I took it out of the box immediately and set it up. It took me a bit of time to get all of the branches out and looking good but that is because there are so many branches on this tree! It is in 3 sections plus the base. Really easy to put it all together. It is very lightweight on it's own so I will have to do something to add some weight to it  so my gorgeous tree/decorations will not be damaged. This is super pretty without lights, so I cannot wait to get lights and decorations on it and set it in front of one of my new windows!!! I love Christmas and this is a beautiful addition to my tree collection/decorations!