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This Year's Holiday Lighting Trend? Hire Someone To Do It

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Holiday lights are being turned on all over the state. Lighting companies say Thanksgiving week and the week after are the busiest weeks of the year.

No job is too small, but if you want professional help, time is running out.

Lynn Rothmeyer loves making her Prior Lake yard merry and bright.

"I always continue to add more and more," Rothmeyer said.

Over the years, it has become too much to do on her own.

Enter Custom Christmas Lighting.

"My husband thought it would be nice to have somebody come in and at least do the roof line," Rothmeyer said. "We had new trees planted and we wanted to show the holiday spirit and light them all up."

Rob Schlosser, owner of Custom Christmas Lighting, says his company helps hundreds of Twin Cities homeowners create the outdoor festive lighting look they want.

"It's crazy high demand this year," Schlosser said. "You name it. Some people are just looking for white winter lights, some people are looking for full-out Christmas displays," Schlosser said.

Holiday Lighting Installation Crews
(credit: CBS)

He says their holiday lighting season starts in August and runs right up to Christmas Eve. Crews work seven days a week.

"We have to start early or it's not going to get done. I mean, it's difficult to get everything done the way it is, we have to turn down work. It happens every year," Schlosser said.

His advice for homeowners looking to hire a company to help: start with what you can't do on your own, and then go from there.

Rainbow Holiday Design, Schlosser's competitor, decorates streets, homes and the Governor's Mansion. The company says LED lights are the trend, with 90 percent of customers requesting them. RGB lighting allows people to change the colors of the lights. Some can be programmed from your phone.

Pricing varies on the scope of the project; from simple small trees for a few hundred dollars to huge residential jobs costing upward of $10,000.

Both companies say demand is higher this year than in recent years. They attribute that to the economy being better and people realizing that hiring a company to do the lights is an option.

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