Christmas Light Proposal Template (Free, With a Real Quote)

What do the templates already out there give you?#

Two pages rank for this query in September 2026 and neither has a file. LightQuoter's proposal template (Michael Caldwell, April 1, 2026) is copyable text with five headings, Holiday Lighting Proposal, Scope of Work, Payment Terms, Takedown Window and Weather, a 50 percent deposit, a January 6 to 31 takedown window and a 14 to 30 day validity, then a pitch for its own software. Jason Geiman's commercial proposal is a designed layout with Classic, Signature and Premier package tiers and a list of ten reasons a business should buy, behind an email gate. Everything else the search returns is a contract, a romantic proposal idea or a poster.

What none of them has: a mockup slot, priced options with totals, a scope block that names the runs, or a worked example with a number on it. That is what the template below adds.

Proposal, estimate or contract: which one is this?#

The proposal is the selling document, and it is the one the customer forwards to a spouse. The estimate template prices the runs line by line; the contract template carries the clauses both sides sign. On a residential job under about $2,500 we send one document that does all three: mockup and options up front, the line items behind them, the terms at the back, one signature. On commercial and multi-year work the proposal goes first and the contract follows the yes.

The template#

Copy everything between the rules. Square brackets are the fields you fill. Delete Option 2 if you only want one price.

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[Company name] [Address] | [Phone] | [Email] | [Website]

HOLIDAY LIGHTING PROPOSAL [number] | Date: [date] | Valid until: [date, 14 to 30 days out]

Prepared for [Customer name] [Property address] [Phone] | [Email]

Your home with the lights on

[Mockup image: your photo of the house with the runs drawn on. Caption: "Drawn on your photo. Footage measured from the photo, confirmed on site before install."]

What we are proposing

Option 1: [Roofline and peaks]

Option 2: [Roofline, peaks, walkway and trees]

Prices are before [tax name and rate]. Tax is added on the invoice.

What is included

• Lights, clips, cords and timer supplied by us and installed by our crew.
• One service visit for any dark section during the season, within [48] hours ([24] hours in December).
• Takedown between [January 2] and [February 28], weather permitting.
• Storage of the lights until next season. [Lights remain our property / lights are yours after final payment.]

What is not included

• Repairs to pre-existing eaves, gutters, fascia or wiring.
• Electrical work beyond plugging into an existing exterior outlet.
• Lights on [the back of the house / the detached garage] unless added as an option.

Timing

• Install window: [November 10 to November 30]. We confirm the date [7] days ahead and text on the way.
• Takedown window: [January 2 to February 28].
• Weather: snow, ice, high wind or extreme cold can move a date. We reschedule at the first safe day and neither side owes a penalty for a weather delay.

Terms

1. A deposit of [30] percent of the chosen option reserves your install date and covers product ordered for your home. Balance due on completion of install.
2. Cancellation more than [14] days before the install date: deposit refunded less [any product already cut or ordered for your home]. Inside [14] days: deposit retained.
3. We take reasonable care on your roof and siding. Our liability for damage arising from install or takedown is limited to $[500] per incident; pre-existing conditions excluded. We photograph the roofline before and after.
4. Footage was measured from a photo and is an estimate. Footage confirmed on site may change the total at the per-foot rates above, and we tell you before we start.
5. [Lights, timer and hardware remain our property and are collected at takedown. / Lights are yours after final payment; storage is a separate service.]
6. This proposal is valid until the date shown. After that, prices and dates are subject to change.

Acceptance I accept Option [1 / 2] and the terms above.

Signature: ______________________ Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Deposit paid: $[ ] by [card / e-transfer] on [date]

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That is the whole document. It is two Letter pages with the mockup, one without.

Why each section exists#

The mockup first. A homeowner cannot picture 150 ft of roofline, but they can picture their own house lit. The photo does the selling, and the price under it stops being a number to negotiate and becomes the cost of the picture. Draw it on a photo you or the homeowner own; the method is in how to make a Christmas light mockup.

The scope block names the runs. "Front roofline, garage eave, two front gables, three jumps" is a list the customer can check against the photo. "Christmas lights" is not. Every December argument we have heard about scope started with a proposal that did not name the runs.

Two options, not one. One price is a yes-or-no question and the answer is often "let me get another quote." Two prices is a which-one question. Option 2 is the version that matches the finished mockup, and it closes more often than you would guess because the customer already saw it.

Included and not included, side by side. The not-included list is where you stop paying for the detached garage in December. Write it before the job, not after.

Timing with a weather rule. An install window is a promise, and snow breaks promises. Saying up front that weather moves dates without penalty is the difference between a reschedule and a refund request.

Terms that match the invoice. The deposit percent, the balance timing and the cancellation rule in the proposal are the ones that appear on the invoice. GlowBid's default is a 30 percent deposit; LightQuoter's template uses 50, and Jobber's guide recommends a deposit without naming a percent. Whatever you pick, the same number appears on both documents.

Valid until, as a date. A proposal with no expiry is a proposal forever, and the follow-up text has nothing to point at. Fourteen days from October; the quote follow-up sequence is built around that date.

Acceptance with the option chosen. A signature under two prices is an argument. A ticked box plus a signature is a job.

A worked example: the two-storey, two options#

The house is a two-storey with a garage bump-out and two front gables: 150 ft of roofline, of which 70 ft is on the upper storey, 44 ft of peaks, three jumps totalling 18 ft, a 40 ft walkway and two front trees. Measured from one homeowner photo with the 16 ft garage door as the reference; you can price this house in the free tool. C9 LED warm white, GlowBid's default seasonal rate card, US dollars before tax.

The scope block on that proposal reads "C9 LED warm white, 12 in spacing, front roofline, garage eave, two front gables, three jumps; Option 2 adds the walkway and both front trees; includes install, timer, takedown January 2 to February 28 and storage; valid until October 21, 2026." Jobber's 2025 US average is $442 a job, so a $1,828 proposal is a large residential job and deserves the two pages.

Mistakes that lose the job between proposal and signature#

• A number with no picture. The customer compares $1,828 to the other guy's $1,650 and never sees the peaks. Mockup on page one.
• One option. Yes or no, and no is free. Two options, the second one matching the mockup.
• Scope that says "lights." Name the runs and the trees or pay for the detached garage.
• No expiry. The September price gets accepted November 24. Print a date.
• Terms that disagree with the invoice. A 30 percent deposit on the proposal and 50 on the invoice is a phone call. One number, both documents.
• Hand-typed totals. 150 ft at $8 typed as $1,120 is the contract once it is signed. Check the arithmetic or let the drawing do it.
• Measuring from Google imagery. Against Google's terms and usually years old. Draw on a photo you own and say it is an estimate confirmed on site.

How GlowBid generates the proposal#

In GlowBid the proposal is the output of the drawing, not a form. You open the homeowner's photo, set the scale from the garage door, draw each run as roofline, ridge line, peak, ground, tree or jump, and the footage comes off the drawn line while the price comes off your rate card. The quote PDF carries the mockup, the footage by run, the line items with peak and storey premiums, add-ons, the scope block, your terms and the measurement disclaimer. The customer e-signs on their phone, the signed document carries a fingerprint so it stands on its own, and the deposit is taken through Stripe on the same screen. The invoice follows from the same numbers, so the deposit percent on the proposal is the deposit percent on the invoice.

Two options are two product lines or two drawings on the same photo, priced from the same card. If you only want the drawing today, the free roofline tool measures from a photo with no login until you export. The whole loop, from mockup to signed proposal to deposit, is on every plan; founding prices start at $299 a year for Core with a 7-day trial, on the pricing page.