Embrace Social Media at Your Wedding!
by Esther Orridge at Social Progress
With over two thirds of internet users being active on social media, it’s clear to see that it has become part of the daily lives of billions of people. Users are posting, tweeting, uploading, viewing and interacting with each other as well as brands, businesses and companies of various sizes.
When it comes to weddings, social media can play a vital part – even way before you’ve said YES! If you’re anything like me you’ve been typically planning your wedding since you were 6 years old, making mental notes from other peoples’ weddings (what to do / what NOT to do!) and dreaming of your happily ever after living a long and prosperous life with your beloved.
Thankfully social media can connect brides, grooms, bridal parties and wedding planners to suppliers, designers, venues, caterers etc and summon information within moments. Whether you’re a chilled-out bride or a bridezilla you’ve got to admit it’s never been easier to plan your wedding with all these lovely gadgets, apps, blogs and social media platforms to fill your head with inspiration and advice.
So what about after you’ve planned your day, down to the very last detail? Imagine; you arrive at the ceremony, your professional photographer ready and everyone poised to see you in your dream bridal outfit. You walk in and down the aisle to marry the love of your life [with most people watching you through their camera-phone whilst taking photos] and celebrate all day and night with your nearest and dearest.
The likelihood of most of your guests being on at least one social media platform is extremely high and they are bound to be excited and post photos of the day on their personal accounts. Some people are happy with this, but what do you do if you don’t want people to post photos of your wedding online?
If you want to be in charge of revealing details of your wedding day onto the World Wide Web, we’ve put together 3 Top Tips for a more Private or Unplugged Wedding:
How to embrace social media at your wedding without spoiling the surprise!
- Ask people in advance not to post photos online without your permission (or at least until you share the official photos from your photographer).
There’s no reason why you can’t put a note in your invitations politely asking people not to upload photos to social media. It’s your day and guests should respect a simple request like this.
Alternatively you could put a note on the Order of Services or in the Hymn Books as a reminder on the day.
- Set up a Private Facebook Group especially for the wedding guests. This could be just for the official day(s) of the celebrations or used leading up to the wedding too build excitement and let your guests connect with each other.
This could be where you meet people half-way by allowing them to upload photos within the Private Facebook Group but not on their public Facebook Profile. This way you can outline Wedding Etiquette within the description of the Facebook Group and only add the people who are invited.
You could also add this to the wedding invitations and Order of Service to encourage people to get involved.
- There are great free wedding apps which are like your own, private photo sharing platform especially for your wedding day or celebration.
I was given a log-in code to use on the day of a friends wedding (on a little card that came with the wedding invitation) and I thought it was pretty fun. Whilst the bridal parties were getting ready, all the guests were taking pictures and uploading them, leading up to the ceremony and then, of course, throughout the day. The app is specifically designed so that it’s like a time-line you can look back on and even print the photos after the big day! We had loads of fun as guests and it even gave us something to do whilst we waited for the bride and groom to return from their photoshoot together…
Some people have gotten so frustrated with having camera phones in their face as well as not being in control of fuzzy and unflattering photos being uploaded (without knowledge) by friends and family. These are the couple’s who’ve chosen to go cold-turkey and ban phones from the wedding ceremony so that the photographer is in total control of the photography and it also ensures guests are in the moment with the bride and groom.
After all is said and done, it’s YOUR wedding day. Whether you want to be totally digitally unplugged or digitally contained for The Big Day is your decision. The hardest part is deciding HOW to respectfully ask guests not to use their phones – and not to share your wedding photos before you do. Hopefully these three tips will give you some inspiration and help you make the right choice for you.
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Are you on social media? Do get connected and say hello to the Social Progress Team on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest & Instagram. We’d love to hear from you! #SoProHigh5!
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Some stats used in this blog are from Brand Watch
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