When should I book Christmas lighting installation?

Earlier than feels necessary. Design and booking start in late summer and the popular November and December dates go first. By the time most people start thinking about it, the choice is not which date you want but which dates are left. Booking early also means more room to customize the design, because there is time to order anything that is not already in the warehouse.

How early do you actually install?

Installation runs from October through December. Installing in October does not mean the lights are on in October. Everything goes in and is left on a timer that you tell us when to start. Getting the physical work done in mild weather is better for the crew and better for the install.

Do you take the lights down and store them?

Yes, and both are included in the price rather than charged separately. We remove everything in January and store your display through the year, labeled, so the following season starts with a phone call instead of a fresh design.

What happens if something stops working mid-season?

Call and we come out and fix it. In-season service is part of what you have paid for, not a call-out charge. This is most of the practical difference between a professional install and doing it yourself: in December a dark section is our problem.

Do I keep the lights at the end, or are they yours?

For holiday lighting the display stays ours and is stored between seasons, which is why the price covers the whole cycle and why the materials are commercial grade rather than something priced to be thrown away. Permanent lighting and landscape lighting are the opposite: those are installed systems that belong to the property.

Is this the same as the lights I can buy at a big-box store?

No, and the difference is visible from the street. Retail strands come in fixed lengths, so a run either falls short or has a loop of surplus, and the spacing is whatever the packet decided. Our strands are cut and clipped to your specific roofline, which is why the lines are straight and even. The lamps and clips are also specified for repeated seasons outdoors rather than one.

A large brick home at blue hour with warm white lighting along every roofline, lit wreaths and garland at the entry, and uplit trees along the driveway

by NeedLites · Cincinnati, Ohio

The house the whole street slows down for.

Professional holiday lighting for Cincinnati homes, businesses and town squares. We design it, install it, keep it lit through the season, then take it down and store it. You never touch a ladder or a tangled strand.

Request a holiday quote See holiday lighting

Commercial-grade lighting cut to fit your roofline, not a boxed kit from a big-box store
Design, installation, in-season maintenance, takedown and off-season storage in one price
Insured crews on the roof, and someone who answers the phone in December

A stone estate photographed at blue hour, its facade, columns and driveway plantings picked out in warm low-voltage light under a deep blue sky

by NeedLites · Cincinnati, Ohio

Your property should not disappear at sunset.

Landscape, architectural and permanent lighting designed and installed across Greater Cincinnati, year-round. Low-voltage systems in solid brass, controlled from your phone, that pick out the good lines of a house and make the walk to the front door feel like an arrival.

Request a lighting quote See landscape lighting

All-brass fixtures and commercial-grade wire, because a lighting system lives outside through an Ohio winter
Designed on your property after dark, which is the only time lighting can honestly be judged
App-controlled and color-changing: one fixture, one building, or an entire downtown

Why NeedLites

Everything from the first measurement to the last strand in the box

Two national brands, one local crew, and one price that covers the whole job rather than the easy part of it. This is what is actually included.

Free lighting quote

Accurate, itemised and free, for residential, commercial and municipal properties alike. Nothing on it is an estimate that moves later.

Design consultation

A designer works out what your property will actually carry, and what it will not. Most houses have two or three lines worth lighting and a lot that is better left dark.

Professional installation

Trained, insured crews. Commercial-grade materials cut to your rooflines rather than to a packet length, on a schedule that suits you rather than us.

Quality products

Solid brass fixtures and commercial-grade wire on landscape systems, because that is what survives an Ohio winter. Painted aluminum pits and then fails at the lens seal.

App-controlled color

One fixture, one building or an entire downtown, controlled from a phone or tablet. Warm white most of the year and any color you like for a holiday or a game.

Affordable maintenance

In-season service on holiday displays is included, not charged as a call-out. Permanent and landscape systems go onto a maintenance plan so they still look right in year five.

Get started with a free quote Read the common questions

All services

What we install

Eight services under two brands. All of them are available all year. The order below just leads with whatever is in season.

A stone and brick home at dusk with warm white lighting along every roofline and gable, wrapped porch columns, and lit wreaths on the front windows

Residential Christmas Lighting

Full-service holiday lighting for Cincinnati-area homes: designed for your roofline, installed by insured crews, maintained through the season, then taken down and stored.

Learn more

A lit storefront at night with garland and red bows along the railings and window boxes, and warm white lighting outlining the facade

Commercial Christmas Lighting

Storefronts, office parks, hotels, restaurants and retail centers across Greater Cincinnati, on a schedule that does not interrupt trading hours.

Learn more

A large public Christmas tree lit in warm white with a gold star, standing in a civic plaza at dusk

Municipal Christmas Lighting

Town squares, main streets, civic buildings and public parks: the large-format, high-traffic work, including the tree everyone photographs.

Learn more

A wide single-story home at blue hour with its facade, stonework and surrounding plantings lit in warm low-voltage light

Landscape Lighting

Low-voltage landscape and architectural lighting in solid brass: paths, plantings, trees, facades, walls and water, designed on site after dark.

Learn more

A craftsman-style home at night with a permanent LED track along the roofline and gables, lit in alternating red and green

Permanent Lighting

PermaLites365: permanent architectural LED installed once into the roofline, warm white most of the year, any color you want for a holiday or a game.

Learn more

Warm bistro string lights strung in catenary runs above an outdoor dining terrace with tables set beneath

Bistro Lighting

Permanent café-style string lighting over patios, terraces, rooftops and outdoor dining, properly tensioned and properly powered.

Learn more

A long banquet table set for a reception under warm bistro lighting, with candles down the center and trees lit behind

Event and Wedding Lighting

Weddings, receptions, private parties and corporate events: designed with you or your planner, installed and struck to the venue's schedule.

Learn more

A historic multi-story facade washed in shifting bands of blue, green, orange and magenta from a full-color pixel lighting system

Twinkly Pro Lighting

Twinkly Pro: cloud-managed per-pixel LED for large installations. Mapped by camera, programmed in an app, synced to music, managed remotely.

Learn more

Also from NeedLites

Lighting does not stop in January. While we are already on your property, ask about Nite Time Decor landscape, permanent and architectural lighting that stays up all year.

See year-round lighting All 8 services

Landscape & Permanent Lighting is available all year. Nothing here is seasonal except which of it we lead with.

Also from NeedLites

September through December, the same crews switch to holiday work. Christmas Decor installation dates go early, so it is worth asking before the season starts.

See Christmas lighting All 8 services

Holiday Lighting & Decor is available all year. Nothing here is seasonal except which of it we lead with.

How it works

Four steps, and three of them are ours

Free lighting quote

Tell us the property and what you have in mind. Quotes are free for residential, commercial and municipal work, and there is no visit required to get a number for a straightforward roofline.

Design consultation

A designer walks the property and works out what will actually read from the street, or from the drive, or from the terrace. Landscape lighting is designed after dark, because that is the only honest time to judge it.

Professional installation

Insured crews, commercial-grade materials, and strands cut to your rooflines rather than to a packet length. Scheduled around your hours if you are a business.

Service, takedown and storage

In-season service is included, not charged as a call-out. Holiday displays come down in January and are stored labeled for next year. Permanent and landscape systems go onto an affordable maintenance plan.

Gallery

See our work

Night photography, because that is when any of this is worth looking at. There is a great deal more than fits here.

A stone and brick two-story home at night, warm white lighting following each roofline and gable and wrapped around the porch columns

A swimming pool lit from within at blue hour with a warm-lit timber pavilion behind it and uplit evergreens

A large civic building lit in warm gold at dusk, its facade reflected in the still water of a reflecting pool

A large stone manor house at night with lit wreaths on the upper windows, garland framing the entry, and uplit trees behind

A brass path light at night casting a warm pool of light across a bed of pink blooms

A lit restaurant storefront at night with garland and red bows along the railings and warm lighting outlining the facade

A craftsman-style house at night with a permanent LED track along the roofline and gables lit in alternating red and green

Warm bistro string lights hung in even catenary runs above an outdoor patio with tables and chairs set beneath

See the full gallery Browse the decor catalogs

Worth reading before you book

A lit storefront at night with garland and red bows along the railings and warm lighting outlining the facade

Commercial Lighting

Commercial Christmas lighting: what it is actually for

Holiday lighting on a commercial building is a visibility spend, not a decoration spend. How it gets specified, scheduled and budgeted.

Read it

A Victorian house at blue hour with warm roofline lighting and lit shrubs along the front

Christmas Lighting

Why professional residential Christmas lighting is worth paying for

The honest case for having someone else install your holiday lighting: safety, fit, materials, and who deals with it when a strand fails in December.

Read it

A stone and brick home at night with warm white lighting following every roofline and gable and wrapped porch columns

Christmas Lighting

Book early: why Christmas lighting dates go before you think about them

Cincinnati holiday lighting calendars fill from late summer. What booking early actually gets you, beyond a date on a schedule.

Read it

Product lines we install

Want yours to look like this?

Quotes are free, for houses, businesses and public spaces alike. Tell us what the property is and what you have in mind, or just call and describe it.

Get a quote

Or call (513) 489-8873
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