Photo Collage Party Backdrop Party Decorations by a Pro

the idea

Create a focal point and hide existing room décor with a custom photo backdrop for a dessert / buffet table, bar, or photo booth featuring pictures of the guest of honor ‘through the years’

Celebrating 70 Years custom photo collage birthday party backdrop

Celebrating 60 Years custom photo collage anniversary party backdrop

the how

Choose between the three photo ‘Through the Years’ design or a larger collage option
Upload old photos of the guest of honor at different stages of their life e.g. as a baby, child, teen, graduate, young adult and present day
Customize the text and change blue background color if required
Use to decorate large areas, line walls, and hide existing room decor or as a backdrop for dessert / buffet tables or bars
If you can’t source multiple old photos of the guest of honor, check out the one photo design pictured below and use the oldest photo of them you can find
Alternatively, you can combine the ‘Through the Years’ photo collage concept with ‘Things We Love About You’ text, as shown below. But be sure to read the ‘Matt’s Tip’ section below if you plan to use this as a bar / buffet / dessert table backdrop
Check out my separate page of Backdrop Stands, Frames, and Fixings for help hanging your backdrop.

Celebrating 40 Years custom photo tapestry party or dessert table backdrop showing birthday boy as a baby

40 Things We Love About You custom photo tapestry party or dessert table backdrop

the why

as Perimeter / wall decorations

Transformative; helps transform a domestic space or empty venue into a party environment
Masking; helps hide or distract from existing or incompatible room décor
Size; can help dress large areas
Atmospheric; perimeter decorations are important early on, before the room fills up, to help create a party atmosphere and ensure it feels like a special occasion
Intimacy; helps define the party space and envelope guests to create an intimate atmosphere

Cheers to 60 Years custom photo collage birthday party backdrop

Making 75 Look Good custom photo collage party backdrop

as a backdrop

Value; allows you to create a large, eye-catching, feature wall / display
Maximize budget; by concentrating decorations around one larger display rather than dress entire room
Impact; a backdrop creates a strong visual impact, turning a bar / food table into a display
Special; a dessert / buffet table with no backdrop can look a bit sad, lacking, or underwhelming
Visibility; backdrops help identify the location of bars and food stations in large or crowded rooms
Focal points; more visible bars and food stations encourage mingling by creating destinations for guests to explore
Versatile; a backdrop for a dessert / buffet table or bar can double as a photo booth backdrop later in the evening

Congrats Grad custom photo collage graduation party backdrop

Happy Retirement, The Legend has Retied custom photo collage retirement party backdrop

the why

this idea

Easy; tapestry backdrops are the easiest and most cost-effective solution for a party backdrop
Light; made from a lightweight fabric that’s easy to hang with or without a stand or frame
Special occasions should feel special; generic ‘off the shelf’ decorations are lazy and unimaginative
Personalized; customized decorations are more special and show you made an effort
Customizable; colors, text, and images can be changed to fit your party design concept
Custom photo; opportunity to show the guest of honor at different ages ‘through the years’
Funny; quirky, lighthearted, or self-deprecating decorations will make guests smile
Entertaining; guests may not have seen funny or embarrassing old photos of the guest of honor
Dramatic; makes a big and bold display to wow guests
Unique; celebrates the person, not just their age
Memorable; guests remember creative, unusual, or unexpected decorations
Photo-worthy; a great photo-op for guests to share and tag on social media
Surprise; a great way to surprise the guest of honor
Unusual; a less common party idea to impress guests
Bestseller; an idea that’s proved popular with my site’s visitors

Welcome Home custom photo collage party backdrop

Making 40 Look Good custom photo collage birthday party backdrop

ADVICE FROM A PRO

Matt’s tip

“As these tapestry fabric backdrops come in large and extra-large sizes, they’re a great solution if you need to dress large areas or hide existing room decor.

Whether you’re using as a backdrop to a table / bar or to dress walls in a larger room, these look best if you ‘frame’ or ‘blend’ the edges with additional decoration; be it bunches of balloons, balloon garlands, artificial flowers / garlands / vines, or paper flower decorations (check out the links at the end of this post).

This helps soften the harsh side edges—where the backdrop ends and it meets the wall—so it blends into the surrounding decor and doesn’t just look like a poster or bed sheet hung on the wall.

Check out my Backdrop Stands, Frames, and Fixings page for tips on different ways to hang a backdrop.

If you’re using an old printed photo, you may need to get it scanned to a digital format at a high resolution first, to avoid it appearing blurry when printed. It’s probably best to take it to a local printer (not an office supply shop) who will have a flat bed scanner specifically for photos.

Alternatively, check out some of the online services (links below) for transferring old printed photos to a digital format. This can be done very inexpensively nowadays ($20-$30 for 100 photos) so it’s a great opportunity to preserve them for years to come.

Similarly, old photos that are fading, discolored, or damaged can often be restored at the same time (see link below).

If you’re using as a bar / buffet / dessert table backdrop, keep in mind the lower third of the design will be hidden behind the table. That’s why the ‘Through the Years’ design leaves the lower third blank. If you choose a general collage design or the ‘Reasons We Love’ you design, the images/text towards the bottom won’t be seen.

If you choose the ‘Things We Love About You’ design, click the image at bottom of this page, when it opens in a new window, click on the color you want, then scroll down to the ‘Transfer this Design’ heading, click the ‘View All Products’ button, and enter ‘Tapestry’ in the search box. By default it comes printed on a fleece blanket but it’s cheaper and comes in larger sizes if you transfer it to a tapestry backdrop.“