Unique photo ideas for decorating reception?

My husband and I got married 4 months ago, and I bought a long photo frame that was 12 inches wide, and I had a photo mat cut in the shape of our new last name, and I put our engagement photos in each of the letter openings. We couldn't hang anything on the walls either, so we used and easel-(like an artist's easel), and we placed it on there. You could also rent heavy candleabra/votive trees, and use wire to anchor the back of the picture to the tree like you would do with a twist tie. You could also put them on top of the escort card or gift tables if they're up against a wall, and set the pics on the tables and lean them against the wall. You could also rent an extra place card holder for each table, mount a 3X5 or 4X6 photo on one side of the card, and then provide and explanation of the significance of the photo on the other side of the card. You could even have different photo prints of you guys made, and put them at each place setting. I hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck and congrats!!!

In a perfect world, your idea sounds doable, however there are factors you have not thought about. Rain. If it should rain, all of your seating will be a soggy mess and moving wet bails of hay is going to be a nightmare. Also, I am not so sure how comfortable sitting on a bail of hay for a couple of hours will be for your guests. Will fabric draped over hay look a bit shabby? And, why bother with the hay if you are going to cover it anyway? Also, is a bail of hay actually high enough (at least 18 " high) for a comfortable level to reach a table for eating? Wouldn't straws be sticking out of the fabric to poke people's legs and behinds? I do not mean to rain on your parade at all, I just see a few snags that could be a challenge. You would be better off getting cinder blocks with wood boards for benches and cover them. They would be much easier to move from the ceremony to the reception area. Would it be at all possible to borrow tables from people? And then rent the chairs? I think providing seating comfort for your guests is important. Odd tables can be covered with tablecloths and are not as important.

This didn't decorate the hall but my cousin's daughter and her (now) husband (as of last weekend) had brochures printed with random photos including engagement pics.

Also, at a wedding a couple years ago, they did an awesome slide show which I thought was neat and at the time hadn't seen before. It included baby pics on up and was pretty neat.

Or what about those foldable, portable walls? Might seem tacky but you could decorate with a backing of your colors, then have your pics on there.

You can make DIY super cheap easels and have the pictures blown up to poster size - mounted on foamcore - and displayed on the easels.

You can also make table top easels for displaying smaller photos.

Get one of those frames that people can sign and put the engagement photo in the middle. Congrats!

you could do collages of picture frames (all silver or black) with the engagement pictures on the cake table and the table w/ the guest book/seating cards.

Good Luck!

You could get poster tacky, it's a sticky sort of thing that comes off really easily. or you could get the little hooks that comes off easily (like what they show on tv).