10 DIY WEDDING BACKDROPS YOU COULD TRY YOURSELF
Why have a backdrop as part of your wedding styling? Because they uplevel your photos, put your own stamp on your day and can often MAKE the party come alive as they lift the mood and inject some fun.
I’ve scoured the internet and done the legwork to find 10 DIY wedding backdrops I think could be pretty easy to give a go!
Positions for wedding backdrops
Put yourself in the shoes of your wedding guests. Where will they be spending a chunk of time looking in the same direction…your ceremony could be a good place to consider styling a backdrop - here’s Bex The Celebrant to share WHY…
“Making a focal point to frame the moment you make your vows and say I Do is such a wonderful addition to your day. As a celebrant, arriving to a venue and seeing a gorgeous backdrop fills me with such joy. It makes a beautiful, significant moment in the day even more stunning, and creates the most remarkable photos. Really do put some thought into how you want that moment to look, you won't regret it.”
Check out Bex and her Celebrant services.
Another place guests will be sat down for a while, and also looking mainly in your direction (especially during speeches) is at the dinner table. Could you create something behind the bride and groom spot for the wedding breakfast?
Weddings may have moved on from having booths, and branched out into photo areas but one thing photos need is a good backdrop…taking selfies in front of a boring or messy wall just doesn’t appeal! Set the scene and help create photos people want to print out and put on their wall!
Finally, get your guests in the mood for dancing and think about the dancing area where you’ll be throwing shapes and necking Prosecco. Can you make it feel even more like the best nightclub in the world?
1. Fabric wedding backdrops
Fabric is such a great material to create backdrops with, all you need is a straight pole to drape over. You can create lovely effects, especially using lots of smaller pieces in different colours. They’re quick to create and you could use the fabric afterwards to make cushions, throws or even another wall installation in your house. If you can’t hang a pole in your wedding venue, use a freestanding frame like below, left.
2. Paper Pinwheel wedding backdrops
Paper pinwheels are easy, cheap and satisfying to make and if you follow me on socials, you’ll know I’m a Pinwheel fanatic! Even if you can’t attach them directly to your walls, they can be hung from fishing wire to create an installation. Check out my in-depth How To Make Pinwheels DIY Wedding course if you fancy learning how to make, customise and design your own backdrop from scratch 🙌🏼
Photo of The Joy Eclectic handmade Pinwheels by Mark Horton @ Killer Filler Wild Child workshop3. Geometric paper shapes
These gorgeous simple shapes can look like they’re floating in mid-air when you hang them on transparent fishing wire. I love the colour effect they’ve gone for here, plus the addition of a glitter segment on one of the diamond sections to add extra sparkle and to emphasise their 3D shape.
4. DIY ribbon streamer backdrop
This one probably isn’t for those short of time 😂 but the up-side to making something like this is that it could look incredible covering a large chunk of wall in your house after the wedding. Re-using your wedding decorations is definitely a way we can all make weddings and events more eco-friendly.
To make smaller sections of streamer backdrops (and to avoid plastic) you could consider buying a roll of chicken wire or metal gardening grid mesh (similar to chicken wire but just in a grid pattern rather than hexagonal) and use that as your base. The technique behind making a steamer backdrop like this is effectively knotting lots of separate pieces of fabric or ribbon onto the mesh until the mesh is completely disguised. You then need to cut your ribbon lengths until you have the effect you want.
5. Origami crane wedding backdrop
Paper is one of my all time favourite materials to use for DIY weddings - it’s the perfect structural material and comes in infinite colours, patterns and textures to really help you personalise your decorations.
It takes a couple of practice rounds to get the folding technique - your first couple may end up in the bin 🤣 but then you’ll be making them in your sleep! It’s a super therapeutic craft but be warned - you will need HUNDREDS to make an effective backdrop. To work out how many you’ll need, work out how many will be on 1 dangling vertical thread (thinking about the length and gap inbetween each crane) then work out the width of backdrop you’d like and multiply!
e.g. for the image below: 10 per dangly vertical thread x 15 threads across = 150 cranes!
6. Giant paper flowers
This one is probably for the Intermediate level crafters and DIY brides and couples out there! It’s pretty involved but you could create an incredible free-standing (bonus) backdrop that looks like something from a theatre set. I reckon this would be a pretty unique backdrop if you’ve got the time and tools to create. Click through for a brilliant instructional tutorial. Also check out Bertie Valentine if you fancy buying some readymade!
7. Festoon light wedding backdrop
If you don’t fancy hours of crafting or making, using festoons or lights that can be draped and manipulated into shapes is a great way to create a focal point. You can layer in signs, floral arrangements and floor level props to create a full scene, or just keep it simple. One thing to consider is the light levels or lighting state in the space you want to create your backdrop - is it flooded with natural light and windows? If so, a lighting installation won’t be as effective. However if you have a space that has a darker corner/wall or you’re using in a night time space, that may be the perfect spot for a festoon backdrop.
8. Balloon grid
This is a great example of a ‘buy it and whack it up on the day’ option! In the image below they’ve used helium balloons laid against the wall in a grid shape. You could achieve this either by creating different length strings, weighted at the bottom AND/OR using a bit of removable sticky tack tape on the wall that will help the balloon stay in position despite any change of gas inside that might cause it to rise or fall out of the perfect grid layout!
9. Paper chevrons
For all the DIY Wedding makers that have realised that ‘batch’ making is the ONE! With this one you could cut multiple shapes at once by folding paper before you cut (get a metal scalpel and ruler for this one) or if you have something like a Cricut machine you could cut 30 at a time…In this DIY wedding idea shared below it looks like they’ve used a sewing machine to stitch the paper together onto a central thread or bit of fabric. If you don’t have a sewing machine you could experiment with a glue gun and even some tape.
10. paper triangle wall backdrop
I love this tutorial by A Ruffled Life. If you’ve got flexibility with your wedding venue and you CAN apply things to the wall (look into non-damaging double sided tape) you have huge scope for creating backdrops on site. All the paper shapes can be cut in advance and you could even have a play on a wall in your house then number them on the back, if you find a layout you like and want to remember what you’ve done. This would prevent the stress of trying to do something creative on what could be a very tight timescale the day before you get hitched! Tip: make sure you use some straight guidelines to avoid a wonky layout! Look into laser guides online…
I hope you’ve enjoyed this whistle stop tour of DIY backdrops and feel inspired to give one a go! My Pinwheel course is a great place to start - I use my experience as a set designer, event designer and wedding stylist to share everything you need to pull off a professional wedding backdrop yourself. This includes where to buy everything online and how to design for your specific wedding space.