Emma Nolan stands in a Manhattan department store, mechanically overseeing the installation of yet another generic Christmas light display. As a celebrity Christmas light designer, she's built a successful career creating spectacular displays for major corporations and high-profile clients, but the work has become soulless and repetitive. When her assistant shows her design sketches for approval, Emma barely glances at them. The client wants something "more like last year's," and Emma feels her creative spirit dying a little more. Her phone rings—it's Maggie Chen, her late father's longtime business manager back in Evergreen Falls. The family business, Nolan's Holiday Lights, is failing. Without the town's annual Christmas festival contract—their biggest job—they'll have to sell to a competitor. Emma resists at first, offering to send money instead, but Maggie insists she needs to come home. Reluctantly, Emma agrees to return for just a few days.
Driving into Evergreen Falls in early December, Emma is struck by how much the town has declined. Storefronts stand empty, and the place that once sparkled with holiday magic looks worn and tired. At her father's warehouse, she reunites with Maggie and meets Pete, an enthusiastic if inexperienced young employee. Walking through the facility, Emma notices the equipment is old and the space is organized chaos. She's drawn to her father Patrick's old workshop, now covered in dust, and feels a wave of guilt about leaving twelve years ago to pursue her dreams in New York. Maggie explains that the town has hired a new festival coordinator who is "particular" about his vision. Emma brushes this off—surely she can handle a small-town festival coordinator.
At town hall, Emma meets Jake Morrison, the festival coordinator, and they immediately clash. Jake, a former Chicago marketing executive who left the corporate world two years ago after his father died from work-related stress, presents his vision for an "authentic" and "heartfelt" festival. When Emma presents her standard corporate approach—efficient, impressive, and proven—Jake is unimpressed, telling her it looks like "every mall parking lot in America." When he suggests that her father's displays used to tell stories, Emma bristles defensively. The meeting ends badly, but Mayor Patricia Donovan intervenes: the town needs this festival to succeed or more businesses will close. They have to work together.
Emma is staying with her older sister Sarah, a baker who remained in Evergreen Falls, married, and raised two children. At dinner, Sarah's resentment surfaces—she's bitter that Emma left her to care for their ailing father alone. When Sarah mentions that their dad kept asking for Emma during his final months, Emma retreats to her childhood room. Unable to sleep, she goes to the warehouse and finds Jake there, also awake and sketching ideas. They call a temporary truce and agree to get through the project professionally.
As Emma and Jake begin working together, they disagree at every turn. Emma prioritizes efficiency while Jake insists on meaning. During test installations around town, they experience comic mishaps—power outages, tangled lights, and Pete's well-meaning but clumsy mistakes. Jake's seven-year-old niece Lily, visiting while her mother is deployed with the military, starts coming to the workshop after school. Her genuine wonder at the lights begins to soften Emma's cynical edges.
One day, while searching for supplies in her father's workshop, Emma discovers his personal design journal hidden in a drawer. Inside are sketches of beautiful, whimsical displays—nothing like the corporate work she does now. His notes speak about bringing joy, creating memories, and lighting the darkness. The final entry reads: "Emma's in New York now. I'm so proud. I hope she never loses the magic." Emma breaks down crying, and Maggie finds her. Maggie reassures her that Patrick never blamed her for leaving—he wanted her to pursue her dreams. Through tears, Emma admits she's not flying anymore; she's just coasting.
At their next planning session, Emma brings new ideas that incorporate elements from her father's journal with her technical expertise. Jake is surprised and genuinely impressed. Their dynamic shifts from combative to collaborative, and creative energy begins to flow. During late-night work sessions, they share their stories. Jake opens up about why he left his corporate career, and Emma admits her guilt and burnout. They work on the lights together, laughing and creating, while Lily watches Emma with admiration. Word spreads through town about the festival plans, and community members volunteer to help. Sarah brings her kids, and while working side by side, the sisters finally talk honestly. Sarah confesses she was angry that Emma escaped when she wanted to leave too. Emma realizes she thought leaving was the right choice, but now she's not sure.
One evening, Emma and Jake are on a lift together, hanging lights in close proximity. There's a moment when they almost kiss, interrupted by Pete. Later, Jake takes Emma to his favorite overlook where they can see the festival lights coming together below. He tells her she's brought magic back to the town—and to him. They share their first real kiss under the stars.
The next day, Emma receives a call from Victoria Sterling, a high-powered executive from Rockefeller Center Events Management. They want Emma to design their main Christmas spectacular next year—a dream opportunity she's always wanted. But they need an answer by December 23rd, right after the Evergreen Falls festival, and want her to come to New York for preliminary meetings during the festival preparation. Emma doesn't immediately tell Jake about the offer.
As Emma becomes distracted and stressed about her decision, Jake notices something is wrong but she deflects his concerns. Gary Reynolds, who owns the competing lighting business, shows up at the warehouse with an official buyout offer for Nolan's Holiday Lights, with a deadline of December 26th. Maggie tells Emma she can't make this decision alone—it's Emma's father's legacy too. Emma feels pulled in multiple directions.
With one week until the festival, a major setback occurs when vintage lighting equipment breaks down. They can't afford replacements, but Emma has an idea: combine old and new technology, using LED projections with traditional lights. It's risky and they're racing against time, but with the whole team working together, Emma believes they can pull it off.
Jake overhears Emma on the phone with Victoria confirming details about the New York meeting. Feeling betrayed that she kept this secret, he confronts her. Emma defensively insists this was always temporary—she has a life in New York, and this is her dream job. Jake argues that it was her dream, but he's seen who she really is in Evergreen Falls—alive and passionate in a way she wasn't before. Emma angrily tells him he doesn't get to define her dreams, and Jake leaves, hurt and angry.
That night, Sarah finds Emma alone at the warehouse and asks if she's running away again. Emma insists she's choosing her career, but Sarah cuts through the excuse: Emma is choosing fear. She's scared that if she stays, she might fail, or worse, she might be happy and have to admit New York wasn't what she needed. Through tears, Emma asks what happens if she chooses wrong. Sarah asks what her heart says. Emma looks around the warehouse—at her father's designs, at the festival plans, at a test projection running on the wall. It's beautiful. She has a realization but keeps it to herself.
On December 20th, the festival day arrives. Emma and Jake work together professionally but maintain an emotional distance. The entire town helps with final setup, and Emma observes how the community has come together, everyone playing a role. Lily helps with final touches and asks Emma if she and Uncle Jake are friends again. Emma hopes so.
As evening falls, crowds gather for the lighting ceremony. Emma is at the control booth while Jake stands at the main stage. Mayor Donovan gives a speech about the town's history and hope for its future. The countdown begins, and when Emma activates the display, the town square transforms into something magical. Traditional warmth of old-style lights combines with modern projection technology. Each area tells a story about the town's history, family, hope, and love. A special section is dedicated to Patrick Nolan's memory. The crowd erupts in applause and wonder. From her booth, Emma watches with tears streaming down her face. Jake finds her and tells her it's perfect. She corrects him: "We did it." They apologize to each other and share a kiss as the lights twinkle around them.
The festival becomes a massive success with the biggest turnout in decades. Media coverage attracts tourist interest, and town businesses are swamped with customers. Victoria calls Emma, having seen the news coverage—she wants that Emma Nolan magic for Rockefeller Center and needs an answer. Emma asks for one more day. She meets with Maggie and Pete about the business, reviews her father's journals again, visits his grave to talk to him, and has dinner with Sarah's family. The feeling of home surrounds her, and she realizes she's been chasing the wrong dream.
On December 23rd, Emma calls Victoria and turns down the Rockefeller Center opportunity. Victoria is understanding, recognizing that Emma has found where she's meant to be. Emma finds Jake at the town square, where the festival lights are still glowing. When she tells him she turned down the job, he worries she's giving up her dreams for him. Emma explains that she's not giving them up—she's choosing her real dreams. She wants to continue what her father built, to make the business even better, to create work that matters and means something to a community. For the first time in years, she's sure. She wants to stay in Evergreen Falls, and she wants to be with him. They kiss under the twinkling lights.
On Christmas Eve, Emma and Jake work together on a residential lighting job while Emma teaches a workshop on light design for local kids, including Lily. Sarah and Emma collaborate on lights for the bakery, their relationship healed and stronger. Maggie shows Emma new business cards that read "Nolan's Holiday Lights - Emma Nolan, Creative Director." At the town's Christmas Eve celebration, Jake asks Emma if she has any regrets. She looks around at the town, the lights, the people she loves, and tells him she doesn't have a single one. She's finally found her way home. They kiss under the lights as the camera pulls back to show the whole town illuminated—beautiful, magical, and full of heart. In the final shot, Emma works on a new design on her tablet, her creativity flowing freely again, joyful and meaningful. She's found her light again.