As I have moved forward with beginning to design my wedding arch, I have identified some of the hardest parts of this project.

1. Creating something that can be easily constructed and deconstructed on the day of my wedding is proving to be more challenging than expected. I thought that I could use threaded copper pipes and fittings so that whoever is setting it up can just screw everything together. However, these are very pricey parts and threaded copper pipes do not necessarily come in the lengths that I need them in (~3 feet long). Furthermore, making the floral accents, Edison bulbs, and electronic components easily integrated into the structure is difficult. I need to be able to hand the pieces of the arch to someone else and have them assemble it. An assembly procedure/manual may be necessary.
2. Achieving an industrial/rustic aesthetic may also be tricky. I don’t want my arch to look like rogue plumbing, but a mixture of strong geometric elements with rustic and floral accents. Especially if I end up using PVC, I will need to ensure it looks very much like copper piping and not spray painted plastic.
3. The electronic component of my project will be another constraint. My vision is to have Edison bulbs that are slowing dimming and getting brighter. Preferably, I would like the all of the Edison bulbs to be out of sync with one another, i.e. not all dimming and getting brighter at the same time. This means that I need to put each Edison bulb on its own dimmer and this may be very challenging to do.
4. Another constraint I can see ensuring that the arch will stand on its own. I need to design some sort of stand that incorporates well into the overall structure. I wouldn’t want to have to use sandbags or bricks to assist the arch in standing up. However, it is going to be fairly tall and skinny, so I need to be intentional when designing and building the base structure.
5. The timeline of this build will be another constraint. I will need to budget time for obtaining materials, building, troubleshooting, decor, and electronics integration. With access to a machine shop, soldering irons, and on campus resources, I think I will be able to make it all happen without descope.