Image: Luxury Christmas installation at a London venue by Amaranté
Most London venues plan Christmas three to four months in advance, which means starting the conversation around August or September. That sounds early for something that goes up in November. It is not. For businesses considering Christmas installations in London, booking ahead allows more time for bespoke design, sourcing and securing a suitable installation date.
Here is what that year looks like, and how to work backwards from the date you need.
Image: Christmas decoration by Amaranté London
Why the deadlines are earlier than they seem
Three things fill up before Christmas does.
Stock.
UK suppliers order a set quantity of decorations each year against the orders they already hold, plus a limited amount they can sell on. That pool shrinks as the year goes on. Book late and you are choosing from what is left, at a higher price, with fewer options.
Studio slots.
Anything bespoke, such as branded garlands, custom ornaments or fabricated structures, has to be manufactured. Looking at previous bespoke Christmas installations can help businesses understand the scale of design and production involved. For larger schemes, the design and fabrication process needs to begin well before November
Install crews.
This is the one that catches people out. Installers have finite crews working a compressed window, and the good dates go to whoever booked first. The same company reported having a full week of November installations already booked by June.
None of that is a sales tactic. It is the supply chain.
The commercial Christmas year, month by month
January.
Derigs, always the first and second week. Everything comes down, gets checked and goes into storage. Design conversations for the following year begin almost immediately, so if you had a scheme this year and want something different next year, this is the moment to say so.
February to March.
Quiet on site, busy behind it. Concepts are developed, suppliers are reviewed and the year's direction is set before any client conversations begin in earnest.
April to July.
Design and specification. This is the window when schemes are drawn, materials are specified and anything bespoke is committed to production. Manufacturing, shipping and a test build all have to happen before installation, so bespoke elements need to be settled here rather than later. Enquiries build steadily across these months.
August to September.
Planning season. We plan Christmas three to four months in advance on average, which puts most client conversations here. Production ramps up, workshops get busy and seasonal staff come on. This is also when install dates get allocated, so a specific slot is far easier to hold now than in six weeks.
October.
Installs begin. Crews are on site and the calendar is largely committed. Booking now is still possible, but you are choosing from what remains rather than picking freely, and bespoke fabrication is generally past its window.
November.
Peak installation. Crews work overnight and before opening across dozens of venues. Scheme changes at this stage are possible but constrained.
December.
Maintenance. Fresh material gets replaced, damage gets fixed, and anything that has gone over comes out.
Working backwards from your date
If you know when you need the scheme live, count back.
Start with the installation date, usually the first to third week of November for offices and retail, sometimes earlier for hotels with December events on the books.
Subtract build and sourcing. Anything bespoke needs manufacturing time, and fresh material is ordered against a delivery date.
Subtract sign-off. The gap between "we like it" and "purchase order raised" is the single most underestimated delay, particularly in multi-tenant buildings where a landlord or managing agent has to approve.
Subtract design and the site visit. The florist needs to see the space, measure it, and draw the scheme into your actual building. For larger properties, projects such as the Christmas installation at Fairmont Windsor Park show why planning individual areas as part of one coordinated scheme matters.
That chain is why summer matters for a November install.
What "too late" actually looks like
Late booking rarely means nothing is available. It means four things narrow.
Design options shrink as stock sells through. Prices firm up, because you are buying into scarcity rather than planning. Install timing gets dictated to you rather than chosen, which matters when a building only allows overnight access on certain days. And bespoke goes off the table, because custom fabrication needs a studio slot that no longer exists in November.
If you are reading this in autumn with nothing booked, it is still worth calling. Most installers hold some late capacity. You will be working with what is achievable rather than what is ideal.
A realistic ask for each venue type
Hotels.
Earliest, because schemes usually run across several zones and December events are booked well ahead. Start in spring,
Restaurants and bars.
Slightly later than hotels but still ahead of offices, because the scheme has to be in before December bookings start arriving. Amaranté's Christmas decorations for Amazonico illustrate how an installation can be designed around an individual venue's character.
Offices.
The most commonly late group, because Christmas often lands on someone's desk in October. Summer is comfortable, early autumn is workable. For more detailed planning, explore our guide to Christmas flower installations for London offices.
Retail.
Driven by the trading calendar and often tied to a national campaign date, so the internal deadline is usually set long before a florist is contacted.
Private residences.
The most flexible, though good designers fill up too.
Book your Christmas installation
Amaranté dresses over 100 venues a year across the UK, including hotels, restaurants, offices, flagship stores and private homes. We plan Christmas three to four months in advance on average, and take on shorter timeframes where the schedule allows.
If you would like a date held, tell us about the venue and we will arrange a site visit. Contact Amaranté London
Frequently asked questions
Is it too late to book Christmas decorations in October?
Usually not, but availability narrows sharply. Most UK businesses install between the first and third week of November, and late October is widely treated as the last point to secure a slot before early December. Bespoke work will generally no longer be possible.
When do commercial Christmas installations actually go up?
Most happen across the first three weeks of November. Some larger schemes start in September, and hotels with early December events often go earlier.
How far ahead do bespoke Christmas decorations need ordering?
Considerably further than off-the-shelf. One London commercial installer treats June as the deadline for getting bespoke orders into factories, because manufacturing, shipping and a test build all have to happen before install.
Do installers really book up before summer?
Yes. Crews and install dates are finite. At Last Events reported a full week of November installations already booked by June.
When are Christmas installations removed?
January, normally by arrangement with the venue.