Christmas Lights Before Thanksgiving 2026: How to Get Them Up in Time in Austin

Usually, yes, if you act early and stay flexible on the date. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, 2026, and Christmas lights before Thanksgiving are common: in a 2024 This Old House survey, 51% of people who decorate had exterior lights up by then. In Austin, send an installer daytime photos now, name your must-have parts and offer a range of dates. We’d aim to be installed by Friday, November 20, which leaves a rain day and a test evening.

This page is for Austin-area homeowners with a hard date in November: family coming for Thanksgiving, or a party. If you’re wondering whether that’s too early, lights can go up now and stay dark until Thanksgiving night; see installing early and keeping the lights off until Thanksgiving. For the whole season’s booking calendar, start with the Austin holiday lighting timeline.

Why do Christmas light installers book up before Thanksgiving?

Pre-Thanksgiving dates run short because many people want lights on by the same weekend, and a crew can only finish a few homes a day. In our judgment, crews are hanging lights from late October on, so every week you wait you compete for fewer remaining days.

Example, from public figures: November 20 has about 10.5 hours of daylight (sunrise 7:01 AM, sunset 5:32 PM, per the U.S. Naval Observatory). A pricing guide written for installers (March 2026) puts an average home at 3 to 4 hours for a two-person crew. That is at most two or three homes a day for one crew, before loading and driving. A normal Camp Mabry November has 6.9 days with measurable rain, so the 19 days from November 7 to 25 bring about 4 wet ones (19 x 6.9 / 30 = 4.4). Each wet day that stops work pushes its homes into fewer remaining days. This is arithmetic, not a count of any company’s crews.

Wrapped trees and two-story rooflines take the longest slots, so they are the hardest to place late.

The countdown to Thanksgiving 2026

The earlier you ask, the more dates you choose from. By November the job flips: you pick from the dates installers have left, and the more dates you can take, the sooner you get one.

Friday, November 20 is the target because a rained-out install still has three weekdays to make it up. Reading this on or after November 16? Send your request today with a short must-have list, then read what goes up first and what to do if no one can fit you in.

Sapien’s open dates change from week to week, so we don’t publish them here. Text your photos and target date to (737) 777-9099 to check what is open; there is no fixed booking cutoff.

How do you get a late Christmas light install slot?

The fastest way to a late slot is a request an installer can price without a site visit. Send these:

1. Daytime photos of the front from the street, plus any tree you want lit. Here is how a quote from photos works.
2. Must-haves and nice-to-haves. “Front roofline for sure, the oak if you can fit it” lets an installer offer a date now.
3. A range of dates. Any weekday is easier to place than a Saturday.
4. Where the outdoor outlets are, and whether one is on a wall switch. If there is no outlet where power is needed, adding one is a job for a licensed electrician (TDLR issues the license under Texas Occupations Code chapter 1305), not a lighting crew. Sapien’s work is plug-in only.
5. Access notes: gate code, dogs, sprinklers off on install day, a clear driveway for the ladder.
6. Your HOA’s window and who signs, if a board or spouse must approve.
7. Your hard date, in the first line: guests arriving Tuesday, a party on the 21st.

The same list works with any installer, including us: Sapien takes photo-quote requests for Christmas light installation in Austin by text at (737) 777-9099. Our minimum job is $500.

Questions to ask before you accept a late slot

• Is the date firm, or tentative?
• If rain pushes the install past my hard date, what happens to my deposit?
• Are takedown and tax included in the quote?

Be wary of anyone who wants full payment up front to hold a late slot. The Texas Attorney General says to expect partial payment in advance and not to pay in full until the work is done and inspected. Your written contract sets the payment terms.

If you can only do part of the house, what goes first?

When time is short, light what people see from the street. We’d go in this order:

1. The front roofline, the line that reads from the street at night.
2. One focal point: a single wrapped tree, or the front entry with a wreath or garland.
3. Everything else: bushes, side gables, the back of the house.

If a big oak hides the roofline from the street, light the tree first.

A trunk wrap covers the trunk; a trunk-and-limb wrap continues out the main limbs; canopy lighting drapes the outer branches. A wrapped tree takes more crew time than anything else in a typical front yard, so it needs a longer slot. If time is short, wrap one focal tree well, usually the big live oak out front (here is how we light live oaks), or a crape myrtle by the entry when there is no large tree. One well-wrapped tree looks better from the street than three thin ones. Here is what it costs to wrap a tree.

Thinking you might add the tree or the bushes later in the season? Say so in your first message. Whether an add-on can be scheduled depends on the calendar, so ask any installer how they handle it, and ask them to plan the power so a later piece has an outlet to use.

When should the install be if family is coming or you’re hosting a party?

Work backward from the day guests arrive or the party starts:

1. Install 3 to 5 days before. That leaves a rain day and a test evening. Example: guests arriving Wednesday, November 25 means installing between Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 22.
2. Test that evening. Walk to the street at dusk and look for dark sections and crooked runs. Report problems then, not on party night.
3. Set the timer near sunset: 5:32 PM on November 20, 5:31 PM on Thanksgiving, 5:30 PM from November 27, the earliest sunsets of the year. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says to turn lights off when you go to bed or leave, so set an off time too; here is more on whether to leave Christmas lights on all night.

A party in early December uses the same plan, with the week after Thanksgiving as the install window.

What if it rains or a cold front comes through?

Plan for at least one weather day. Besides about 7 rainy days in a normal November, the National Weather Service’s Austin climate summary notes gusty north winds behind cold fronts. The American Ladder Institute says not to climb in high winds or without firm, level footing, and CertainTeed, a shingle maker, advises decorating on dry days. An installer who moves a wet or windy day is doing the job right.

How Sapien handles rain: we don’t work on wet roofs, so a rainy install day moves to the next open day at no charge.

What if no one can fit you in before Thanksgiving?

You still have options, in this order:

1. Ask to be called if a date opens. Weather reshuffles schedules.
2. Install the week after Thanksgiving. Lights on in the first week of December still cover most of the season. Here is how booking after Thanksgiving works, and what is still possible in December. Text us to check open dates.
3. Do the ground-level pieces yourself. A wreath, the bushes, the front porch and trunk wraps you can reach from the ground. Use lights and cords marked for outdoor use, plugged into GFCI-protected outlets, as the Electrical Safety Foundation advises. Don’t nail, staple or screw anything into a tree, and skip wire twist ties and plastic zip ties, which the Morton Arboretum says can cut into bark. If an installer comes later, tell them what is already plugged in.

Know when to stop. If you, the ladder or the lights cannot stay 10 feet from an overhead line, call your electric utility first; Austin Energy, for example, asks to be contacted before any work that close. Leave rooflines and two-story work for later, and read how to hang Christmas lights outside before you climb.

What we’d decline in a late-season rush: a large live oak in the Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving slot, because the biggest job in the yard needs a backup day, and a wet or windy roof to make a date. We’d move the date instead.

Send photos and your target date. Text a few daytime photos of the front of your house to (737) 777-9099, or use the contact page, and tell us which parts you want lit. Add your target date, any party or guest arrival, and a photo of any tree you want wrapped.

Frequently asked questions

Does it cost more to book Christmas lights in November?

It depends on the installer. A pricing guide for installers by Christmas Lights HQ (March 2026, checked October 2026) advises full price in November and a 10% to 20% premium in early December. That is advice to installers, not a survey of what they charge, so ask whether a date premium applies.

Should I put Christmas lights up before or after Thanksgiving?

Either works. Lights installed before Thanksgiving are ready for guests that night; lights installed the week after are usually on by early December. If your HOA sets a start date, that rule decides.

Will my HOA let me put Christmas lights up before Thanksgiving?

It depends on your HOA’s written window. When we checked in October 2026, Teravista’s FAQ allowed holiday lights from the first weekend in November, while Crystal Falls’ 2021 rules allow display no earlier than 30 days before the holiday (November 25 for Christmas, by our arithmetic). Ask whether lights that are up but off count as displayed. Texas Property Code 207.006 requires many associations to post their rules online, and your current rules decide.

It’s already Thanksgiving week. Is it too late?

For lights before Thanksgiving, usually yes, unless a canceled job opens a date. Ask to be called if one opens, and plan on an install after Thanksgiving.

Sources

1. U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Federal Holidays (Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, 2026)
2. This Old House: Holiday Lights and Decor Survey, 2024 data (51% exterior lights before Thanksgiving; 70% before December; 3,000 U.S. adults, September 2024)
3. NOAA NCEI: 1991-2020 monthly normals, Austin Camp Mabry (6.9 days with measurable rain in November)
4. National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio: Austin Climate Summary (gusty north winds behind fronts)
5. U.S. Naval Observatory: sun data for Austin, November 20, 2026 (sunrise 7:01 AM, sunset 5:32 PM)
6. U.S. Naval Observatory: sun data for Austin, November 27, 2026 (sunset 5:30 PM; Thanksgiving sunset from the same service)
7. Christmas Lights HQ: Christmas light installation pricing guide, March 2026 (advice to installers: 3 to 4 hours for a two-person crew; pricing by booking date)
8. Texas Occupations Code chapter 1305 (electrical work requires a license)
9. Electrical Safety Foundation: Outdoor Decoration Safety Tips (outdoor-rated lights and cords; GFCI-protected outlets)
10. Morton Arboretum: How to take care of trees and shrubs as you light your landscape (avoid wire twist ties and plastic cable ties on branches)
11. CPSC: Holiday Decoration Safety Tips (611) (turn lights off when you go to bed or leave)
12. American Ladder Institute: Basic Ladder Safety (do not climb in high winds or without firm footing)
13. CertainTeed: Holiday Roof Safety (decorate on dry days)
14. Austin Energy: Safety on the Job (contact before work within 10 feet of overhead lines)
15. Texas Attorney General: How to Avoid Home Improvement Scams (partial payment in advance; do not pay in full until work is done)
16. Teravista Community Association: FAQ (winter holiday lights from the first weekend in November; read October 2026)
17. Crystal Falls HOA: 2021 Rules and Regulations (seasonal decorations no more than 30 days before the holiday)
18. Texas Property Code 207.006 (associations post recorded rules online)

About the author. Rick Safeman owns Sapien Lighting & Installation in Austin, Texas.