Question in Preparation for My Sister's Wedding

[debka_notion]

 How does one go about finding/buying/making a chuppah?  I'm having a feeling that my sister and her fiance are not real likely to be interested in the tallis option.  I imagine that making one could also just involve some dowels with nails on top and a piece of fabric with loops, but if we did want to buy/rent one, how would we find such a thing?  If we were to make them one, does anyone have any tips? 

My parents sent me the question, and so I in turn am asking you...

Comments

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I made ours with one length of pretty fabric, several feet of ribbon, and nearly as many feet of Stitch Witchery (http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat483848&PRODID=prd2975). :-) It's now thumbtacked to the ceiling above our bed, as a canopy.

tremontstshul already had poles, thank goodness -- homemade from giant dowels with eye-bolts screwed into the top.

[taylweaver.livejournal.com]

I don't know how useful I am, but I know that my family has a set of chuppah poles to attach a tallis to. (mentioned here not to be lent, but because I will now describe them) Downside: people have to hold them. (upside if you want to give people honors, I guess) I think they are thick wooden dowels with metal hooks at the top that go through the tzitzit holes. They also frequently get decorated when being used with things like ribbons and fake flowers. My guess would be any sort of nice fabric would work for the top, but make sure the holes are reinforced.

I don't know where one would get a premade chuppah, though.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Decorating the poles would go a long way towards making they look like something other than dowels- and ribbon/fake flowers aren't too hard to come by. Thanks!

[gelishan.livejournal.com]

...I do not know, but would you like me to pass on the question to my uncle the rabbi?

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the offer. It's looking like I'm getting a lot of "how to make your own" advice, and I'm guessing rental/purchase information is likely pretty local or online, one or the other. But if the topic happens to come up, do let me know- my friends tend to come from certain subsets of the Jewish world, after all...

[spazerrific.livejournal.com]

this is a more... unorthodox option... (and possibly more expensive if you don't have the connections) but my brother-in-law's father makes adirondak furniture, so he made the chuppah (no fabric, though, the canopy was just interwoven branches), it was GORGEOUS and free-standing. I don't know where to go to get something like that when the maker isn't the groom's father, though...

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

It sounds absolutely gorgeous, but yes, also probably one-of-a-kind. Thank you for sharing the image though.

[naomichana.livejournal.com]

We wanted a giant tallit with orange stripes, and since this was pre-disengagement, it was easier to make our own. :) We used a big piece of very light white fabric, a lot of several widths of orange and peach ribbon, whatever that tape stuff is you iron on plus a lot of blanket stitching on the edges, a couple lengths of fringe (more hand-stitching), and a friend's sewing machine to do large reinforced buttonholes on the corners. I think the total cost of materials was maybe $80, including the poles -- which were large wooden dowels, as others have said, but in this case topped with wooden knobs to which we attached the chuppah with more ribbons through those reinforced buttonholes (which also held tzitzit). Our chuppah poles have actually been borrowed several times now; the chuppah, with many imperfections I could detail, is living in a box in our closet until I can mercilessly guilt my children about using it. :)

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Ooh- I like the knob idea. Can one buy knobs to fit your dowels? I imagine we could even go with screwed in cabinet knobs or something, as a prettier topping than a nail or a hook...

My parents think that theirs was a big piece of lace, but I know they don't have it saved somewhere. On the other hand, the officiant at their wedding was a relative of a sort, we might ask him... (On the other hand, the wedding might not be large enough that we'd be inviting him, so maybe not. This is the problem with helping with the planning but having no clue about the guest list.)

[cynara-linnaea.livejournal.com]

Check hardware stores and some of the better-outfitted art stores for nice decorative knobs/cornices.

If you wind up using dowels and don't want people to have to hold them, see if you can scrounge up some flag stands to anchor the dowels.

[tovah623.livejournal.com]

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

A good idea- I looked at some rentals online, and they were a. very pricey, mostly, and b. not near my family. I still don't really know what my sister is going for, visually- they may enjoy the idea of making one, or letting us make one, or they may be willing to save time and spend money, so we'll see. They don't have a venue yet, but I'm guessing, knowing them, that it is unlikely to be a shul... But one that isn't using their that day might also be a good possible source- thanks for the reminder.

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

Shuls usually have one for rent. Florists in Jewy areas often have them. Making them is dead easy and jolly good fun. If you hate the shul one, you can probably still use the poles.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Making one isn't sounding too hard from what everyone is telling me, I think I got scared by that friend or penpal or whatever of yours who was having a miserable time managing to make one. Who knows, maybe it'll be a late summer project for me, and then it can just sit around and wait until next summer, and we won't have to worry about it (and then there could just conceivably be one in the family, not like there's going to be So much use for it, given that the cousins aren't actually Jewish...)

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

It really isn't. If you're trying to do something super-complicated, that's another story, but it's perfectly easy to make one in a day - shopping in the morning and putting it together in the afternoon.

[qianian.livejournal.com]

Emma is getting married? I was just thinking about her today because she's the only bassoonist I think I know and I need one to proof a part I'm writing.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

She's getting married next summer, and has been engaged for a bit over a year now- they're having a long engagement. Her fiance in a nice man of Russian/Israeli background.

She hasn't played bassoon actively in several years now, so I don't know how much she could proof your part, besides making sure the range was reasonable, but if you want to email her and ask, drop me a line and I'll send you her address.

[chinchillama.livejournal.com]

As you know ours was not free standing but was just fabric (decorated nicely with ribbons and stitching and whatnots) that then had pockets sewn into the corners rather than loops. I don't think it would be so hard to do as it's basically a large rectangle that can be as simple or as fancy as you like. The poles were just nice curtain rods with a pretty stain (shh, don't tell) :p

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember the rods falling out of the pockets some on yours- does that sound right to you? I imagine that pockets are prettier than loops, but also harder to make (I'm imagining that if this is going to be a made thing, that Mom and I are the ones most likely to be making it)... The pretty curtain rods idea is a good one- thanks!

[chinchillama.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if they fell out or not, I just know it stayed up and looked nice :p

[crewgrrl.livejournal.com]

Buying is VERY expensive. Where is the wedding? My store rents one for a week, poles included. Please let me know. I can get it reserved for y'all WAY in advance.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

We're not sure exactly where yet- probably CT, New Haven area, but depending I suppose they might chose somewhere near Philly, which is where they'll be going to school starting in the fall. The wedding won't be until next summer, but it's good to know we have the option, and a place that's reliable, etc. I'm going to chat with my folks and sister soon about the rent vs. make thing, and if we go with rent, I'll be talking to you about reasonable rental prices, etc, etc. Thanks!