Before the Mane Event: Mr. Lion's DIY Project

Nothing better illustrates the differences between my personality and Mr. Lion's personality than how we respond to a to do list.  I look forward to crossing off each item with pride and a satisfying sense of accomplishment because I'm just a bit Type A.  My laid back husband, on the other hand, needs a deadline.  "This has to be done by when?  Oh okay, I'll make it happen."  But, don't you want to just do it now?  Wouldn't that just make you feel like you could take on the world?!

"Assemble the chuppah" was on Mr. Lion's to do list for months.

For months, our living room was home to 8-foot aspen poles that had nowhere to go.  By the way, we ordered these from Nature's All, Inc., a company that sells aspen and birch poles specifically for chuppahs and arbors.  This way, you can be certain that the width, height, and shape of each pole is uniform throughout.

{via Nature's All, Inc.}

I had also purchased birch flower pots from Save On Crafts.  These were to serve as bases for each pole.

{via Save On Crafts}

About a month before the wedding, Mr. Lion decided that the flower pot bases weren't sturdy enough to support the heavy 8-food poles.  He promptly made a trip to Home Depot, where he purchased cement to fill the pots and wooden dowels to connect the tops of each pole.  Then, these additional materials sat in our living room for a few more weeks.

You'd think that a neurotic planner like myself would be getting a little apprehensive about Mr. Lion's last minute plans, but I know the guy pretty well and I knew that it would get done eventually...even if we had different ideas of when things should get done!

The Thursday before our Saturday wedding, Mr. Lion got to work.  He filled each birch-covered flower pot vase with cement and allowed it to set to the pole.  He drilled holes in the top of each pole so that the dowels could connect at a 90 degree angle.  I hot glued some lace (which I had bought earlier because I like to plan ahead) to two of the dowels.  This allowed the lace to be stretched over the top of the chuppah to cover it, but it could easily be rolled up like a scroll for portability purposes.

This illustrates why 1) I'm glad we have vaulted ceilings and 2) why we need a garage:

And this illustrates how the dowels and the poles connect:

The final product was amazing, especially once our florist added her finishing touches!  The chuppah is supposed to symbolize the home you build together, and ours was a literal symbol of craftsmanship, too!

What DIY projects has your fiance helped with?  Did his timetable stress you out?