Last week I went to pick my son up from a friends birthday party and she had made the cutest Photo Booth Backdrop for her daughters Harry Potter theme party! She used a sheet and made it look like bricks and put a 9 3/4 sign on it! It was adorable and couldn’t have been too hard to make! The next day we went to another party and someone had made another one. I have always felt a little overwhelmed even thinking about creating a Photo Booth Backdrop, but after reading this great guest post I think I could totally do it!!
7 Easy Ways to Create a Photo Booth Backdrop
By: Maurine Anderson
Photo booths aren’t just for weddings anymore. As this article points out, a photo booth is great for any time you want to set your party apart and make it one to remember. And while it may seem like putting together a photo booth will be a huge endeavor that takes several hours, it really is as simple as creating a backdrop, collecting a few props, and having a camera on hand for taking pictures. Use one for a kid’s birthday party, a bridal shower, or maybe just a finale-watching party this spring! In case you need some inspiration for your backdrop, here are 7 easy ways to create a photo booth backdrop in just about any space.
1. Make a backdrop frame out of PVC pipes.
I’m sharing this tip first because not everyone has an empty wall that they can cover with backdrop decorations. If this is you, the simplest solution is to put together a PVC pipe backdrop frame. To make one, head to your local hardware store and pick up some ¾ inch PVC pipe pieces, along with a few PVC assembly pieces. How tall and wide you make your frame is entirely up to you. If, say, you wanted a frame that was 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall, you would need the following:
4 pieces for your vertical bars, 3’ long each (two are stacked on each side)
2 pieces for your top and middle horizontal bars, 5’ long each
2 “L” pieces for the top two corners
4 “T” pieces for the middle section and bottom feet
4 end caps for the bottom feet
Once assembled, you can use your frame in a variety of ways. Pick up a few clamps at the hardware store and hang a decorative sheet or piece of fabric. Or, tape an extra large sheet of paper to the frame, and then add decoration on top of that. The possibilities are endless!
2. Hang crepe paper strips.
Crepe paper makes for an easy and colorful photo booth backdrop. Just purchase several rolls of crepe paper—wide or narrow—in your desired colors from a local party supply store. You can hang strips of crepe paper from a piece of string, tape the strips to the wall, or use your PVC pipe frame to hang them (see #1 above). For added interest, mix in strips of ribbon, hang a decorative banner in front, surround with balloons, accent with large paper flowers, etc.
3. Hang wrapping paper.
Wrapping paper comes in a variety of fun designs, and even the cheap, see-through wrapping paper will work for this. Simply purchase a few rolls of a favorite wrapping paper and tape the paper to your wall (or to a backdrop frame) using painter’s tape. Wrapping paper with a matte finish will work best here. Be sure to measure your backdrop space before buying your wrapping paper so that you buy enough. If you don’t want the painter’s tape to be visible, simply cover it with balloons or paper decorations.
4. Hang a sheet or piece of fabric.
It can’t get any more simple than simply hanging a sheet or piece of fabric on your wall or on a backdrop frame. Even a plain white sheet works great here, as you can dress it up with all sorts of decoration pieces. Try hanging some string lights, paper decorations, banners, or strips of ribbon in front of your fabric for added interest. Tip: Use a steamer to get out all of the wrinkles before photos start—so much easier than an iron!
5. String some flowers.
Love fresh flowers? Get several bouquets of some carnations or something similar and cut off the heads of the flowers. Then, string the flowers using fishing wire and a needle. Hang your strings of flowers in front of a simple paper or fabric backdrop for something natural and beautiful.
6. Use paper cutouts.
You can also simply make (or buy) several paper cutouts in fun shapes like hearts and stars and adhere them to your wall. Get creative here, working with different patterns and textures, mixing in book pages, etc.
7. Blow up a photo.
Want to print out an extra large photo of, say, a tropical location and have that be the backdrop for your photo booth? A pop up display style banner stand is perfect for creating large, photo based back drops—plus they’re a cinch to assemble.
About the Camera
As we mentioned in the intro, you can have a camera on hand to encourage people to take their own photos. However, we know that most people will simply take a selfie with their own cameras, especially since that makes it easy to post and share photos. However, having a quality camera set up on a stand, with either someone there to take the photos, or something that allows guests to take their own photos remotely, will add to the unique quality of a photo booth. If you really want to step it up, you might even think about having a video photo booth. Even more inexpensive options like these ones allow you to stream, share, and get stills from the video so that everyone will have a picture that they love out of the process (and some fun videos!)
