Pinterest is extremely fun… and addicting… Who wouldn’t want to spend hours scanning gorgeous photos, searching for the perfect dress, centerpieces, extra touches for their most special day? However, I always tell my brides that Pinterest is great, and not great at the same time. The positive? You can get interesting and unique ideas on all aspects of your wedding. The negative? You can get TOO MANY interesting (and are they really unique if they’re on the internet?) ideas on all aspects of your wedding. A couple of years ago, we coordinated what we like to term the “Pinterest Wedding”. This particular bride spent hours searching for images and ideas and then seemed to want to implement ALL OF THEM into her wedding. We ended up using about ¼ of the decorations she bought. She bought SO MUCH and didn’t really plan for how much of each thing she needed for the amount of tables she had. She had a kids table, a pinata for kids, a candy bar, a popcorn machine.. You get the idea. Everything turned out really beautiful, but I feel like all the “special” details turned out to not be so special because there were just too many for all the guests to really absorb and notice.
So, how do you avoid the Pinterest trap? Simplify. I know this is easier for some brides than others. This is the day you’ve been waiting for for most of your life. You want everything to be just perfect. I tell all my clients to decide what top three items are MOST IMPORTANT to them. This varies from couple to couple. For some, it’s cake. For others, it’s the music. Many are most concerned with decor. Now, you still have to make decisions about all of the areas of your wedding. I mean, you can’t have guests show up and there’s only cake, but narrowing down to a top three simplifies everything else for you. You want to spend the most time thinking about (and in some cases spending the most money on) your top three. Maybe you spend hours searching for just the right wedding dress because that is hands down the most important aspect of your wedding. But, you’re not that concerned about what drinks are served at the bar. So, you just decide on beer and wine. You don’t need to have signature drinks, or a margarita machine because you decided that the bar is not a priority.
Another thing that Pinterest seems to lay a trap for brides is the need to have special touches at their wedding. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE special touches. We personally enjoy getting a window into our clients’ hearts because of their personal touches. But, I would recommend also narrowing that down to two personal touches (or maybe three), if possible. When it comes down to it, your guests really come just to see you get married. And the traditional events at a wedding (ceremony, first dance, cake, bouquet toss, etc) are what most people look forward to. So, if you have 10 different “special touch” stations, it truly can be overwhelming for them. And you. You will spend hours on creating the personal touches, and they will get very little bang for your buck… or your time.
My personal observations of what guests really enjoy are photos. They enjoy having photos of you as young children, as a couple, etc as part of their centerpiece on the table or as part of the ceremony decor. There are so many different ways you can incorporate photos in your centerpieces, and this gives something for your guests to look at while they’re waiting for your photos to finish, or waiting to get in the buffet. Another special photo idea is a memory table. You can have your parents’ and grandparents’ wedding photos, photos of special people who have passed away, trinkets that represent you and your fiance, anything that personalizes and reveals more of who you are to your guests. We are also seeing many different variations of the traditional sign in book. Guests like to look through and sign a photobook with pictures of you as a couple, the border of an enlarged photo of you as a couple and even underlining their favorite Bible verse and signing it in a Bible that you provide. These are really sweet, and guests enjoy perusing through photos.
Other sweet, personal touches include writing your own vows, singing to your bride or groom (if you’re musically talented), a choreographed first dance, greeting your guests personally after you are introduced at your reception, guests putting their thumbprints on a canvas with a tree, donut, coffee, s’more, cookie, pie and soda bars, custom cake toppers, koozies with your names and wedding date and a table for guests to write advice, ideas for date nights. We’ve even seen a table for guests to suggest baby names for future children! There are so many ways to customize, but try to narrow what your choose down to two (three at the most) ideas. And make it really great and placed in an obvious location at your ceremony or reception.
So, don’t be afraid to utilize Pinterest. It really is a great tool for giving beautiful and creative ideas. Just limit yourself. Maybe decide to just choose 10 photos for each category instead of 100. Limit how MUCH time you spend on it. Hopefully, our suggestions can help you make the planning and implementing of ideas for your dream day a little less stressful.
Visit our Pinterest page to see more pictures from our Wonderful Weddings! https://www.pinterest.com/wonderfullywed/_saved/