My coworkers are starting to wonder why so many boxes have been arriving for me in the last week. It’s not Christmastime. And it’s not my birthday. This can only mean one thing…our DIY supplies are trickling in!
Behold, a box.
Our paper lanterns are here! To qualify for free shipping, I padded the order with some white fans to keep our guests cool in the June heat. (If it’s anything like last June, we are in trouble. And I thought my cousin could reuse them for her August wedding.) When I lifted up the fans, yikes! Lime green lanterns??
We ordered white, yellow, and light yellow lanterns. One of these things is not like the other one… A quick call to customer service had it all straightened out; oh, and the green lanterns are ours to keep!
Mr. P rigged up a quick visual so we could see the different colors and sizes together. Shown below are the 16″ yellow, 12″ light yellow, and 20″ white lanterns.
The colors work well together. For the wedding, we’ll use something less visually intrusive than the twine we had lying around.
A closeup of Mr. P’s LED and coin-cell battery lighting set-up
This set-up gave us four days of full brightness with the three LEDs hooked to it. Mr. P wants to order more LEDs with a higher mcd rating (the ones we have are 15,000 mcd) for increased brightness. (Mrs. Tiramisu noted hers lasted a week in her test run.) Mr. P is trying to minimize the number of batteries (at 34 cents apiece) we’ll need while still getting at least two days out of them.
A very blurry picture of Miss PAC demonstrating a 16″ yellow (our most opaque color) lit by three LEDs. All but the largest lantern are well lit with three LEDs.
Another gratuitous lantern pic
(All personal photos)
We rounded out the order with five of these little LED candle lights, figuring we’d use them for non-wedding functions. However, Mr. P liked them for the lanterns. With bulk pricing of 79 cents each, these little candles are cheaper than our three LED/battery rig and a good bit brighter. The only downside is they have a distinct orange directional glow. The cool part is they flicker! However, the flickering reminds me of a haunted house. Sticking with the LEDs.
What ways are you lighting up your wedding?
*Thanks to Mr. P for suggesting the post title!
Nice! That picture of the three different colors/ sizes looks great. Love the yellows!
Love your lights. Mind sharing where you bought the batteries and leds from?
Looks wonderful!! Where did you purchase the lanterns from?
The different sizes and colors of the paper lanterns look great together!
These are going to look amazing in your space. 
I actually love the pop of the lime green, and it even goes with your color scheme!
Can you tell us where you’re getting your LEDs?
I have lanterns too that are currently not illuminated (nor wired for them) so I gotta figure something out. Any help you could provide, would be great!!
YAY Lanterns!! We got very similar ones to yours (yellow and white) and I love the way they look!
Love the lanterns. The colors compliment each other very nicely I’m excited about those flickering LED lights too!
Lovely lantern and great color selection! The white and yellows look beautiful together!
you didn’t mention what type of batteries you were using, or where you were getting them – but we used the CR2032 button batteries I got on Amazon – here’s a link to the item – about 24 cents each.
http://www.amazon.com/CR2032-Battery-Package-Packs-Batteries/dp/B000RAWGIW/ref=pd_sbs_watch_4
@shericamarie: How long did those batteries last with the LED attached? How many LEDs did you use per battery?
Thanks in advance!
@Mrs. Meerkat & @amorette: 50 X Renata CR2032 Lithium 3v Battery ($17) from ebay member “batteries-to-go” and 100 x 10mm LED Warm White Diffused Lens ($30) from ebay member “cece718″
@blushingbride585: http://www.asianimportstore.com/whitepaddlefan.html
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DE Age and Occupation: 29, Realtor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Realtor Engagement Date: November 21, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Greenville Country Club About Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
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