Wedding Arbor

This project goes through the building of my wedding arbor that I put to good use on June 5, 2010 when I married Dana.  The first two pictures below take a look at the finished arbor as it was at the wedding.

The location we got married at had a small white round arbor, however it looked small and wimpy, and didn't really go with the look of the whole facility.  Our solution? Build one that better fit what we wanted and gave us something that we would be able to keep forever from our wedding.  For that reason I decided to build it with cedar, a wood with natural oils that preserve it for years and years.  The following pictures will go through the process of its build.

I started by constructing the two sides, using 4"x4" posts for the corners and 2"x6" boards for the top rails.  The top had three 2x6s running longways, with the center one notched out to fit within the cross-members.

In order to put the whole arbor together I built it upside down which allowed me to easily attach the larger boards and keep it all square.  The bottom of the arbor has a large metal X that keeps the legs from flexing.  This was probably unnecessary in the end, but it did help keep its shape during the build and certainly won't hurt anything.  I routed out a channel at the base of the legs for the metal pieces to sit in.

I then flipped it right side up and put the center board in place. 

At this stage the core of the arbor was complete, leaving the smaller detailed pieces.  On the top I attached numerous 1"x2" cedar boards, and between the legs I placed a small 2"x6" with a diamond shape cut out.

That wraps up the arbor- a pretty simple design that worked out perfectly for us.

End.