Love, love, love this chandelier!!!  Assembling the strands was easy enough.  The best way to hang it, is to install the base first and insert each strand individually.  We totally disagree with several of the previous reviews, that a scaffolding is needed.  My son rented a huge ladder for 46.00 for the weekend and installed it in 1.5 hours.  Hes definitely not an electrician, but knows how to install ceiling fans and said he could easily do this and he did!  Its an awesome statement piece for the entry of our home.