DIY: Build Your Own Chuppah

No, I am not Jewish...but I loved the concept of having a chuppah (which symbolizes the home that the couple will build together) at my wedding ceremony, so I made one (with some help). You can click on the picture, to get a better view. I had previously posted about having a chuppah before my wedding. Here is what you need to make one of your own:

• PVC pipe
• 4 PVC joint connectors
• 4 Paint buckets
• 4 Quick drying cement

You will need to start this a day or so before you need it. I assembled most of mine the 2 nights before the wedding. I thought it was really easy to do. Here are the steps:

• You will need to measure your space to see what length that you need to create the chuppah. I used 4 ten foot PVC polls and 4 five foot PVC polls. Make sure that you have your measurements when you go to the hardware store to obtain your pipe, so that the you get the hardware stores staff to cut it to the length that you want. I could have used shorter polls ones, but wanted a grand effect.
• Mix the quick drying cement. Be mindful of what the temperature is when mixing it. You do not want it to be too runny or too thick.
• Fill the paint buckets half full. Place the long PVC polls ( for me the 10 foot polls), in the center of the bucket. Make sure that you secure the polls with rope or wood to ensure that the polls dry in the cement straight. I thought that I had them straight, but when Mr.Broomjumpinggroom came home he immediately said that they were not and got busy making sure that they were.

Once at the site....

• Space the buckets with the polls in them where you want them.
• With using the connectors, connect the shorter polls to the longer polls. Once connected you should have created a square.
• Decorate how you want. I used fabric, ribbon and flowers on my chuppah. The only issue that I had was ensuring that the numbers printed on the PVC pipe were covered up. To fix this I turn the buckets to the back of the altar and covered the polls with ribbon. You may want to use light fabrics because extra weight may not work well on the PVC polls. Make sure that you have good tape and/or stick pins to attach your decor to the PVC polls.

In creating a chuppah, make sure that you have many hands to assist with assembly at the site. It is quite helpful. Depending on the height make sure that you have a ladder, it makes it so much easier. At the end of the night, taking it apart was easy....my husband (who was ready to to leave) pulled on one of the polls and it just popped apart. Even though it came apart so easy, the chuppah was really strong. If you want to ensure that it does not pop apart you can always, use constructive adhesive to link the PVC connectors and pipes together. In the end, the buckets and polls that I used went in the trash, mainly because I do not have anywhere to store it after the ceremony and I kept all the decor.

Cost:

• PVC pipe $3.22 a piece ( the 4 short pieces was two pipes that were cut in half)
• PVC connectors $1.55 (4 connectors)
  
• Quikcrete $ 2.77 (4 bags)
  
• Paint bucket $ 1.00 (4 buckets)
  

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Total $40.60

( I love this picture. It shows my mom's handy work off. She made the table cloth, chair bows and the napkins for my sweetheart table. Thanks mom!!!)

There will be additional cost for the decor that you want to add to it. I loved the way that it looked for my wedding. My husband and I stood under it with our minister for the ceremony and had our sweetheart table underneath it for the reception. It added so much to our wedding. I was proud that I made it.