The aesthetics of a wedding are composed of many things. It’s the flowers and food, the outfits and decorations all combined. However, there is one item in particular that becomes a focal point at a pivotal moment during every wedding ceremony: the backdrop.
Whether it’s a traditional arch or a modern chuppah, this piece becomes synonymous with the vows and thus requires a bit more attention than one might think. If a client wants a floral ceremony backdrop, what does that actually mean? What kinds of flowers are best? And how do you make one?
Same goes for a wooden wedding arch. Should it just be the arch? What kind of fabric should be used? Can you add flowers? The answers lie in the ability for arches to be customized and personalized to the very last detail.
Creating a Ceremony Backdrop
Trends come and go with ceremony backdrops as much as with any other wedding trend, but do-it-yourself backdrops have always been popular. Nowadays they are even more so with couples wanting to become eco-friendly and save money in a continually fluctuating COVID-19 world.
Creating a custom backdrop or arch allows couples to infuse their personality and vision into the piece. Perhaps they are modern art lovers and want their backdrop to reflect that. Or perhaps they want their favorite colors behind them as they say their vows.
Ceremony backdrops have endless possibilities. From using natural elements to wire to art pieces themselves, there is a wide world of creativity ready to be harnessed. While planning a wedding backdrop, really pay attention to who the couple are and what they may want behind them in all those wedding photos.
If you need some options, well, you’re in luck. Check them out below.
DIY Wooden Wedding Arch
One of the easiest wedding arches to make is a good old-fashioned wooden one. Having this arch as a ceremony backdrop adds a touch of the traditional and opens up a world of creative opportunities.
Making arches like these only requires a few pieces of wood and some basic tools. There are tons of tutorials all over the internet, like this one from Six Clever Sisters, and overall the costs are low. Plus, they aren’t difficult to make.
Decorating a Wooden Wedding Arch
While it is more than acceptable to leave the arch bare, especially for minimalist weddings, chances are couples are going to want some decoration added to it. This is another chance to stretch your creative muscles and pull in your clients’ personalities as well.
Stain the arch to get a beautiful color or go all out and paint it. Make sure you use outdoor paint or spray paint if you’ll be using the arch outside. Sealing it isn’t a bad idea either, especially if it is going to remain outdoors after the wedding. Couples can always incorporate it into their garden if they want to keep it.
Use dried flowers to make a rustic wooden wedding arch. The natural elements blend well and offer a vintage aesthetic also. Throw in some lanterns at the bottom, or even hanging from the middle, and you’ve just made it ten times more romantic.
If clients are looking for something more dramatic, multiple wooden arches can be made to create a tunnel leading up to the altar. Using wooden branches would not only make them pliable so they could bend and create rounded arches, but also highlight rustic and natural elements.
Whimsical and boho chic wooden wedding arches include incorporating macrame or using fabric as curtains. For a more elegant take, draping soft and light fabric on a wooden arch gives a more romantic aura.
DIY Floral Ceremony Backdrop
When it comes to making a flower wall backdrop for a wedding, we know what we’re talking about. We’ve written a guide about it, after all.
Floral backdrops stand out and provide a beautiful romantic background for the day’s festivities as well as a great photo booth option.
Floral backdrops can be as whimsical or elegant as clients like. They lend themselves to a variety of different wedding trends and can fit a wedding’s colors perfectly. They can also complement wedding flower arrangements as well and act as an extension of the overall floral vision.
Inside Weddings commented that florals are “… absolutely lovely for a ceremony backdrop – which we see most often – as well as when used for a ceremony entrance, reception décor, or even the backdrop for a photo booth or sweetheart table.”
Whatever the reason for the backdrop and wherever it may be, it isn’t the hardest thing to construct. It’s all about the vision, however, and for that you’ll need the right materials.
Materials to Create a Floral Backdrop
A glue gun is going to be your best friend. This will allow you to glue flowers onto a variety of surfaces and have them be nice and secured. There are a few ways to go about this, from using a PVC pipe frame to hanging muslin paper to building a plywood or polystyrene wall. Each of these methods has their pros and cons, and it really depends on the budget, location, and how solid it needs to be.
For the flowers themselves, you’ll want to opt for artificial or silk flowers, depending on the realism you are trying to achieve for your clients. Artificial flowers will cost less, but they may look too plastic. Silk flowers will resemble the real thing, but they are delicate and cost significantly more.
One must-have when it comes to materials are sandbags. These are what are going to not only hold your backdrop in place, but provide security and balance as well. If the backdrop is outside, use more sandbags to really secure it in case of wind.
Practice Makes Perfect
Before you have your final ceremony backdrop up and ready for the camera, you need to make sure it’s actually going to stand. You need to make sure it is going to translate well on film and that all the pieces are where they are supposed to be.
Whether it is a simple DIY wooden wedding arch or an intricate trellis piece, it is very unlikely your first try is going to be successful. These things take some trial and error, and even the most experienced wedding planners and decorators may need a few goes at their backdrop before it is perfect.
Practice making your backdrop and arches before the big day. This can be done in a few ways, from making scale miniature models to building the full arch over and over again. Models will save you time and money on materials, but you may not be able to get the full scope of the project. Making the full-sized backdrop will definitely cost more, though you can use cheaper materials for when you are practising.
The point is, you need to practice. You need to troubleshoot. You’ll thank yourself (and us) later.
Keeping Weddings DIY, One Project at a Time
Creating decorative elements on your own or with the help of couples really adds a personal touch to weddings. After all, aren’t they supposed to be personal? When it comes down to it, constructing a DIY wooden wedding arch or a wedding ceremony backdrop makes it special.
It can be something that the couple getting married accomplish together. It can also be a piece that highlights a moment of their life, their hobbies, or something else about them. The fact is, these personal touches can make a beautiful wedding all the more special.
