Are Some Revelers Outsourcing Christmas?

Dec. 10, 2005— -- A growing number of people are hiring others to deck their halls this holiday season -- claiming that they are too rushed to take time to put up the lights and trim the trees.

The Gunther family has bought in to the Christmas outsourcing movement, claiming that hiring a professional decorator gives them more time for the season's other obligations.

"Finding the time to do this is difficult because I have shopping to do, and wrapping," said Deb Gunther. "I have a huge list."

Ed and Deb Gunther are among the tens of thousands of Americans paying a professional to do the holiday decorating this year.

"It makes my life easier because part of my biggest job during the holidays is the tree and putting the lights on the tree, and if anyone out there has put lights on a Christmas tree, they know it is hard work," said Ed Gunther.

"When you come back and it's all done it's a wonderful feeling," Deb Gunther said. "When you come back and it's been decorated for Christmas, you say, 'Oh my gosh, it's beautiful.' "

Interior decorator Robin Lamonte recognized a special need for decorating help during the holiday season.

"There were a lot of people with dual incomes who just don't have the time anymore to decorate for the holidays so I had clients asking me, 'Gee can you help me at holiday time?' " she said.

It's a big business, with consumers spending an estimated $200 million on decorating services last year. The help can cost a family anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

"You've collected everything for us: We're putting it up, we're the hands," Lamonte said. "It's like Santa's workshop. We're the elves."

As for the Gunther, they say they still feel connected to the holiday tradition even though others are stringing up the lights and hanging the ornaments.

"I don't feel like we are losing any sense of tradition, because we are still bringing the boxes up from the basement," Deb Gunther said.