Press Coverage
NBC10 TheHUB
TheHUB's Hannah Donnelly visited with Sofya to discuss all things porch decorating
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01940 Magazine
Sofya Cooper of Front Door Festive is leaving her clients’ homes more beautiful than when she left them — pumpkin style.
Cooper, a full-time benefits consultant and mom of three, has the reputation of having “the house with all the pumpkins” in her Lynnfield neighborhood. So in 2024, she started Front Door Festive: a seasonal outdoor decoration company that specializes in abundant, playful pumpkin designs and winter holiday displays.
“Those comments stuck with me, so I decided to turn it into a business,” Cooper said.
To clarify, Cooper doesn’t decorate the pumpkins; she decorates with pumpkins.
“I’m still working on my elevator pitch as to what Front Door Festive is. Sometimes people ask me if I’m going to carve every individual one. No, that would be insanity,” Cooper said.
Clients can choose from three different designs, ranging from $300-$900, to get pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Winter holiday decor packages include custom planters, wreaths, and a garland.
Sofya Cooper owns Front Door Festive and specializes in pumpkin and seasonal designs on doorsteps.
Front Door Festive also cuts out the middleman when it comes to fall decor, cleaning and creating the items as well as installing them directly to the client’s front doors. Once the season is over, the company also disposes of the pumpkins by sending them to a compost facility or using them for animal feed.
“A lot of people tell me they love how the arrangements look, but they would never have the energy to do it themselves. It’s a lot to go to the store, buy the pumpkins, and lug them home,” Cooper said.
She added, “(Front Door Festive) is meant to take a lot of thinking and doing off of the homeowner’s list to make things a more seamless process for them. And I recognize that it’s an investment, but you get six to eight weeks of joy at your home.”
Cooper originally got the inspiration after seeing a similar concept in Texas. While there are a handful of similar pumpkin-arranging services in the Massachusetts area, Cooper stands out with Front Door Festive by sourcing high-quality pumpkins from Pennsylvania farmers.
This fall, she went to a produce auction and picked out every single batch herself over the span of 10 hours. Selections included the proverbial, round, orange pumpkins and lesser known varieties such as blue dolls, pink dolls, snowballs, and Colorado sunrises.
Cooper has delivered pumpkin arrangements to 66 North Shore homes in 2025, with most of her clientele from last year returning. A large portion of her customer base is currently in Lynnfield, spanning a wide range of ages.
“The community connection and crossing paths with people I otherwise wouldn’t have is really nice. Seeing that there is interest from a span of generations has been a highlight,” Cooper said.
Cooper enjoys the seasonal
aspect of the business given her busy full-time job and family life. While she took a week off of work this year to retrieve the pumpkins, she mainly juggles Front Door Festive on nights and weekends. Her husband supports her with managing storage and inventory, while friends and neighbors volunteered in the early stages.
“Having a full-time career, the appeal is that I get this burst of creativity, and then I can wait and do it again next year, so I’m always fresh,” Cooper said.
However, pumpkin arrangements don’t come without their obstacles. Cooper described squirrels as Front Door Festive’s “archnemesis” and said that weather and home setups, such as excessive stairs, can make the process trickier.
“I’ve learned that it’s very hard to reverse a trailer in a pickup truck,” Cooper said.
Cooper also learned to push herself outside of her comfort zone with the marketing aspect of her business, such as putting herself out there on social media, approaching people, and arranging booths at fall festivals.
“I haven’t really tried to advertise my services like this since my babysitting days as a teenager,” Cooper said.
She added, “But it’s been amazing. It took a leap of faith to put myself out there. It felt like such a departure, and people have been so supportive whether they book, follow, or tell their friends. It’s been really heartwarming to get the support of people I know and don’t know. The amount that it’s taken off, it’s been really rewarding.”
As for the trajectory of Front Door Festive, Cooper envisions sticking with the pumpkins and winter holiday niche. She also has her eye on expanding the business by supporting more orders, creating more storage space, and growing the team by employing more drivers.
“The sky’s the limit with the pumpkins,” Cooper said.
The Daily Item
Lynnfield business helps community find spirit
Amanda Lurey
August 20, 2025 by Amanda Lurey
LYNNFIELD — Sofya Cooper, owner of Front Door Festive, is gearing up for the second fall season she will spend decorating doorsteps to help people get into the fall spirit.
Cooper said Front Door Festive was created out of pure passion. She works full time as a benefits consultant, but Cooper was still searching for a creative outlet.
When she saw someone in Texas last fall operating with a similar concept to Front Door Festive, inspiration struck and she said she thought, “I could do that, and I love doing that.” She added that “pursuing a passion” has been the “driving force” behind Front Door Festive.
“I loved the reaction I garnered, too, like happiness and joy and a bit of unexpected fun to people’s homes,” Cooper said, thinking back to last pumpkin season.
Cooper said she will be going down to Pennsylvania next month to attend a produce auction where she buys pumpkins in bulk directly from farmers. The pumpkins are then stored in Cooper’s garage after being washed in solutions that help deter animals from eating them.
Front Door Festive has three different pumpkin packages available for purchase, and all packages include design and delivery. Cooper said each design is tailored to the client’s needs.
“When people order, they can choose color palettes that they like. They could tell me if they want one big display at their front door or split between the front and side doors or like sprinkled around their yard, which I think actually looks really nice,” she said.
Cooper added that, when it comes to designing, she also takes accessibility into consideration, ensuring she doesn’t block entryways with pumpkins.
Package 1, called Cute as a Pumpkin, is perfect for cozy porches to give an entryway a fresh and festive glow without taking over the space. It’s small in scale but big on impact. This package includes 15-20 medium to large orange and white pumpkins, six specialty pumpkins and 10 tiny pumpkins. Package 1 is $300.
Package 2, called Pick of the Patch, is Front Door Festive’s most popular package. It’s ideal for families and elegant homes, and the package is effortlessly festive and perfectly balanced. The package includes 25-30 medium to large orange and white pumpkins, 10 specialty pumpkins, 15 mini pumpkins, 10 gourds and two bales of hay. Package 2 is $550.
Package 3, called Go Big or Gourd Home, is for grand entryways, special events or homeowners who want it all. The package includes two extra large prizewinner pumpkins — which are over 75 pounds each — 50 medium to large orange and white pumpkins, 20 specialty pumpkins, 25 mini pumpkins, 20 gourds and two to four bales of hay. Package 3 is $900.
While Front Door Festive is based in Lynnfield, Cooper has very wide delivery capabilities spanning north to Newburyport, south to Quincy and east to Carlisle. She has a map on her website, frontdoorfestive.com, where people can check to see what the delivery fees may be.
Residents of Lynnfield, Middleton, North Reading, Reading, Wakefield, Saugus, Lynn, Peabody and Danvers get free delivery. Residents beyond that delivery zone will need to pay an either $25 or $50 delivery fee depending on their location.
Pumpkin delivery and installation this year will be during the first two weeks of October, and Cooper is encouraging shoppers to get their orders in before Sept. 15.
Cooper added that she offers pumpkin pickup the weekend before Thanksgiving and the weekend after Thanksgiving to ensure all pumpkins are composted. This is an optional service, as some clients may opt to keep their pumpkins or dispose of them themselves.
Cooper will be at Historic Lynnfield’s Fall Festival and Lynnfield Moms Group’s Touch A Truck events, both on Sept. 27, where interested community members can get more information about Front Door Festive.
As someone with an October birthday, Cooper has also always loved fall. In fact, she said it’s “the happiest month of the year for me,” and she hopes to share that festive cheer with anyone interested in a decorative pumpkin installation this fall.
