Chuppah/canopy pole decor

They have poles, and they do need to be held, by people lol, that's what we are tying to avoid. We don't want to decorate the poles, but we want some sort of base for them to sit in, and we are trying to find options for bases.

Traditionally your immediate family would be standing under the chuppah regardless so I don't think this would be too crowded, unless I am missing something. I have seen people put potted plants in front, not sure if that would work w your venue but you wouldn't need a florist. Or like you said, fabric on the length of the poles or just at the base.

@an yes I know your family is standing under it with you, so should they hold the poles? I feel weird being like hey mom, can you hold this? Lol and if the don't hold them, it's both our parents and 4 holders that 8 people. In my head, that feels crowded. So if anyone did have pole holders, I'd love to see a photo to maybe get a better idea.

@rachel we don't really have a budget for this (or anything I feel like at this point lol) ideally we don't want to spend a crazy amount, as we will probably just leave them at the synagogue for future couples. As a last resort we have looked at rental services, but that's getting the WHOLE thing and they are any where from 500-1000 dollars, I think we were thinking closer to 100-200 since we just need a base to put the poles in.

I've almost never seen family hold poles. Buckets and sand.

@rachel We don't really need a full stand alone chuppah ... we have the poles from our synagogue, we just need some sort of base to put the poles in. We have everything else already.

And I know it's an honor, my concern is if you have 4 pole holders, both sets of parents, ourselves, the rabbi, is it going to feel over crowded? That's why we are trying to come up with some sort of base... but we could be wrong, we have never been to a Jewish wedding, so we really aren't sure. When you were at weddings with pole holders, whatever their covering was, was it on the larger side, were their parents under it with them? Did it look crowded, like you couldn't really see what was happening? I know it probably sounds stupid but since we have never really seen it done, these are all the questions we are trying to work through.

@celia never seen pole holders or family hold poles? Family, I think is weird, that's what I was saying in my previous response, I'm not going to ask my mom or FMIL to stand there and hold it lol I think that's kinda rude

I agree w you completely and will likely have our parents just outside the chuppah. I know I would feel awk asking my mom to hold the pole too lol. I personally feel like it looks better to have them supported rather than held. You can easily put them in adjustable umbrella stands or buckets/pots with sand and a few flowers/greens on top. Or again, like you said a lot of ppl just pool some fabric at the bottom.

@mrsfallbride yes never been, my family is catholic, but I converted before even meeting my FH. We are the second in our group of friends to even get married, and actually only two of our friends, one on each side, are Jewish. The rabbi really couldn't give too much input since he hasn't see the Tallis we purchased, but he could understand our concern but much like @rachel he felt like the more the better lol. FILs haven't been to a traditional Jewish wedding in years, the most recent one they went too the florist did the chuppah for them.

Thanks everyone

We are using a freestanding Chuppah and we will be decorating the poles with white and purple tulle. Since you are looking for bases that are fairly inexpensive, you can try flower pots with quick set concrete and PVC pipe (put the PVC pipe in the center and pour the concrete around it. This will create a stable base and you can insert the poles into the PVC pipe. You can paint the pots to match your décor and use tulle or something similar to decorate the poles/hide the PVC pipe and concrete. Hope this helps!

Edit: We won't be having our family under the Chuppah with us, but we are having a super Reform wedding too. The parents just make things too crowded, especially since my dress is a ball gown. Our parents will come up for a portion of the ceremony, but will then sit back down.