A quick guide to the toppers, ornaments and additional touches that make a downtown tree unforgettable. 

From the team at Downtown Decorations Inc.

Decorating a tree well is about making intentional choices that fit your town, your budget and the story you’re trying to tell.

So whether you’re dressing your first commercial tree or refreshing a display that’s been standing for years, here’s how to think through the fun options DDI has to offer.

The Building Blocks: Ornaments

Every great tree starts with what goes on top, and how you fill it in. 

Toppers set the tone from miles away and provide the wonder, so it’s worth treating that choice as its own statement piece rather than an afterthought.

From there, ornaments do the heavy lifting. One approach: a monochromatic palette in red, gold, or silver, mixing matte, shiny, and textured finishes within that single color for a look that reads as intentional, not busy. It’s a great starting point if you’re building a design from scratch.

Of course, bulbed ornaments are iconic in (holiday) nature, but we also offer a variety of shapes and ornament patterns that can be dispersed throughout your tree to bring out some character. Shape is where things can get really fun:

🖌️Designer tip: Group three small red ornaments together to mimic holly berries. It’s a simple way to add texture and forestry without adding cost.

Not sure where to start? We’ll provide an ornamenting guide to help you land any of these looks, and every color can be customized to match your town’s palette or community spirit.

Additional Non-Traditional Touches

Once your ornament pattern is set, small accents can carry a lot of visual weight. For example, pine cones add a natural, textured layer. Holly berries bring a pop of color. And a candy cane pattern enhanced with snowflakes is an easy way to give a tree a distinct, seasonal identity without overcomplicating the design.

Feeling ambitious? These are the ideas we love dreaming up with clients—oversized ribbon woven through the branches, lit 2D cutouts tucked between ornaments, or a full scene built right into the design: a sleigh, a yeti (yes, we’ve drafted one up), a snow-covered village. This is where custom really means custom.

Standout & Budget-Friendly

A polished tree requires cohesiveness and building that style doesn’t need to break the bank. If you’re working with a tighter budget, here are a few recommended products that go a long way:

• Monochrome ornament colors, in a variety of different colors 
• Nylon bows, offered in various tones of red with gold, silver or no trim, built for indoor or outdoor use with a 2–5 year lifespan
• 24″ giant snowflakes
• Swooped ornament garland
• Small ornaments styled as holly berries

View our full Catalog here.

Bespoke Investments

Ready to go bigger? These options add drama and are still well within reach:

• Point Stars
• Half Orbs
• A Design Star as a topper 
• Giant Bows, outstanding fade and tear resistance, offered in our classic China Red or custom colors, with a 6–7 year lifespan and gold or silver trim 
• Matching your tree to your pole décor, nearly any pole decoration design can be adapted to mount directly onto a tree frame, tying your whole streetscape together

These styles can also be added slowly, over time. If you start with a foundation that leaves room to grow, your tree can shape into the story you’re looking for, one season at a time. Start simple in year one, then build with a topper upgrade, a few statement bows, a new pattern, or even a physical extension to grow the tree itself, until it becomes something your town recognizes as its own. 

View more in our Designer Catalog.

Build Your Tree Over Time

You don’t have to land on the perfect design in year one. Our customers at Rosslyn, VA are a great example, they started with an all-silver tree and purple lights to match their brand. A few years later, they added a custom-designed topper. Since then, bows have joined the mix. Each season builds on the last and the tree has only gotten stronger for it.

Let’s Design Yours Together

Customizing your tree is one of the most fun parts of working with us—the possibilities are close to limitless, within your budget and what’s attainable. If you want a starting point, we’re always happy to pull from our inspiration board and talk through what would work best for your space.

—The DDI Team

Request a free quote or call us at (315) 432-0646.