2018

Under
The Floral
Canopy

PHOTO BY RON LIEBERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Fashion-forward florals
are what’s trending in
chuppah design.

SUSAN PECK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE: A majestic arrangement of
flowers designed by Steve Coden
Florists (the bride’s uncle) drape
the top of the chuppah at the
wedding of Joshua Diskin
and Casey Coden in 2015 at
Congregation B’nai Moshe
in West Bloomfield.

T

he wedding canopy or chuppah is the focal point of
the ceremony where your marriage will begin. Your
chuppah options are endless — but this one décor
element will set the scene for the ceremony and help
define the entire wedding’s design theme.
Rabbi Josh Bennett of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield
explains a traditional chuppah has four corners and a cov-
ered roof to symbolize the new home the bride and groom
are building together. In a traditional Jewish wedding,
both of the groom’s parents walk him down the aisle to
the chuppah, where the couple exchanges vows. Then the
bride and her parents follow.
“In many cases friends or family members are standing
near the couple throughout the ceremony, a sign they are
supporting the life they are building together,” Bennett
says. “I say to the couples being married that hopefully
their home will not be a frail structure, but one with a
strong foundation, and the chuppah is a reminder of that.”

FASHION-FORWARD CHUPPAHS

One of the continuing hottest trends for 2018 is the all-flo-
ral chuppah, says Jeffrey Jucewicz, owner of Jeffrey Floral
Architecture in Troy. “We recently created a jaw-dropping
canopy made of 750 dendrobium orchids suspended on a

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celebrate! • 2018

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floating grapevine frame covered in green hydrangeas and
silk organza.
“When the bride, a rabbi from Temple Israel, first saw it
she started to cry,” Jucewicz said. “She didn’t know what to
expect but said she just wanted to have the most beautiful
chuppah possible, and she did.”
Bruce Bolton, owner of Breath of Spring in Bloomfield
Hills, designed one of his most spectacular chuppahs
for a wedding for 700 guests at the MGM Grand Hotel
in Detroit. “It was 14 feet by 14 feet of orchids, roses and
hydrangeas that stayed up for the entire wedding evening,”
said Bolton. “We ended up suspending it over the dance
floor so it could be enjoyed all evening.”
Emerald City Designs event specialists created a show-
stopping all-floral 16 feet by 18 feet chuppah with hydran-
gea and a variety of specialty roses for a recent wedding at
the Fox Theatre.
“The great thing about an all-floral chuppah is that you
can incorporate or move it after the wedding ceremony,
and use it to decorate the venue if you choose,” said David
McKnight, owner of Emerald City Designs. “There are so
many options if you use your creativity.”
McKnight says another trending element for chuppahs
is the use of succulents and other natural greenery either