I have had this empty wall on our staircase and it’s one of those obvious places that screams “Insert gallery wall here”. I have been saving this space for our wedding photos since the very first day we moved into our house. Now that I finally have our wedding pictures printed, framed, and hung, I am absolutely in love with this little wedding wall in our house. 

If you’ve been thinking about putting up your own gallery, here are some tips coming from me and a real handyman, aka, my step dad, aka the man who will do anything for me because I’m his only girl… Even if that means tilting pictures a half inch over because I’m extremely OCD. And for those wondering, no we did not use nails and hammers (I hate holes in my wall).

Choose a location

There are several walls in your house so how do you choose where to hang them? For me, I wanted our gallery to hang on the most high-traffic area in our home because I wanted us to be reminded of this day every day. The way our house is set up — all of the bedrooms, including ours, are located upstairs so we have to walk by this wall every day, several times a day. A perk is that our staircase is open so you can see the wall from the main floor. 

Choose your pictures wisely

It was really hard to choose just 12 pictures since my wall would only allow that many given the frame sizes I chose, along with the spacing I wanted in between them. My photographer gave me about 600 pictures back from our wedding and if you know her work, you know all of these pictures were stunning. I chose the 12 based on emotions that were captured at time being taken so that those feelings would come back when we walk past them. 

While you’re choosing your photos, also consider their placement. For me, it was really important to put any picture with Cayden toward the bottom so that it would be eye-level for him when he walked by them. It may seem kind of silly to think about but it works. 

Every time he walks down the stairs he’ll stop, and just stare pointing out “Mommy, Daddy, and Cayden” in his words. 

Choose your frames

If you know me, you know I like clean lines so it wasn’t hard to know I was going to pick the same frame color and size for this wall. I did not get them custom framed because as the world’s most indecisive person, I want to be able to switch out photos whenever I feel like it. 

These frames from Wayfair were perfect because they had the right frame-to-mat ratio. The thin matte gold frame that borders the matting matches the gold accent decor in our wedding pictures. They’re soft, almost champagne, instead of that harsh gold. I love, love, love them! 

And this picture of my MCM and MCE…

Hang time

Here’s what we used: 

• Leveler
• Ladder
• Command strips 
• 12 gold matted frames
• Pencil and eraser
• Measuring tape

Since I wanted the pictures in the center of my wall, we measured my entire wall (length and width), then cut the measurements in half so we would know where the middle frame would go. We marked the point with a pencil so we know where the head of the Command strip would go. 

We used Command strips because I hate holes in my walls and these little babies hold up to 8 pounds. If you don’t know how they work, it’s basically like double sided tape — just stickier. One side of the strip sticks on your wall while the other side sticks to the Command picture hanger. As a precaution, it is recommended that you stick them on the wall and let them settle for an hour before hanging a frame on their hooks. 

Once we figured out the center point, we measured both sides of the point using a leveler to mark the points where both frames would hang to make sure we were aligning them perfectly horizontally on both sides and that the spacing between them were even.

We then took the leveler and measured the spacing vertically so they would be evenly spaced downward. Once we got all 12 points marked on the wall, it was easy to just stick each strip on the wall on wait. 

I swear I took more time choosing which photos to frame than actually hanging them so don’t be intimidated by trying to put your gallery wall together. If you mess up, these command strips will let you start all over without damaging your wall. 

Photos by: Morgan Olsen

Prints: Pro Digital Photos