So my florist said she would charge us $500 just to rent and set up the frame she has (no fabric, no flowers). Since that's considerably more expensive than making one out of PVC in the design I prefer, we're going to do our own frame still and set it up the day before the wedding. I'm probably going to buy fabric to drape the mandap, and our florist will do the draping and decorate it for me the day of the event. So, first of all, what kind of fabric have those of you who've done your own used? Any advice on where to get it inexpensively? I've seen some stuff online, but any recommendations would be very much appreciated. As for the frame, I'd been planning to do the concrete flower pots/cans as a base. Yesterday I called a company about the connectors, though, and asked them if they have anything that works as a base. They said they didn't have bases per se, but that they have external mounting caps that we could possibly screw into a piece of plywood. We'd then put the pvc frame into the caps and connect it with a little pvc cement. Here's a link to their website, the caps are in the far right column, four rows down:
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/pvc.shtml Has anyone ever seen/used a similar product? Thoughts on whether this will hold the weight of the pipe and fabric? It seems much easier to me than the concrete to make, just not sure about the sturdiness.