Sunday, July 4, 2010

Chuppah Making


I had the wonderful (and much needed) opportunity to attend a friend's wedding all by myself this last weekend. (Oh! To read a book on a plane! To eat a leisurely breakfast with still-hot coffee! To wear shoes with a heel! Wear a dress with absolutely no snot on it! I did all these things and more my friends!) The whole affair was in beautiful Boulder, Colorado and so Boulder became the site of a college reunion of sorts filled with a handful of the amazing, creative, soul-filling women in my life. I miss them already, though it was great to see my family again after three whole days away!

The day before the wedding there was a chuppah making event organized by my friend's mom who is a textile artist and extraordinary quilter. All wedding attendees were asked to make a square with significant objects glued between two pieces of silk. The squares were hung out to dry in the sun on a clothesline in their backyard.
For the wedding, they were all glued to a big piece of silk and hung over the couple. It was stunning, both symbolically, as a fabric filled with significant objects from their family and friends intended to be their shelter, as well as just plain looking nice. On top of all of that drama, a thunderstorm complete with lightning rained down on the wedding. Rather than spoiling things, it actually added a theatrical feel to things and the chuppah became a type of umbrella.

It was such a great addition to the event, I'm been trying to think of way to do something similar on a smaller scale with us. In late august, my husband and I will reach our "10 years of being together" mark (only 4 married) and it seems something like this could be great to incorporate into an anniversary. Maybe?

Isn't it extra beautiful when it is rain-soaked!

2 comments:

Juniper said...

What a cool idea, such a meaningful addition to their wedding. Must have been really a special process all putting it together for them as well, so many loved ones gathered, thoughtfully assembling something lasting between history and the present.
Glad you enjoyed your time and little break away!
We will be coming up to our '10 years together ' too next year...does seem like a nice chance to do something special.

mary frances said...

oh, this is a lovely idea--and I'm so glad you got the time to spend with friends and with yourself! maybe the new amy karol book, BTR with Fabric would have some similar ideas you could use for the anniversary?