How to Hang Outdoor String Lights

Learn how to hang string lights outside using stainless wire for support. With these tips, you can create an outdoor oasis in no time!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: twinkle lights make everything magical. It’s the whole reason I host a nighttime tour every holiday season… but what’s a girl to do the other ten months of the year? Hang outdoor string lights, of course.

And not just any outdoor string lights: ones that will last.

When I revealed my outdoor dining area last week, I had so many questions about the best way to hang string lights, so today I’m sharing all my tips and tricks, as well as the best outdoor string lights and materials needed to hang them on wire cables.

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Best lights and wire for outdoor patio

Commercial outdoor string lights

Any amount of string lights can add magic, but I knew two things: I wanted lots of light (because we were lighting a very dark glade in the woods), and I wanted them not to break.

I began by choosing the type of lights that would provide the most light and ambiance for our outdoor living space. Globe lights were going to give us more light: enough for outdoor dining and yard games. But I decided that a vintage style globe light provided more ambiance than simple round lights.

I then compared regular string lights to commercial grade lights, and it was no competition. I read reviews and compared and decided that these commercial grade vintage-style string lights were the way to go.

Even better, they’re LED, which should last longer, stay cool to the touch, and allows for more strands to be connected together from a single outlet because the wattage per bulb is lower. If you need a lot of strands, the price can certainly add up. But I think it’s worth it to have something that should survive the outdoors and last for years to come.

Hanging lights with wire

Whether it’s an outdoor patio, pergola structure, open yard, or tree-filled glade, outdoor string lights will add magic. But in order to ensure longevity (especially if you want to string them overhead), I think the best way is to use support wire.

Using support wires isn’t required. If you want to drape them through the trees, that’s ok, too!. But it does relieves stress on the electrical wire and allows you to keep the lights taught above your head and all hanging the right direction.

It is especially useful if you have long stretches of lights, like all the way across the yard or a clearing. In short, using wire to hang outdoor lights gives more stability and a cleaner look.

You could purchase stainless steel wire (something that won’t rust!) and eye hooks from your local hardware store, but I found it simpler to purchase these string light hanging kits at the same time that we ordered our lights. We used three of them for ~320 ft of strung lights.

Where to hang outdoor string lights

Making a plan was definitely the slowest part of the whole project for me – ha! There are four major considerations:

1. Make sure you have power (a plug or an extension cord) at the start.
2. Check your lights for the recommended number of strands that can be connected together safely. If you need more strands than that, you will need to have another plug for some of the strands.
3. Design the look you want for your yard or covered patio. The lights can be strung in neat, straight lines, zig zag across the middle, straight around the perimeter, centralized around a point like a circus tent, or randomly for a whimsical look.
4. Find natural supports or sturdy places to attach the wires at least 9′ off the ground. Healthy trees, a solid spot on your house or patio, or a post secured by concrete will work. It needs to be able to hold an eye hook screw securely.

We decided to hang ours in two groupings: one over the larger clearing, which we will use as a game area, and one of the smaller clearing for dining. Each grouping comes to a single peak on one side and spreads out to four other points on the other side.

Materials needed to hang outdoor string lights

• commercial grade outdoor string lights
• stainless steel cable, cable clamps, and eye hooks (or a kit like this)
• ladder
• hammer, screw driver, and wire snips
• black zip ties
• black extension cords (optional)

Learn How to hang outdoor string lights

For this project, we hung 7 strands of patio lights, lighting a huge game and dining area with plenty of light. The whole thing probably took us about four hours of work, and the lights look great! Whether you choose to light up your trees, your backyard patio, or another outdoor existing structure, I hope these tips help!

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Do you have any other questions about hanging outdoor lights? Ask away! And don’t forget to pin it.