Holiday Décor

Go with a winter theme. Use pine cones, small pine trees, poinsettia flowers, cinnamon sticks, snow flakes and snow men and women. On the outside of the spa, you can place white icicle lights, fresh pine wreaths and poinsettias. The scent of fresh pine is amazing and reminds clients of being surrounded by big trees. It’s very grounding for the holidays.

To create the look of snow, use white draped curtains hung from the ceiling. Place white string lights under the curtains and all around the inside of your treatment rooms to give it an illuminating, warm glow. Keep it beautiful and classy.

Another option is to go all natural. Put out a 10- foot pine tree, fresh garland, a giant fragrant wreath and beautiful twinkle lights. You can use owls as your theme since they are time- less. Keep the displays tasteful, elegant and clean — very boutique like.

Or, you can take the classic approach to your décor with ornaments hung from the ceiling, traditional Christmas colors and classic tinsel.

One theme to avoid is anything religious. It’s good to keep it religion- neutral to respect everyone’s beliefs, or non-beliefs. Providing an inclusive, neutral retail space is far more beneficial than exclusivity.

Flavors of the Season

Matching the seasonal scents that will be wafting through your spa to your theme is a great way to fully drive home the feel you are going for. A woodsy theme and pine scents go hand in hand. If you decorate a lot with candy canes, use peppermint scents. If you want to create the feeling of going to Grandma’s for Christmas, try gingerbread-scented candles.

For the natural theme, woodsy aromas are their scent of choice. You want your guests to have a sensory experience when shopping the retail area. Use candles ranging in spices like cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon, and scents such as sandalwood, black plum, persimmon, cedar, fern, smoked birch and juniper clove. It really enhances the holiday ambiance.

An alternative to lighting candles is using a diffuser with essential oils. Create a custom blend of essential oils like peppermint and lavender, cinnamon and orange or pine or other scents of the holidays. Mix an uplifting scent with a comforting or relaxing scent with the intention of bringing a joyful feeling to your clients as soon as they walk into the spa. Use the purest essential oils in a mister or a diffuser.
Seasonal Refreshments

To add to the sensory experience, give your clients a taste of the holidays as well by adding a few seasonal refreshments to your lounge and waiting room. You can simply replace the green tea with mulled apple cider and serve gingerbread cookies instead of chocolate chip.

If you host special holiday spa events or parties, offer your clients traditional eggnog as a special beverage treat. You can also offer it on the weekends to all spa-goers throughout the holiday season. Other seasonal goodies include candy canes and peppermint tea.

Match your holiday beverages to your seasonal treatments. For example, serve cranberry tea to tie into your various cranberry treatments of the season.

Sounds of the Season

Christmas music can be polarizing — people either love it or hate it. For spas, it’s important to stick to calming, serene, spa-like music regardless of the season. Your holiday music playlist should be soothing Christmas symphonies. It’s traditional with no vocals. Start playing it the weekend after Thanksgiving.

If you don’t have great skills as a DJ, there are plenty of music services that have wonderful playlists, such as Pandora, iHeart Radio and Spotify.

Take a different route by mixing up traditional and modern holiday sounds, such as Native American flute, soothing piano, instrumental Christmas classics in the treatment rooms and a Sarah McLachlan holiday CD or soft jazz in the retail area.
Adding a merry atmosphere to your spa is not only enjoyable, but a good marketing tool. It’s fun to get everyone in the holiday mood, and guests buy more when the spa is ‘holiday’d up!’