How much it costs to decorate big for Christmas in the US

In the United States, the holiday season is marked by extravagant decorations, with some Americans investing thousands of dollars in lights, displays, and other festive adornments. Over the years, the cumulative expenditure on these decorations has been staggering. The hallmarks of America's extreme holiday decorators include hand-carved figurines, gigantic LED screens, and twinkling lights. These enthusiasts argue that the thousands of dollars and hours of labour invested in their festive displays are well worth it.

American homeowners tend to focus less on cohesive neighbourhood displays and more on creating wildly individual spectacles that attract hordes of visitors. These displays sometimes take decades to curate, with cumulative investments reaching well into the hundreds of thousands. For instance, Mike Bagwell's display in Missouri includes a total of 270,000 bulbs. Bagwell, a controls engineer for a multinational food company, estimates that he's spent a cumulative $130,000 on holiday decorations over the years.

Melissa Bessler, another holiday decoration enthusiast, leads the month-long operation to decorate her house in Tinley Park, Illinois. The display comprises approximately 15,000 lights and 150 plastic holiday blow moulds. Most notable are the nearly 400 figurines, handmade by Bessler's father, a retired carpenter. They spend about $1,500 in an average year on their decorations. In Tennessee, John Maynard has spent about $10,000 on his Christmas decorations over the years. He prefers to focus on the lights, which he says generally don't impact his electric bill to an unmanageable degree. Dominic Kowalczyk, who lives in Illinois, has spent $200,000 on his Christmas decorations. His display features a staggering 300,000 lights, 400 holiday figurines and a 17-foot LED screen. Lastly, Gary Garabedian, who lives in New York, has spent $4m on his Christmas decorations. He and his sister arrange 200 mannequins in different scenes. They hope to bring back their display in 2024.