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I finally finished the fabric for the top of the chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy). A picture is below.

I'll make sleeves for the legs from the same fabric as was used for the top. I'll sew a 7" wide gold sash in such a way that it covers the mechanism at the top. More gold sashes will be used as tie-backs for the leg sleeves. And we'll be putting two white rose light garlands in such a way that they go across the top and partway down the front legs, with a pew bow where the two garlands meet.

Obviously, this is far from done. However, not having sewn anything since junior high school, I'm glad at least to be feeling confident that I can do this.

That is beautiful.  I got to see my first Chuppah ever last night.  I was so excited to go to my first Jewish wedding and wow was it fun.  My feet hurt today from dancing so much around in circles and yelling.  My FMIL said that sitting on a chair with people carrying your around looks so fun.  It was an awesome time.

Ok, here is the latest iteration of the chuppah. I've now made the sleeves for the poles. I pinned the gold sashes in place at the top, and used more gold sashes to make ties around the sleeves. I still need to sew the gold sashes at the top in place, and sew Velcro to the sleeves and the inside of the gold sashes to hold the sleeves up. However, this gives a much better picture of what it will look like.

runrgurl10, it was actually pretty funny.  I had been thinking about how to get a chuppah that would be free-standing, since our wedding will be very small.  Most of the guests are already contributing in some way, so they wouldn't be available to hold the chuppah poles.  I was walking along the waterfront in a nearby city one day, and saw a band playing.  They had a portable gazebo to shelter them from the sun.  I took one look at the gazebo and said, "There is our chuppah!"  I didn't even know what it was called, but walked around until I found a label with the manufacturer on it.  I then did a Google search, and discovered it was called a portable gazebo.  I searched for portable gazebos on eBay, and managed to find an inexpensive one.  I used the fabric from the original gazebo as the pattern for the chuppah cover.

My sewing skills aren't great, either, and I have to admit that the back of the chuppah top doesn't bear close inspection.  However, I figure no one will be running around to look at the back of it. The sleeves and the sashes are just straight stitching, so they were much easier.  I'm using Velcro to hold the cover to the frame, and to hold the sleeves to the top, which makes it a bit forgiving.

When we looked around, people were charging a minimum of $500 for rental for anything other than a very basic one. This one will probably end up costing us about $150, including the frame, material, thread,and Velcro.  And with luck, we may even be able to sell it afterward.  If not, we'll just put the gazebo fabric back on, and have a portable gazebo.

It's finished!!!!!

Thanks, happilywaiting and frenchbulldog!

Because I got so many questions on how I made my chuppah (picture below), I've posted step-by-step instructions, materials, and costs at this link.

Follow-up, in use at our ceremony:

That looks wonderful :)