.”
Vlahakis used to do all the decorating and holiday party planning on her own but decided to hire someone else to help with preparations about 10 years ago.
“I just had so much stuff and it took me too long to get everything done,” she said. “I just couldn’t do it by myself. It became overwhelming. Hiring someone saves so much time so you can actually enjoy the holidays.”
For years, The Flower Cupboard in downtown Williamsburg has been assisting the Historic Area as well as businesses, shopping centers and private residences with holiday decorating. Services include lighting, wreath and tree arrangements and other adornments.
“We do a little bit of everything, whatever a customer needs,” said Cathy Nester, owner of The Flower Cupboard. “Everybody is so busy these days that there is no time to do it themselves. We have customers who are couples who are both working, or retired couples who would rather travel or spend time with their grandchildren. Some people now have trouble getting up and down a ladder to decorate or need help with their design. They know what they want, they just need a bit of guidance.”
And businesses who specialize in such holiday tasks are more than happy to help.
“I have a great staff, and some of them live to decorate for Christmas,” Nester said. “Some of them look forward to decorating again the day right after Christmas.”
Zoe Whitaker, an accredited event designer with In Your Dreams Event Design & Planning, also enjoys helping others throughout the holiday season. Her establishment offers rentals, event staff to aid with set up and breakdown of décor and full design and decorating.
“The holiday season is the busiest time of the year particularly for women who are often the planner, shopper and decorator for the family,” Whitaker said. “Balancing work, routine obligations and holiday tasks is a big stressor for many women and can be a challenge. The idea of outsourcing is fairly common in big cities like New York and L.A. However, the idea of delegating that mile-high to-do list to the professionals is now gaining popularity in smaller cities.”
In addition to decorating, there are companies who will also gift wrap or cater office parties or holiday get-togethers in people’s homes. While people like to entertain at home during the holidays, some hostesses don’t want to be trapped in the kitchen all evening, so hiring help is easier.
“Every year for the holiday season, we get more and more people renting china and glassware and chairs and linens,” said Steve Rose, owner of Williamsburg Event Rental. “Mostly, they are entertaining at home and just need to supplement what they have or just want to rent it all, so it can be put back in the racks at the end of the event and they don’t have to deal with it.”
The holiday season is the busiest time of year for Custom CulinaryConnections, Inc., a catering company in Lanexa. The company offers food and bartending services including waitstaff for both corporate and private holiday functions. Jeff Aczel, chef and owner of Custom Culinary Connections, doesn’t mind working during the holiday season.
“As human beings, we love to socialize, and what better time to get together and socialize than during the holidays?” he said. “For some, the holidays are the highlight of their year. There’s always such a warm, welcoming atmosphere this time of year, and we are here to help.”
No matter how little or how big you go when it comes to outsourcing your holiday tasks, the point is to ask for help if you need it.
“While you may pay a little extra cash, the free time pays back tenfold,” said Whitaker. “It’s okay to enjoy the holiday season rather than struggle to do it.”
Brandy’s favorite part of the holiday season is trimming the Christmas tree with her husband and two kids.
The Flower Cupboard • flowercupboardwilliamsburg.com
In Your Dreams • inyourdreamseventplanning.com
Williamsburg Event Rentals • williamsburgeventrentals.com
Custom Culinary Connections • ccc2go.com