7 Ways to Decorate Your Wedding Huppah (Chuppah)

1. Attach Garland to the Edge of the Canopy

A garland of fresh leaves or flowers around the edge of the huppah canopy brings a bright energy to the wedding space. The garland should be fairly light-weight. Use light flowering branches, wildflowers, or herbs. You can DIY the garland or have your florist make it. Garland is also available from online florists.

If renting a huppah, look for one that has small loops around the edges to which you can easily attach your own garland with florist wire.

2. Attach Bouquets to Poles

You can evoke a world of different wedding styles depending on the types of flowers and other elements in the bouquets: romantic roses, shabby chic lavender, rustic sunflowers, wheat stalks tied with gingham ribbon, simple white hypericum berries, or bright pink and orange gerberas for full-on fun.

To make this work, your poles will have to have a good anchor to attach the bouquet; either an indentation at the top of the pole to which you can tightly tie ribbons or florist wire, or an anchor attached to the pole.

3. Drape Swags of Garland Between the Poles

If your huppah has valances, that is, fabric pieces hanging at the sides, draping garland from pole to pole in front of the valances creates an interesting visual interplay of color and texture.

This is another approach that works best with fairly light garland, otherwise the huppah can look top heavy. Use greenery, flowers, or leafy herbs.

Use florist wire to attach the two ends of a length of garland to the tops of adjacent poles. Let the garland drape across the face of the valance.

For a more formal look, leave some garland hanging down at the poles. The ends of the garland should hang slightly lower than the lowest point of the draped section.

4. Scatter Flower Petals on the Ground

If your wedding ceremony is outside, scattering flower petals on the ground under the huppah evokes a sense of natural beauty that is easy and inexpensive to achieve.

If you are getting married outside in the spring, you might be lucky enough to have nature spread a carpet of blossoms across your wedding space. If not, spread your own petals on the ground in the huppah space and maybe even in the aisle leading to the huppah. You can scatter the petals before the ceremony or incorporate it into the procession. Scattering flower petals is a great role to give one or two young bridesmaids or flower girls.

5. Hang Ribbons from Poles

Add color and movement to your huppah with long ribbons that catch the breeze. Ribbons make simple and inexpensive wedding decorations. They should hang one-half to two-thirds the length of the huppah poles.

You can keep the look simple with one color, or combine ribbons in all the colors of your wedding to draw the huppah into the rest of your wedding décor.

6. Wrap Garland Around the Poles

This is another huppah decorating option that works especially well for outdoor weddings.

To create a balanced look, always start at the top of the poles and wind the greenery or flowers around all of the poles the same number of times.

Consider carefully the direction in which you wrap the garland or the overall effect could end up looking unbalanced and a bit wonky. The easiest approach is to wrap all the pieces of garland in the same direction — clockwise or counter-clockwise — around the poles.

Alternatively, start at the top of the poles and wrap the garland on the two left poles in a clockwise direction, and wrap the garland on the right poles counter-clockwise. In this way, the viewer’s eyes are drawn up and away from the center of the huppah space, creating a light and open feeling under the huppah.

7. Don’t Decorate It at All

Your last option in decorating your huppah is to not decorate it at all, but to leave it unadorned and keep the emphasis on the people standing beneath the huppah and the ceremony.

Source by Maria Bywater