Drive through many Cary neighborhoods in early October and festive signs of fall can be seen everywhere.
Piles of pumpkins in every size cascade down front porch steps, wind along railings, and spill across lawns.
Thanks to the magic of Preston Pumpkins, the family-run seasonal decorating business founded in 2025 by Kaitlyn and Claude Ballbe, many of those fallscapes appear without the homeowner ever lifting a finger.
From Corporate Marketing to Curbside Magic
Kaitlyn’s path to pumpkin entrepreneur didn’t start with pumpkins at all. It started with a corporate marketing career and a passion for holiday décor.
When previously living in Dallas, she embraced the philosophy that everything is bigger in Texas, from Christmas lights to pumpkin displays. When she came to live in Cary, she’d deck out her own porch every fall, and the compliments rolled in year after year.
The heart and soul behind Preston Pumpkins: Kaitlyn and Claude Ballbe pose with their two young daughters among one of their front porch creations.
“Why not do it bigger, and make it more fun?” Kaitlyn says of her decorating approach.
But she found sourcing the perfect pumpkins on her own was expensive and time-consuming. After the arrival of her second daughter, Kaitlyn made the choice to step away from her corporate career, seeing an opportunity to turn her seasonal obsession into something bigger. She found partner suppliers to bring down costs and cut the hassle, and thus Preston Pumpkins was born.
Claude does some of the heavy lifting
as Kaitlyn directs.
Cary turned out to be the perfect place to plant that idea. Kaitlyn describes her neighborhood as exactly the kind of family-friendly community she wanted to serve: one where a decorated porch isn’t just décor, but a small, shared moment of fun for everyone who walks or drives by.
That mission has stayed the same from day one: keep it low pressure, keep it joyful, and give families something exciting to come home to.
How It Works
Preston Pumpkins keeps its offerings simple and approachable, with something for every kind of porch.
The entry-level option, playfully described as “a cozy touch of fall charm,” pairs jack-o’-lanterns of various sizes with an assortment of specialty and pie pumpkins, with full setup onsite. For families who want to go bigger, the fuller festive display ups the pumpkin count and tosses in hay bales for a fuller autumn scene.
There’s also a simpler, DIY-friendly route for customers who just want the pumpkins themselves without the hassle of carting them home — a batch of classic orange, or a two-tone orange-and-white mix, with or without setup, depending on how hands-on a family wants to be. Add-ons like extra hay bales and corn stalks round things out for anyone looking to build on their display.
It’s a team effort as the Ballbes create fall magic across the area’s front porches and lawns.
It’s a lineup designed to flex with whatever a family has in mind, whether that’s a quick pop of orange by the front door or a display elaborate enough to stop foot traffic. Pricing starts at $60, and for the bigger packages, Kaitlyn and her husband will drape pumpkins down a stairwell or cascade them across an entire porch for that full pumpkin patch effect.
There’s even a “set it and forget it” option once the season winds down: for $100, the team will come back out and handle removal and disposal of all the pumpkins and hay bales, so homeowners don’t have to figure out what to do with a porch full of softening gourds come late November.
And if none of the standard packages quite fit the vision, Kaitlyn is quick to point out that the menu is really just a starting point. She and her husband are always happy to talk through a custom design tailored to a specific porch.
The process is low-pressure for customers. Kaitlyn speaks with clients beforehand to talk through their vision, such as porch-wide or clustered in one spot, though she says most people are happy to hand over the creative reins entirely. After booking online, customers simply pick a delivery date.
On the big day, Kaitlyn arrives with Claude, who handles the heavy lifting involved in hauling and loading pumpkins. Claude has become a creative partner over the past year as well, offering ideas to tweak Kaitlyn’s designs rather than just executing them.
Kaitlyn and Claude work together to perfect a front porch scape. Claude’s role has shifted from handling the heavy lifting to also serving as a creative partner as Kaitlyn crafts her designs.
The design itself comes together onsite. Kaitlyn scouts each house ahead of time to plan around its layout while drawing inspiration from other displays she’s researched, but she says the real creativity happens in the moment.
“A lot of it comes to life when I’m there,” she explains. “Moving pumpkins back and forth, seeing what looks good.”
Preston Pumpkins customers don’t need to lift a finger and come home to a finished product that creates a sense of seasonal wonder.
Together, Kaitlyn and Claude can transform a porch in 30 minutes to an hour, she says. Customers don’t even need to be home — they just come back to a fully decorated porch waiting for them.
A Fast-Growing Fall Tradition
Business ramps up at the end of September. While families are often focused on Halloween, many keep their displays up well past the holiday, often through Thanksgiving.
It’s a remarkably fast trajectory for a business that launched quickly last fall. Kaitlyn recalls simply deciding, around October 5, “let’s do it.” The first season came together from there. They’re on track this year to well surpass the number of families served last year.
Much of that growth traces back to marketing, Kaitlyn’s professional wheelhouse. Last year, she got the word out to local neighborhoods; this year, she’s leaned heavily into Instagram and social media. She’s also reached out to local influencers as she looks to build even more buzz.
Separately, Preston Pumpkins has partnered with several Cary-area realtors, who now gift the packages to clients moving into new homes this fall as a seasonal “welcome to the neighborhood.”
When the work is done, Kaitlyn and Claude take pride in bringing the joy of the season to another local family.
The Heart Behind the Hustle
For Kaitlyn, the appeal goes well beyond pumpkins. Her favorite part of the business is the community connection. She loves getting to know neighbors and families throughout Cary and beyond — they’ve gone all the way to Durham already — and watching kids come home from school to a porch that’s been magically transformed while they were away.
“Seeing the joy of the holiday come to life for them is really fun,” she says.
Her own daughters are part of this journey and Kaitlyn hopes that, as her girls get older, they’ll come to appreciate the business their parents built together and maybe even join in on delivery days.
Running a small business while raising two small children isn’t without the occasional challenge, Kaitlyn admits. Fitting deliveries around the rhythm of family life takes some juggling. But she says the payoff is worth it, especially given how warmly Cary and surrounding towns have welcomed the idea.
And that positive reception is a big part of what keeps her going and growing. Looking ahead, Kaitlyn is eager to continue to expand beyond the standard menu. Preston Pumpkins is also open to custom projects for events and commercial businesses alike.
“The reception to it has been so great,” she says. “They’ve embraced me and think it’s a great idea. It helps you keep going when people are giving you positive feedback.”
prestonpumpkins.com
@prestonpumpkins
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