Photography by Rachel McNair/The Content Agency

Lucy’s Bar is tiny, but it’s known for serving up decadent specialty cocktails that are huge on flavor. Come November, the watering hole is also known as the coziest, most Christmas-iest bar on Caroline Street.

Inspired by their favorite bars with particularly inviting ambiances, owners Lucy Rivas, Zach VanEarden and Kelsey McPartland decided to go all in for the holidays. With VanEarden at the helm, decking the halls of their little-bar-that-could has now become a holiday tradition. And we’re not talking a corner Christmas tree and some fairy lights. Lucy’s means business: Every last inch of the ceiling is covered with strands and strands of lights that reflect off the bar’s mirrors, miles of garland, and more ornaments than you can count—a festive explosion of holiday cheer inside two bedecked doors wrapped liked presents in jolly red ribbon. 

“We all truly love Christmas in upstate New York and found that what was missing was a cozy, almost underground Whoville-type bar,” McPartland says. “There is no better feeling than seeing a freezing guest walk into our transformed space to warm up with delicious seasonal cocktails and mocktails.”

So how do they do it? With festive panache, of course! “The ceiling has numerous eye hooks secured into the ceiling joists that we—staff, friends and family—use to create a grid out of nylon cord,” VanEarden says of the 24-hour project. “From there, we use the grid to hang our garland, decorations and lights. We play music, wear matching pajamas, have a few drinks, and end the day with a big community dinner.”