The Process
Five Steps From Enquiry to Opening Night
Every order runs through the same five stages. Here is what happens at each one, what we need from you, and what you should expect back.
Step 1: Define Your Requirements Before You Ask for a Price
A quotation is only as accurate as the brief behind it. Buyers who send six specifics get a number they can budget against. Buyers who send "a dragon lantern, roughly five metres" get a range so wide it cannot be approved by anyone.
What to have ready
- Product category — lanterns, animatronics, or a mixed programme
- Dimensions — target size, or the footprint you have available
- Installation environment — indoor or outdoor, and the local climate
- Full display list — not just the hero piece
- Your dates — opening night and the approval date behind it
- Site constraints — power, access routes, ground conditions
What you get back
A scoped response: a recommended display list sized to your footprint, an outline programme with realistic dates, and a short list of the questions we still need answered before we can price it properly.
Step 2: Request a Quote You Can Actually Compare
Most buyers collect three quotes and discover they are not comparable — one includes shipping, one excludes it, one prices a different specification entirely. Ask every supplier for the same six items and the comparison becomes straightforward.
- Itemised breakdown — per piece, not one lump figure
- Written specification behind each line
- Production lead time, stated in weeks
- Shipping terms, named as an Incoterm
- Documentation included — drawings, certificates, packing list
- What is explicitly excluded
Send your brief through our quote form, by email, or on WhatsApp. We respond inside 24 to 48 hours on working days.
Step 3: Confirm the Design Before Anything Is Built
This is the stage that decides whether you are happy in six months. For custom work we produce 3D renderings and technical drawings first, and we revise them until the design matches what you pictured — because changing a drawing costs an afternoon, and changing a finished piece costs a season.
What we supply at this stage
- 3D concept renderings from your brief
- Technical drawings with dimensions
- Colour and finish references
- Material and component samples on request
Why sign-off matters
Once you sign off the drawings, that document becomes the build specification. It is what our workshop builds to, what our QC inspects against, and what you can hold us to. Take the time here.
Step 4: Confirm the Order and Start Production
With the design signed off, we issue the order confirmation and reserve your production slot. Payment is structured as a deposit to confirm the slot, with the balance settled before shipment. We accept T/T bank transfer, PayPal, Letter of Credit and Western Union.
During production
You get scheduled photo and video updates from the workshop floor, so you can see your pieces taking shape rather than waiting for a shipping photograph. If a programme is running to a fixed opening date, we flag slippage the day it appears, not the week before delivery.
Typical lead time
Production runs from roughly two to six weeks depending on the size of the programme and how much of it is bespoke. Large or highly detailed pieces sit at the longer end. Your confirmation states the schedule for your specific order.
Step 5: Inspect, Ship and Hand Over
Nothing leaves the workshop without passing our own inspection, and you see the evidence before it is loaded. Third-party inspection can be arranged if your procurement rules require it.
- Incoming component check before assembly starts
- In-process inspection while the piece is being built
- Final assembly and function test before packing
- Photo and video evidence sent for your approval
- Third-party inspection on request — SGS, Bureau Veritas
- Packing list, certificate of origin and bill of lading
For the shipping leg — Incoterms, customs classification and the documents your broker will ask for — see our dedicated shipping and logistics guide.
Programme Planning
Procurement Timeline: First Enquiry to Opening Night
A realistic schedule for a custom lantern or animatronic programme. Work backwards from your opening date — the two dates that catch buyers out are the approval meeting and the shipping window.
Week 0
Send the brief
Site details, display wish list, and your opening date. We come back with a scoped proposal and the questions that still need answering.
Week 1–2
Design and internal approval
3D renderings and drawings, revised until they are right. This is also your window to get budget sign-off, so we supply the documentation pack in the format your committee expects.
Week 3
Order confirmed, slot reserved
Signed drawings, confirmed order, deposit paid. Your production slot is now held against your opening date.
Week 4–10
Production
Build, assembly, lighting and motion testing. Scheduled photo and video updates throughout, so there are no surprises at the end.
Week 11
Inspection and packing
Final function test, your approval on the evidence, then export packing and container loading.
Week 12–16
Freight, customs and delivery
Sea freight plus customs clearance and inland transport to your site. Air freight compresses this leg substantially if your date is tight.
Opening night
Install, commission, open
Our crew supervises installation with your contractors, or installs with our own team, then commissions the lighting and motion programme before you open the gates.
Interactive
Buyer Readiness Checklist
Tick these off before you send an enquiry. Every item you can answer makes the quotation faster and more accurate. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Half or more ticked? Send the brief and we will come back with a scoped proposal inside 48 hours.
Send My Brief →Supplier Vetting
How to Vet a Lantern Factory Before You Commit
A good-looking website tells you nothing about whether a supplier can deliver in February. These eight checks separate a workshop that builds from an agent who forwards email.
01
Ask to see the workshop, live
Request a live video walk-through on a working day. A factory will say yes within a day; an agent will offer a showroom or a pre-recorded clip.
02
Check export history, not claims
Ask which countries they have shipped to and request two references you can actually contact. Volume of past exports is the single best predictor of whether your container clears customs cleanly.
03
Test the technical response
Send one genuinely difficult question — a wind loading enquiry, an unusual power supply, a tight access route. Engineers answer engineers; sales teams answer with a brochure.
04
Ask who draws your piece
In-house design means your revision reaches the people building it the same day. Outsourced design adds a relay, and every relay loses detail.
05
Request the documentation set
Structural calculations, electrical schedules, component certification and packing lists. If a supplier cannot produce these before you order, they will not produce them after.
06
Look at how they handle slippage
Ask what happens if production runs a week late. A workshop with real capacity tells you the recovery plan; the rest tell you it will not happen.
07
Confirm who installs on site
Installation is where programmes fail. Ask whether their own crew travels, or whether you are left to interpret a manual with local contractors.
08
Check the spare parts position
Ask what ships with the order as spares and how replacements are handled in season. A supplier who plans for failure is a supplier who has run a season before.
Learned the Hard Way
7 Mistakes Buyers Make When Sourcing From China
After more than two decades of festival production in Zigong, these are the ones we watch buyers walk into most often — and what to do instead.
A cheaper quote usually means a lighter build, fewer light sources, or a lower-grade finish. Before you compare figures, ask every supplier for the written specification behind their number — dimensions, light source count, motion functions, finish standard and what the shipping term covers. Two quotes that look 20% apart are often 50% apart once you read the specification.
A display engineered for a mild Mediterranean winter will not behave the same way in a Canadian January or a Gulf summer. Give us your seasonal temperature range, wind exposure and whether the site is coastal, and we specify the build to match. Retrofitting weather protection after delivery is far more expensive than specifying it at design stage.
The biggest single cause of disappointment is approving a pretty mood board and expecting a precise result. Approve dimensioned 3D renderings and technical drawings, in writing, before production starts. That document is what the workshop builds to and what our inspection checks against.
Sea freight adds several weeks on top of production, and then customs clearance adds more. For a February opening, the order needs to be placed in the autumn of the previous year. Air freight compresses the transit leg substantially if your date is tight — worth pricing as an option rather than discovering later.
Different countries classify illuminated displays and animatronic figures under different codes, and the rate that applies follows the code, not the product description. Ask for the HS codes with your quotation and pass them to your broker early. Our shipping guide covers this in detail.
Something will need attention during a long run — a lamp, a driver, a sensor. Confirm with your supplier what ships as spares, what the replacement process looks like mid-season, and who on your side is responsible for the nightly check. Decide it before you pay, not in week six.
The saving on slow freight is real and small. The cost of missing your opening night is neither. Compare the freight saving against the value of the event you would be delaying, and if the date is immovable, buy the faster leg.
Logistics
Shipping, Customs and Incoterms
The commercial term you agree determines who pays for what, and who carries the risk at each stage of the journey. Get this wrong and the saving on the unit price disappears at the port.
| Term | Who arranges the main freight | Risk transfers | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW — Ex Works | You | At our workshop door | Buyers with their own China freight forwarder |
| FOB — Free On Board | You | Once loaded on the vessel | Most experienced importers |
| CIF — Cost, Insurance, Freight | Us, to your port | Once loaded on the vessel | Buyers who want freight handled but control clearance |
| DDP — Delivered Duty Paid | Us, door to door | At your site | First-time importers and fixed-date openings |
Documents your broker will ask for
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Bill of lading or air waybill
- Certificate of origin
- HS classification for each product line
- Component certification for electrical goods
- Import permit if your market requires one
Go deeper
Container loading, packing method, transit times by region and how we handle customs documentation are all covered in our shipping and logistics guide. If you would rather talk it through, our team will walk your freight forwarder through the packing plan before you book.
Who You Buy From
Factory-Direct vs. Trading Company
Both routes exist for good reasons. What matters is knowing which one you are dealing with before you sign, and what each one costs you beyond the unit price.
Factory-Direct — FestiveLanterns
- PricingWorkshop cost, no intermediary margin
- Quality controlOur own inspectors, on our own floor, before packing
- Custom designYou speak to the designers and the builders
- Technical supportThe engineers who built your piece answer your questions
- Production visibilityScheduled photo and video updates from the workshop
- Changes mid-buildPossible, priced honestly, same-day answers
Trading Company
- PricingWorkshop cost plus the agent margin
- Quality controlDepends which workshop they placed your order with
- Custom designYour brief is relayed, and detail is lost in the relay
- Technical supportHandled by the agent, who then asks the factory
- Production visibilityUsually limited to what the workshop chooses to share
- Changes mid-buildSlower, and often requoted through two parties
Answers
Procurement FAQ
The questions our team is asked most often by first-time and repeat buyers.
No. Single pieces are welcome and common — many venues start with one signature display and expand across following seasons. Programmes with several pieces are quoted as a package, which is usually more efficient per piece than ordering them separately.
Design and approval typically take one to three weeks, production two to six weeks depending on scale and how much is bespoke, and sea freight several weeks on top. For a fixed opening date we work backwards from your calendar and confirm the schedule in writing.
For custom work we supply 3D renderings, technical drawings and colour or material references before production. Physical samples can be arranged where the programme justifies it — ask us and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it for your order.
T/T bank transfer, PayPal, Letter of Credit and Western Union. Payment is structured as a deposit to confirm your production slot, with the balance settled before shipment. Your order confirmation states the exact schedule.
Yes. We run our own inspection as standard and send you the evidence, and you are welcome to appoint SGS, Bureau Veritas or any inspector your procurement rules require. We will coordinate access and timing with them.
We ship spare components with the order and confirm the spares list with you before dispatch. If something needs replacing mid-season, contact your project lead and we will arrange the replacement and the shipping route that gets it to you fastest.
Ready to send your brief?
Six specifics are enough for us to start. Check our FAQ page or contact us if anything here is unclear.
Get a Free Quote →