Every Virginia wedding needs a good visual backdrop for the perfect, beautiful photos. If you’ve got a gorgeous stained glass window, you’re all set. But if you’re getting married outdoors, at the front of a large venue room, or someplace else that isn’t naturally as distinctly attractive as you’d like, adding a beautiful wedding arch might be the way to go.
If you’re handy or want to save some cash for other things on your big day, you can DIY your own wedding arch for the perfect look.
Wooden Floral Arch
A simple but stunning option is that of creating a simple wooden arch, layered in beautiful flowers and greenery. With just a few boards and some screws, you can create this simple, rustic design for your indoor or outdoor wedding. But the flowers and greenery are going to be key for making it a stunning backdrop. Be sure to choose colors that pop against the wood color (or paint the wood to match your theme!) and drape nicely around the wood.
Curtains with Flowers
If you’re getting married beneath a beautiful tree at an outdoor venue, you can put nature to work for your backdrop/wedding arch. Hang some long, beautiful curtains in your color theme from the branches for a sweeping, romantic drape. If the branches are low enough, add some flowers, light strings, or even some ribbons, depending on your style.
Recycled Vintage or Barn Doors
If you’re going with a rustic or vintage theme, you could consider finding some old doors or a barn door to recycle for your backdrop/arch. You’ll need a simple wooden frame to hold them up or some kind of post or pole to hold them together.
Decorate with florals, ribbons, lights, greenery, even vintage photographs or draping fabric for some added splashes of color and interest points for photography during the ceremony.
Draped Branches and Greenery
If you can get your hands on some longer tree branches, like those of a birch tree that’s come down recently, you could craft a three-piece arch that you can drape with fabric and greenery for a rustic, romantic vibe. If you’re into natural looks, you could even add some potted vines on either end of the arch and drape the vines around the arch for some added beauty.
Trellis Arch
A simple arch you can easily find at a local hardware or garden store is a trellis arch. Craft together the pieces for the right size and shape, then add embellishments that fit your theme and style. These could be flowers, greenery, lights, drapes, colorful cards or unique shapes (think metallic cardstock stars for a Hollywood glam wedding or silken butterflies for a garden party wedding), or even rhinestones for extra sparkle and shine.
Geometric Shapes
If you don’t want the typical arch of a wedding backdrop, you could consider making a geometric shaped backdrop from treated and stained lumber. Craft a hexagon, square, diamond, triangle, or any other shape that rings your bell and leave plain or add embellishments of flowers, drapes, or anything else you love.
Macrame and Wood Arch
If you craft a wooden arch, you can easily change up the looks for your boho wedding with some macrame (knot tying) embellishments. Taking a macrame class online between other wedding planning tasks could be a fun thing to do with your partner or on your own, too, if you don’t already know how to make your twine décor pieces.
Hanging Lantern Arch
Another simple embellishment that could be perfect for certain thematic weddings is adding some colored or white lanterns to your arch. This idea is best suited to taller arches that will dangle the lanterns at least several inches above your heads, though, to avoid any unpleasant clanging.
Colorful Ribbon Arch
If you’re like me and adore color – all the color! – you could consider creating a ribbon arch embellishment from colorful ribbons, pom poms, sparkling twine, and other draping materials that add a vibrant pop. Combine your wedding colors or go off theme for a dramatic contrast for the special moment only during the big day.
Hanging Flower “Curtain”
If flowers are your focus, consider using a “curtain” of draping flowers to hang from your wooden arch frame. Let the flower vines taper from shortest at the center to longest on the sides or let them hang all at the same length all the way across. Accent with greenery, ribbons, or some draping fabric.
