What Do Irish Companies Typically Use for Christmas Decorations?

The answer has changed considerably in the last decade. The shift in Irish corporate decoration has moved steadily away from the generic, the assembled-in-a-hurry, and the artificial toward something more considered, more consistent with the spaces these companies actually occupy, and more in line with how they present themselves to clients and guests for the rest of the year.

What Most Offices Used to Do

For a long time, the standard approach in Irish offices was a combination of a plastic tree from storage, a set of fairy lights that may or may not have been tested before going on, and a collection of decorations that had accumulated over several years without any particular direction. The result was functional but rarely impressive, and often at odds with the quality of the space around it.

This is still the approach in some workplaces. But it’s increasingly not the approach in the ones where appearance, client experience, and staff environment are taken seriously.

What Irish Companies Are Choosing Now:

Real Trees Over Artificial

The preference among Irish companies investing in a considered Christmas install has shifted clearly toward real trees. There are practical reasons: a well-sourced real Nordmann fir can hold its needles and colour for up to four to six weeks, covering the full corporate season comfortably when installed and maintained correctly. There are also reputational reasons. A real tree signals intention in a way a quality artificial one rarely does, particularly in a client-facing lobby or reception.

For extended display periods, or spaces with access and environmental constraints, artificial remains a practical choice. But it tends to be a considered exception rather than the default.

Warm White Lighting, Not Coloured

The move toward warm white lighting in corporate spaces has been consistent and is now close to a standard. Coloured lights read as domestic and informal in most professional environments. Warm white sits comfortably alongside the ambient lighting in modern office interiors, hotel lobbies, and reception spaces without clashing with the existing aesthetic.

Foliage, Garlands, and Wreaths

Larger Irish companies are increasingly thinking beyond the tree. Staircase garlands, entrance wreaths, and foliage arrangements for reception desks and common areas extend the seasonal look beyond a single focal point and give large open-plan spaces a more cohesive finish. Fresh foliage, eucalyptus, winterberry, and seasonal varieties, holds up well across the corporate season when correctly sourced and installed.

“A Design Concept, Not a Collection of Decisions”

The clearest shift is in the approach rather than the product. Companies that previously made thirty individual decoration decisions, which baubles, which lights, which tree, which stand, are increasingly arriving with a single brief: make it look right for our space. A unified design concept applied across all elements of the seasonal install produces a result that reads as intentional rather than assembled.

The Decorations Themselves

This is where the difference between a considered install and a generic one is most visible up close. At Pines & Co, we work with a carefully selected range of decoration suppliers whose aesthetic sits in step with the spaces we install in.

Shishi pieces bring a refined Scandinavian sensibility: clean forms, muted tones, and a quality of finish that holds up under close inspection. Broste Copenhagen brings considered colour and texture, particularly well-suited to the more editorial design concepts. Anna + Nina adds character and depth, handcrafted pieces that read as genuinely individual rather than retail-sourced.

Alongside these, we use natural fabrics (Ian Mankin) and materials throughout: linen and velvet bows, wired ribbons in heritage tones, and dried botanicals that add texture without competing with the foliage. Bows and ribbons are sourced and finished by hand to sit correctly on the branch rather than tied and left.

Fresh foraged branches complete the picture. Eucalyptus, Silver Sussex, Blue Thistle, red winterberry, and Variegated Pittosporum are worked through the tree and across garlands and wreaths to give the install a living, seasonal quality that no artificial foliage can replicate. The variety changes with what is at its best each season.

What Different Types of Irish Companies Tend to Choose:

Tech and Multinational Companies

Dublin’s tech sector tends toward clean, contemporary installs. The Winter Light design concept, charcoal, moody silver, and sharp lines, sits well in modern open-plan headquarters. Scale matters too: a large Dublin tech office often has an atrium or lobby that demands a statement tree of 10ft or more. Multiple trees across different floors or zones are common for larger campuses.

Sustainability credentials are increasingly part of the brief. The provenance of the tree, where it was grown, and what happens to it post-season, matter to procurement teams and CSR leads in a way they didn’t five years ago.

Hospitality and Hotels

Five-star Dublin hotels set the standard for considered Christmas decoration in Ireland. The install is part of the guest experience from late November through early January, and the quality of the brief reflects that. Multiple trees across lobby, bar, and event spaces, coordinated design concepts, fresh foliage throughout the public areas, and a removal plan built around the guest calendar. We often carry out multiple swap in and outs of a decorated tree in suites throughout the season to ensure the tree remains perfect, as first impressions are everything in hospitality. 

For hotels, the tree is rarely a single decision. It’s a seasonal programme.

Professional Services and Legal Firms

Law firms, financial services, and professional practices tend toward restrained, classic installs. The Heritage Red or The Wicklow design concepts translate well into traditional Dublin office interiors, Georgian buildings in particular. The priority is usually a clean, well-finished result that adds warmth without disrupting the professional register of the space.

Retail and Event Venues

Scale and footfall drive the brief here. Retail environments need installations that hold up to high traffic and remain photogenic throughout the season. Event venues have to work across multiple bookings and layouts. Both tend to prioritise durability and visual impact over intimacy.

The Sustainability Question

Irish companies are asking about sustainability in the Christmas decoration brief more than they were three to five years ago. For us, this is a genuine story rather than a talking point. Every tree we install comes from The Farm in Co. Wicklow. Post-season, it returns there and is chipped into livestock bedding and woodland mulch rather than going to landfill. Our decorations are made from recyclable material such as glass and natural materials. For companies with active CSR commitments, it’s a detail that matters and one that can be included in internal communications and reporting.

The Shift Worth Noting

What’s changed most is not what Irish companies are buying. It’s the seriousness with which the decision is being made. The Christmas install is increasingly treated as an extension of how a company presents itself, not an afterthought managed by whoever draws the short straw in early December. That shift is good for the spaces, good for the people who work in and visit them, and produces significantly better results.

Get in touch via pinesandco.ie to discuss a seasonal install for your office, venue, or hospitality space.