Random Non-Sequitur: Backdrops

So, I should definitely be working but I was instead going through old pictures (I constantly save pictures from blog posts and then forget they're in my wedding folder) and came across some old pictures of horrible archways that I saved as anti-inspiration while looking for good archways... These images are still horrible:

 
No thank you, I don't like metal painted white, I hate the mosquito netting... there are ways to pull off this look and then ways to just make it the tackiest thing I've ever seen. This actually made me remember that it was a sight like this that turned me off one of our venues; We loved loved Morris Arboretum for the scenery and the gardens, and then we saw the ceremony sites which were complete afterthoughts. We were fortunate enough to witness a ceremony set-up and I saw a staff guy grab this horrible, white plastic, tangled mosquito net covered arch out of a box and throw it across the grass, where it landed with a pathetic thud.

My heart dropped with it. I knew we didn't have to have that arch, but nonetheless, I desperately sought out decent arches and found several that fit our theme and aesthetic:

Love this one!

And this one is also very rustic and homespun. I thought also that something like this would not be difficult to make (I know I know, there she goes again!) especially since so many blog posts where I was seeing these arbors/arches, the people posting them either made them or some normal person (not a craftsmen by trade) made them.

Anyway, before anyone begins thinking anything about too many DIYs and blah blah blah, I'm not done yet...

So, the reason I wanted an arbor/arch in the first place, was the fill a void at either of our ceremony sites:

This gorgeous sycamore tree is the backdrop for our outdoor ceremony site.

It's already a tree... it's already arboreal.

And this is the pavilion as our alternate rain/too cold ceremony site.

The pavilion is made so that the horizontal support beams actually already look like an arch.


Anyway, the point is, I don't feel that wooden arches are necessary here anymore. And I also don't feel they fit with the tree site either. I feel that those arches above are perfect for if there's nothing else behind them, like at the edge of a cliff or on a beach:

See, I told you I wasn't finished, no one has to make an arbor. As always happens though, I did find something else to DIY, something that's legitimately easy and really just exactly what I'm looking for in a backdrop:

Cut up some fabric into strips, loop them around a dowel rod.

DONE!

Here, there's a nice contrast between the dark trees and the off-white linen, the strips flutter in the breeze, it's just perfect!

But I didn't stop there, I have since found even more of these fantastic (but a little more difficult to make) backdrops:

This one is positively fabulous the way it almost looks like it's alive, but I'd have nowhere to hang it from and it's a bit big and bulky.

You know, it reminds me of the whole dress debacle: It's gorgeous and maybe my big personality can pull it off, but it's just a little too overwhelming for lil ole me, just like Diana.

A little more digging and I found the perfect solution, something right in between the first backdrop and the second:

Ta da!! Take a few layers off this one, because it's still a little big, make it narrower, and it's perfect! The different widths and lengths, it's exactly the unfinished, raw look that fits with the style of the rest of the wedding; from the dress to the invitations, to the woods and etc etc etc...

I'm super happy I found it, all I need to do is start collecting scraps of random off-white fabrics, find a dowel rod and start looping fabric strips on it.

Yay!!