South Asian Weddings

Mandap prices?

We'd been planning to DIY our mandap.  (We may still do it.)  Anyway, I met with my florist last weekend.  We're getting married in a pretty rural area where the closest conventional mandap decorator would cost a fortune in travel costs.  Anyway, our florist told me that she did an Indian wedding not too too long ago and that she'd built the mandap for the couple.  It was basically wrought-iron columns with a pitched "roof" on top.  The mandap was covered with fabric.  There were at least 8 HUGE floral arrangements on there in the picture she showed me.  Anyway, she told me that she couldn't remember exactly but that she charged that couple at least $2000-$3000 for that mandap, but she'd have to figure out what she'd charge to set up and decorate the same structure for us  given that she's already made the structure and that we'd want way fewer flowers.  I haven't gotten a quote from her yet, but I was hoping to get your thoughts on what's "reasonable" for setup on something like that before I talk to her.  I'm okay with doing our own, but if I can get a decent, fair price, it may be good to avoid the headache.  I really don't have much to compare it to since I'd never planned to use a decorator.

Re: Mandap prices?

  • katie978katie978 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We're paying just under 3000 for all of the ceremony decoration, which includes the mandap and aisle decorations.  Questions I learned to ask in the beginning are whether the mandap price includes the riser and the chairs.  Needless to say, those are an additional cost that can be substantial.  Also, are the flowers real?  That's another thing we found, some places use silk flowers which are of course less expensive since they can reuse.  Last, find out from your or FI's family if chori are required and determine if those are included.  FYI, the location of our wedding is Phoenix, AZ (Location seems to be one of the big factors in prices)Last, I believe Erin DIYed her mandap so you should get advice from her (perhaps post her wedding this Saturday :) ) about making it yourself.GL!
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks, Katie.  I'm actually pretty comfortable with the DIYing if we go that route but really look forward to seeing Erin's pics.  I had everything planned out to DIY, but not purchased.  Our ceremony's outside, so we're not looking at risers or gates or anything like that.  This is just the four posts, roof, and fabric, with some (real) floral decorations added in.  The flowers on this other couple's mandap were beautiful but out of control - they were putting up huge arrangements inside the mandap and on the back posts - not something we're planning to do. 
  • katie978katie978 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think its a great idea.  When I heard Erin was doing it I thought shoot we totally should have done that.  Its essentially poles, fabric, and flowers; totally doable! 
  • edited December 2011
    I definitely think it's doable, it's just I never thought not doing it myself was a reasonable option.  I guess I'm trying to figure out what a fair price for the setup and a basic rental would be before I decide to take on a project I may not need to take on.
  • Meghana55Meghana55 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    By what you're describing, if it's just the frame, fabric and flowers, then 2-3K seems a little expensive.  Does it include aisle decor, chairs, stuff for the ceremony, etc.  It does depend what flowers you use, and how many arrangements.  Arrangements on the mandap usually range from about $50-150 per bouquet.  We spent a little over that but we had a full 30 foot open style mandap with 4 large flower arrangements and canopy draping, as well as aisle decor, the havankund (sp?) for the ceremony, chairs for the ceremony and a ganesha table at the front entrance.  As for DIY - we built a mandap for our Vara Pooja for the night before the wedding at my parents house.  We wanted a very earthy look so we covered it with leaves, but it could have been easily done with fabric and flowers.  We used PVC piping, which was super cheap.  Total cost for it was around $100 because we just picked leaves from the backyard :-)    I can post pics if you want to see.  
  • edited December 2011
    She hasn't quoted US $2000-$3000.  That's what she charged the couple for whom she built it, and I think that included all of the floral arrangements and fabric.  There are no chairs or extras.  It's a very plain, "fusiony" mandap, sort of like an oversized chuppah.  She's trying to come up with a price for us for assembling the mandap, draping it, and hanging a couple of floral arrangements.  I just don't have any baseline for what traditional decorators charge for something like this, where they're not building a new mandap for you and the pre-existing frame is pretty basic.   
  • Meghana55Meghana55 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ohh ok - most mandap decorators don't actually do anything from scratch.  Generally, they have pre-existing columns or poles or whatever that they use as a base for any mandap that they do, and then elaborate based on your specifications.  We had the option of an iron frame or using decorative wooden pillars.  So, if you're not getting anything extra, I would think between $1-2K would be reasonable for that amount of work...for set-up, cost of fabric, draping, transport, etc.  And if you're only having a few floral arrangements, figure that would probably run about $300-$600, depending on how many and how elaborate the arrangements are.  I would think under $2K would be perfectly reasonable.  Of course if budget is an issue, you could probably also DIY for a few hundred (also depending on your use of flowers in that case).  But you also have the added headache of assembling a mandap a day or two before your wedding.  Even for our simple Vara Pooja mandap, we had like 6 family members working on it over the course of 2 days and it was definitely a lot of work!
  • edited December 2011
    I am doing a oversided chuppa in white, she is doing the chairs-using chairs from the place but fluffing it up and the backdrop for the reception and stage covering for both wedding and reception, also have those branches on the side, for the wedding adn receptoin, she is moving them to the backdrop after the wedding and mine is $3000. I am giving her my flowers for the mandap  and petal for the aisle.Where do you live? is the weddign outside? can you just do a flower mandap, I have seen orchids hanging down in a mandap shape? I have heard if its outside you can get away with no mandap and just do flowers?V
  • edited December 2011
    I take that back its $4,000 for mine!
  • edited December 2011
    Do you still need a mandap when the ceremony is at a temple? maybe is a dumb question but I'll appreciate your feedback!many thanks :)
    DS was born in April 2012 at 31 weeks - 45 days in NICU ?If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?? M.B.
  • Meghana55Meghana55 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You're best bet is to contact the temple.  I believe the two temples that my family goes to in NY/NJ do provide them.  D2M had hers in a temple so hopefully when she returns from her HM she will respond!
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