If you’re planning a girls event, it’s likely you’ve thought about creating a photo booth for your event. Creating photo opportunities for your girls may take valuable time and effort in the midst of your already endless list of details to cover but it’s certainly worth your investment.
If you’re like me, you hope and pray that your event is one your girls look back on often because of how God moved in their hearts and lives. That’s why I love creating photo opportunities for girls at events. Photo opportunities aren’t simply so the girls have something cute to post when they leave, but so that they can look back on their photos and remember the spiritual impact of the event.
The hardest part about creating a photo booth is coming up with an easy, cost-effective design that you can put together without taking too much time or energy. That’s why I’d love to share some ideas with you!
Here are four few easy photo booth ideas for your next girls event:
1. Balloon Arch
Balloon arches/garlands are my favorite because balloons make any event feel more festive! They’re also not very expensive. The biggest investment for this photo booth idea is the time it takes to blow up the balloons. (Thankfully, I’ve found a tool that makes it go so much quicker here.)
Materials: Balloons (you pick the sizes and colors), Clear fishing line, a sewing needle with a big eye, scissors, and command hooks.Essentially, you use the fishing line and needle to thread the tails of the balloons together and bunch them up until they fill create a full looking arch. Here’s a tutorial for more details. I also like to buy some of the giant round balloons and use the fishing line to tie them on the arch at the end for more depth. You can also add flowers by sticking them in-between the balloons when you’re finished. Here’s a few pictures from previous events:
2. Paper Flowers
These paper flowers may take some time to make, but if you recruit some help from a few of the girls or moms in your ministry, they can turn out so fun and beautiful! This is my favorite paper flower tutorial.
Materials: 60lb cardstock paper (whatever colors you choose), hot glue gun, scissors, and whatever you will use to attach them to your backdrop. (In the past, I have used a staple gun or a small drill.) Here are a few pictures of photo booths I’ve made for girl’s or women’s events using paper flowers:
3. Fabric Strips
This photo booth is easy and easily reusable! While I don’t have a tutorial to share with you for this one, the concept is simple. Go to your local walmart or fabric store and pick out some fun fabrics. Buy the fabrics based on the amount you need for your photo booth size. Buy a roll of rope (I like to use thick twine because it’s cute.) Then cut your stips of fabric and tie them to your rope. Done!
Materials: Fabric, rope, whatever you’re going to use to hang your new fabric backdrop. If you have pipe and drape at your church, that’s an awesome option!
P.S. If you’re planning a movie night for your girls, you can do a variation of this idea but instead of fabric strips you can use strips of tickets!
Here are a few pictures of these kind of backdrops that I’ve made before (the fabric backdrop is on the left/middle and the ticket backdrop is on the right!):
4. Floral Teepee
This one is super trendy right now and the good news is that it’s really easy to build! Depending on how large it is, girls can take pictures in front of it or in it!
Materials: Large canvas painters drop cloth, 3 wooden posts, thick twine, stapler. *Optional: artificial flowers, rug for the inside.
While I don’t have a tutorial on this one either, it’s pretty simple. Place your three posts in a triangle and use the twine to tie them together at the top – teepee style. Then drape your drop cloth around the posts and staple the front together to secure it. (You could probably also sew it together but I was on a time crunch when I made one). Stick some flowers in the top and you’re finished! Here’s a picture of the one I made:
Ultimately, your event is not about the photos, it’s about what the photos represent: time spent growing closer to Christ and closer to one another. Prayerfully these photos won’t be looked back on and remembered only as beautiful environments but as life-changing moments because of the presence of Jesus Christ!
Taylor Cage is a Nashville native, currently living in Oklahoma City with her husband, Baron, who serves as a student pastor at Trinity Baptist Church. After college, she spent three years as a Girls Minister and she’s passionate about building gospel-centered community among women of all ages. Taylor is the Social Media Coordinator for Well-Watered Women and a regular contributor for the Lifeway Girls blog. Most days you can find her writing about God’s Word with a cup of coffee in hand or chasing around her new Goldendoodle, Posie.
Connect with Taylor: Instagram