Its the old fashioned style.....insert one by one, but don't forget to spread out each little twig on each little branch so it looks real......yes dear! figured it out. I was one row off. Had to disassemle and move everything up one row. M is at the bottem, then next row up is L, then K, well there is no row J, but two rows of K. And some of the letter markers are missing from some of the branches. Don't ask, but for some reason I have one "M" left over, but every branch in the buttom row has an "M"on it. She happy and I'm done. She put's the lights on and decorates it. I did my part!