18 DIY Photo Booth Backdrops to Upgrade Your Wedding Reception

Some of the most cherished takeaways from any wedding are the photos. Brides and grooms will want to flip through their album long after the big day has passed, and guests will love to reminisce on the great time that they had. If you want to ensure that everyone leaves with plenty to look back on, it's important to create opportunities for taking gorgeous, memorable images. One of the easiest ways to get attendees in front of the camera is to provide a makeshift photo booth with a backdrop. It's easier to pose when you're prompted to do so by an inviting, exciting background. Plus, the structures create designated spaces for guests to head during the cocktail hour or reception. Photo booths are a fun way to keep everybody entertained, and they're also a genius option when it comes to personalizing your wedding. It's hard not to remember a custom backdrop, after all!

If you're especially set on one-of-a-kind snapshots, consider creating your own booth background. These DIY options are easy to make and especially pretty in photographs. Click through for simple how-tos and smart ideas from Martha Stewart Weddings editors, then plan how to make the decorations work for your celebration. Be sure to consult your wedding photographer and planner for tips and tricks, too. They'll be able to help you decide where to put your booth, and they may have suggestions for props and other add-ins. They'll also need to be kept in the loop to handle all of the logistics.

Shift the spotlight to your guests with a lustrous photo-booth backdrop and accessories to match. Affix layers of iridescent fringe curtains to a surface with push pins (check with your venue first!), and offer props, like bouquets and veils made of iridescent gift wrap.

Shoshanna “Midnight Preuss” High-Low Gown, $649, shoshanna.com

. ShiDianYi Iridescent Fringe Curtains, $13,

. Amscan Iridescent Gift Wrap, $15,

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Put your new shared initial on display at your reception and in guests' photos. Take a faux-flower garland and arrange it into a cursive letter, then attach it to the wall with tacks or removable, self-adhesive hooks. You can even plump it up with additional faux flowers, if you please.

Afloral Faux-Baby's-Breath Garland, $28 for six, afloral.com

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This flower wall doubles as a photo backdrop and favor display. We hung a pocket-covered planter and inserted pots of pretty geraniums. After everyone's posed for their snapshots, guests can take the plants home with them. Be sure to leave the blooms in the lightweight plastic they came in—the finished product is heavy as it is.

Prudance Vertical Garden Planter, $30, amazon.com

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Put polka dots on display with this custom backdrop. Choose a design at Pickawall, or upload any photo or graphic you'd like, and they'll print a supersized version on vinyl fabric.

Transform a plain wall into a colorful piñata-style collage by adhering an array of fluttery strips cut from sheets of paper, vellum, and foil.

Serve up a photo area stocked with decadent decoupage desserts. To create it, we photographed the goodies, then enlarged, printed, and pasted the images on the gold and white paper "table."

Score cinema-worthy shots of your friends and family by hooking up a projector to your computer and aiming it at a rear-projection screen. Both are rentable—your photographer can help you find them, though most towns have photography shops that offer this service. Or, if you want your visuals to extend all the way to the ground, suspend three yards of Rose Brand gray rear-projection material from the ceiling. On your big day, set up the projector behind the screen fabric, let guests choose the backdrop they like best, and offer thematic props, like this vintage Vespa. You could even turn several shots into a GIF for free at Gickr.

This cheery backdrop can come together in one afternoon of crafting. Make some of these multifaceted beauties, thread them onto string or monofilament, and, voilà, multidimensional décor to add color and depth to any photo.

Channel the easy glamour of the '20s and '30s with this stellar photo booth display. To make, cut foam board into a crescent shape, spray with glue, blanket with glitter, then hang with fishing wire.

Designate a photo nook by adding dimension and color to any blank space at your reception with this origami wall hanging.

Secure strips of flagging tape, originally used for blocking off construction sites, to a wall with glue dots (one on each end) for a festive photo booth marker. The fluorescent plastic comes in tons of colors and patterns and is incredibly inexpensive, which translates to infinite partying possibilities.

Dress up a bare wall with cascading diamonds cut from self-adhesive vinyl sheets. When the night is over, they're a cinch to remove.

To temporarily spruce up a space, drape wallpaper from a rod (we used Scalamandre's "Venetian Carnival"), and wait for the magic to happen.

For a creative focal point, tape off a simple design on a four-by-eight-foot piece of white plywood and spray-paint over it. When it's dry, peel off the tape, and you're good to go! 

Stage your pictures the elegant way with an oversized lace-patterned canvas. Download this design and take it to a copy center (we went to FedEx) that can print the large file. Then hang it up at your reception and have your photographer or friends capture happy moments that you can add to your guest book.

Stage a vibrant scene. Just hang unfurled rolls of insanely affordable and lightweight Paper Mart crepe paper (available in 34 hues) from your venue ceiling with painters' tape.

This pretty picture booth is seriously simple: Drape a few yards of varying fabrics from an overhead pole and strike a pose!

You don't have to be a graphic designer to mark your day with a logo. Upload simple artwork, like your wedding date, onto Lumi, a website specializing in branded supplies, and then choose how you want to use it. Here, we made a large wall decal, perfect for a customized photo booth backdrop!