DIY WEDDING PHOTO WALL BACKDROP

I always think of the outdoors as the perfect setting for a wedding

you can be as casual or as elegant as you like

We created a lovely outdoor wedding in yellow, black and white -
 although the weather did have us worried for a few days. 

See the photos here:

http://yournestdesign.blogspot.com/2011/10/yellow-and-black-wedding-open-house.html  

I wanted to share the adorable photo backdrop we created with the look of a wall of photos.



The panels (each 4x8) were created with 3/8" plywood, framed with 2x2's for stability and to enable bolting them together in the middle.  Legs were created with 2x4's and 1x4's and bolted on to prevent any toppling mishaps.  If I had it to do again, I would do legs at the back only and have a way to weight them down, or stake them into the ground for stability instead of the legs extending in the front - although to be fair they don't show up in the photos - it's just me trying to have it look perfect.  Better safe than perfect I suppose.  I'd make it a little easier to transport, too - 4x8 plywood requires a big pickup truck.  But that is hindsight, and this actually was adorable and worked perfectly. 

Once each side was upright, and before they were bolted together in the middle, we measured and cut two holes for 16x20 frames - and then covered them in burlap.  I figured an undercovering of burlap would give it a softer look when we applied the fabric.  The fabric we chose to match the wedding colors.  A white and black damask to go with the black, white, yellow color scheme.  We added frames in black, yellow and gold - filled with photos of the bride and groom, and a few
 relatives, and two large 16x20 inch frames -  one black and one yellow (we painted vintage frames for this) for the interactive portion of this wall.  I draped the legs in burlap and added a few grassy plants to disguise them a little.

It was beyond adorable.  I was delighted that not only the younger guests were enjoying it, but the older, more mature folk jumped right in and tried it out as well.  And the great thing is they actually look like they are one of the portraits on the wall in the photos.  So cute! 

The total size when assembled was 8ft x 8ft.  Plenty of room for photo taking!