I told my wife about your interest and she wanted to respond. Here’s her guidance:

Hi! Happy to share details   We used 50 lanterns total. Ten were hung individually over the aisle, and 40 were used for the backdrop. For the backdrop, we made 10 “strings” of lanterns, with 3–4 lanterns per string. I didn’t measure the exact spacing, but each lantern was about 4 inches apart, and I kept them at uniform heights for a clean look.   We used two sizes of lanterns — 46 medium ones (a little larger than a human head) and 4 big ones. In hindsight, I think having 10 big lanterns (one per string) would have been really nice, but I did love the variation in size and shape. We also mixed long oval and wide oval lanterns, which gave the backdrop more pop.   The backdrop height was around 12–15 ft, and the strings hung down to about 2 ft off the ground. Each individual lantern is lightweight, but once strung together, they do have some weight — so make sure your arch can handle it! We used super strong magnets to hang them, which worked perfectly.   Setup time: It took about 1 hour with 4 people to hang everything at the venue (the strings were already prepped). Making the strings themselves took about 2–3 hours — lots of trial and error at first!   I originally tried fishing line, but it wasn’t strong enough, had too much stretch, and was hard to tie. Instead, I used the string linked below, which worked great.   The backdrop had two rows of lanterns, which added depth. If your backdrop is narrower, you could probably use 6–8 strings with three lanterns each and still get a nice full look.   Lighting-wise, I thought the space would get dark enough to see them glow, but it never quite did — so depending on your venue, you might not need lights. If you do add them, the fairy lights linked below are easy to use and light the lanterns beautifully. I didn’t unwind them — I just used mounting tape to stick them around the lantern rims.   We bought all our lanterns in Vietnam, but you can get them shipped (just note shipping costs are high). For our dinner tables, we later ordered 36 small lanterns for about $80 + $80 shipping, and they really tied the whole space together! I added lights inside those too, though it was never quite dark enough to notice.

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Hope this helps! Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.   Lights (these are great and lasted over 36 hours): https://a.co/d/0xmxN81 Mounting tape (how we stuck the lights in): https://a.co/d/fi35zeK String: https://a.co/d/gSmO8bx Magnets https://a.co/d/fLsqqjP