If you’re reading this the first thing you should know is that you should probably do the exact opposite of everything I did here haha. I was in no way prepared, experienced or qualified to take on this project. Unless of course you count the wood project I had to do in 3D Art in college.

Having done a couple of previous bridal shows I really wanted something different this year. I began searching online and found some booths I really like that looked like a room with a display wall and a little sitting area to look at albums. The problem was I could find any posts that really told me how they built the walls or set them up, transported etc. A couple mentioned a helpful husband, boyfriend, Dad etc that did the whole thing for them but that was about all the info I found.

So being the stubborn and somewhat crazy person I am I decided I could build a wall myself. And I knew I wanted to do pics along the way so that people could see how I did it. So here you have it – how I built my walls…. if I could do it all again I would get more help and do several things different, but they stood up and held my pictures so I’m considering it a success.

Step #1 – I had a semi plan and drawing that I took to Home Depot and the guy there was a huge help about what I needed to get and gave me some pointers on how to construct it. Prior to this trip I went to several other places trying get an idea on options of what I could use and how to do it so it would be easy to transport and not weigh a million pounds.

Step #2 – I knew I could have super high walls or they wouldn’t fit in the van and I knew my booth was around 10×10. I had them cut down some plywood at home depot to 2 ft wide by 6 ft high panels. I found these wood frames at Menards in the shelving department that were already put together and attached them to the back with wood screws. The Home Depot guy told me to get nails and that was a terrible idea unless you have a nail gun. I tried to do the first one with nails and screwed it up so bad I didn’t even end up using it. You’ll see at the end that I only have 3 panels and the original plan was for 4. My brother came and helped me for a few hours to do this – no way i could hold them both to attach them. Thanks Dan 🙂

Dan in action. Note that I left space at the bottom of each one so that I could place a baseboard along the bottom to make it look more like a real wall.

Ladies he’s single! haha

Step 3: Building the base – this was the part I was most unsure how to do. I wanted it to be able to fold up to make it easier to transport. I originally tried to use hinges, but after 2 attempts of different kinds I had to forget it. It wasn’t making it steady enough. I’m sure they’re would be a way to do it, but I didn’t have the time to figure it out. So instead we attached a 2×4 to the backside of the back brace part and created a square base . The guys at Home Depot cut them down to size for me.  These were not the most sturdy things because I put them together alone. If you’re attempting this get someone to help – it’s so hard to hold everything and drill it together. I think I actually just started crying alone the garage at one point because I didn’t think there was any way I was going to figure it out and the show was just a few days away.

Failed attempt at attaching the base with hinges.

One base attached….

Step #4: Figure out how they heck they are going to stand up. I knew I needed another way to support the back side and after sketching out a few ideas this is was the final decision was (see picture). I was going to attach these to the base and through the front panel, but in the end I didn’t think I need to. They wedged in there pretty snug and I ended up putting bags of snow salt on the bottom part for a little more sturdyness (and bonus I could use it again when we got 6 inches of snow the following week).

Step # 5 Paint the panels. I primed and painted the walls my signature blue color that I use for my logo. I debated doing beige or something but in the end i thought the blue would stand out more.

Here are the panels painted and together in the garage 🙂 this was about the time I was jumping up and down for joy because I thought they would actually stand up for the 2 day of the show.

Step #6 Hanging the photos. At first I thought I would use nails but I knew most everything I was hanging was very lightweight (a few canvases and others on foam board). So I ended up using little 3m hooks and they held great.

Here is the final set up at the show 🙂 My Mom helped me carry in and set up and my bro helped me tear down. Thank you to both of them. I would probably still be at Scottish Rite trying to load up if I didn’t have their help.

Thanks for reading! And thanks to all my brides who stopped by. You can email me at becky@beckybrownphotography.com with any questions!