how to make a chuppah

For our wedding, we decided to make our own chuppah, or, Jewish wedding canopy. In so doing, we decided to make it a free-standing one, the sort of chuppah that is carried down the aisle and held above us, rather than the stationary kind. For one, it seemed that with the stationary kind, we would need to pour cement into flower pots to hold it up, and that would be heavy, and so my arms hurt just thinking about it. Then, I chanced upon this lovely wedding for inspiration.  That is exactly it!  I exclaimed, a light structure with a beautiful fabric that is easily transported to our wedding site.

First, we purchased about a 6 feet x 6 feet piece of fabric from Ikea.  Then, I promptly sent it up to my very skilled sister to hem the sides and place grommets in the corners.



Once I received the fabric back in the mail, we went to our local hardware store and purchased 7 foot wooden poles from the crown molding section.



A very pleasant employee helped us figure out how to screw in the "thing-a-ma-dings" into the tops of the wooden poles (first hammer them in slightly, then start to screw them at least until they stay in, and then use this pulley system with a nail to screw them in all the way.)  (this was not the easiest step, as that wood was hard hard.)



then, because I love the rustic look of twine and it will be a design theme throughout the wedding, I decided to get a thick sturdy twine, and tie it around the grommet and screw twice, tying a double bow.



Lastly, I just needed some friends to come over and help us hold it up so that I could snap a photo of the finished chuppah.  Luckily, tonight they did, so here it is!



Yay.  So simple and light weight.  I am thinking of starting a chuppah rental business ... i think it could be lucrative, no?  but then again, I'd have to make so many more chuppahs ...