When it comes time to decorate the Capital Hotel’s Christmas Tree in Little Rock, management brings in the A team: Tipton & Hurst, a family-owned floral design and gift business in Arkansas that was founded in 1886. “As long as there has been a decorated tree in the lobby, Tipton & Hurst has been involved,” says Micah Vargas, the marketing coordinator at the Capital—and this year will mark the forty-second time they’ve come in to work their magic.
“It’s a holiday tradition for our company, and we love it,” says Stacy Hurst, who owns Tipton & Hurst with her husband, Howard. “Our aesthetic is in keeping with the Capital’s historic nature: classic gold and red.” The canvas is a nearly thirty-foot-tall fir flown in from Oregon. Once the tree is installed in the lobby’s atrium, towering up towards the colorful stained-glass skylight, the Tipton & Hurst team unpacks boxes of lights and special ornaments they keep in storage, including glass-blown ones shaped like the hotel, red baubles, and Hurst’s favorite touch, luscious spools of burgundy velvet ribbon, one of which crowns the tree. Since the tree’s height requires machinery to reach the upper boughs, they tackle the tree in sections, completing both lights and ornaments simultaneously.
The process takes four days, some 10,000 lights, and 2,000 ornaments, and results in a loaded tree that weighs around 2,500 pounds. When it’s ready, the Capital—which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2026—invites the whole town for the lighting, and the tree stays up the rest of the year. “Everyone is welcome. I think Christmas at the Capital Hotel is the most magical thing that we do for the community all year,” says Vargas. “Thousands of people come to see the decorations and take pictures with the tree—it’s such a spectacle.”
Inspired by lessons she’s learned over the decades Tipton & Hurst has trimmed the Capital tree, here are Hurst’s five best tips for decorating your own at home.
Wrap the lights from the inside of the branches.
At the Capital, the team’s trick for a glowing tree is to wrap each individual limb with lights instead of draping them across the boughs. “It makes the lights visible from the inside and it just creates a very sparkly look,” Hurst says. “It does take time, but it has a really beautiful impact on a Christmas tree.” To do it, start at the trunk and wind the lights out and back in before hopping to the next branch. Be warned: You’ll need a lot of lights.
Vary your ornament shapes and sizes.
“I’m always looking for variation when we go to market to buy ornaments,” Hurst says. She loves mixing round balls in all sizes with more elongated shapes. “Variety adds dimension to the tree.” Pro tip: Buy ornaments in January, when they’re often on sale.
Add a little ribbon.
“I love ribbon and that flowing look it gives,” Hurst says. It’s a hallmark of the Capital tree, and one she likes to use on her tree at home as well. Work it amongst the branches so that it is woven in and out all the way to the trunk, she advises, for maximum elegance. A giant velvet bow can make a great topper, too.
Follow the theme that makes you happy.
“If we’re decorating someone’s [personal] tree, we always want to understand what brings them joy,” Hurst says. If they like an organic look, that might mean piling up on red berries and tartan ribbon. Unconventional visions can be fun too; one client wanted a Bridgerton-themed tree, so Hurst’s team curated pastel baubles and pearls. Another wanted to celebrate her Scandinavian ancestry with reds, blues, and whites. “It’s just about what you like,” she says, “and finding the pieces that create that vision.”
Mix in your sentimental ornaments.
“My family has a collection of keepsake ornaments from our travels, and those are special,” Hurst says. She keeps the look feeling cohesive, though, by mixing them among tartan ribbon and baubles that keep up her tree’s theme of blue and red. “I used to have the energy to put in multiple trees at home, and now I just laugh at that,” Hurst says. “So just the one tree, but it’s so meaningful to me.”
