If your daughter has access to a computer, then most likely she is spending hour after hour online finding the most splendid items for her big day. This means she is perusing blogs, pinning on Pinterest, Facebooking, Tweeting, checking out Tumblr feeds and Google+ announcements, and so much more. But computers are really becoming secondary to smartphones. If your daughter has a smartphone, she probably has access to a whole slew of other social media sites like Instagram and other amazing apps. Does this paragraph read like hieroglyphics to you? Then you must keep reading!
Social media is essentially broken up into two different categories: web-based and mobile-based sites and applications. Both help people communicate with one another. Social media is all about interactive conversations using text, photos, audio clips, and videos. For the most part, brides are finding more and more ideas for their weddings via social media platforms. As the mother of the bride, be prepared to download apps that can help you with planning your daughter’s wedding. Social media apps on smartphones are quickly becoming the number-one way that brides are planning their weddings. Using social media gracefully becomes something of utmost importance when planning a wedding alongside your daughter.
There are thousands of social media sites on the Internet. Currently the most popular sites among brides and grooms are blogs, Pinterest, Lover.ly, Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. Knowing what these sites are is one thing; knowing how to use them is a whole other story. Some sites are basically just informative, where users can make comments or purchases, while others set up both parties (the creator of content and the end user) for interaction.
As with anything online, be sure you are careful when leaving comments on blogs. What goes on the Internet stays on the Internet. Be sure to protect your identity and sign up on the blog as anonymously as possible. You might want to consider setting up an e-mail account just for wedding-related communication to protect your identity.
What’s a smartphone? A smartphone is basically a phone that has computing capabilities similar to an actual computer. Things like music applications, Internet applications, and cameras are the most popular features you will find on a smartphone. The more capabilities a smartphone has, the “smarter” it is. Smartphones have become so popular that they are outnumbering personal computers in sales. Since people (that includes your daughter) are on the move so much, the smartphone is what keeps them informed while not being bound to a desk and chair.
Smartphones have virtual stores where the smartphone user can download applications (also called “apps”) to increase the capabilities of the phone. There are distinctive mobile apps that are designed for brides and for photo sharing. These will be explored later in this chapter.
The main idea behind using social media gracefully on your smartphone is to not overshare. You need to make a plan with your daughter so you are both on the same page in regard to what you will be sharing on the web throughout the entire wedding process. You also need to consider how much you comment on other people’s wedding planning processes. Everyone’s wedding is different for a reason. Everyone is unique and that is why weddings are so much fun and magical.
Everyone will be coming to the wedding with cell phones in tow. Most of them will have Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter already installed on their phones. Almost every single cell phone in the world has some sort of picture-taking capabilities. When planning the wedding day, you need to keep your guests in mind when incorporating social media.
If your daughter is all about having the most social media–centered wedding on the planet, get ready to download every app she sends you. She is trying to share information with you and everyone else. Most of the time, the apps that are created with weddings in mind are all about making the wedding planning process easier and keeping guests informed.
If your daughter is opting for a blog to keep guests current or a simple website with updates about the wedding, there are apps for that. Your daughter will also probably want to create a hashtag, which will help tag everything that she is posting on the web about the wedding day. For example, if your daughter’s name is Rachel and her fiancé’s name is Pat, her hashtag might be “#rachelandpatgethitched.” A hashtag is all about describing the big day in one word with the number sign (#) before it. Before you know it, you, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and a whole slew of guests will be using the hashtag as the date draws near. On the day of the wedding, you might want to have a sign somewhere letting your guests know the hashtag to use when they post photos to social media.
Blogs helped start the social media revolution. What’s a blog? A blog is a website that is updated periodically by its author(s) or creator(s) (called “bloggers”) based on its subject content. The most recent posts on the blog are always shown first, and most blogs have decent search capabilities so you can search within them for specific topics. In the world of weddings, blogs have become an amazing tool for wedding professionals to showcase their recent weddings and give advice to engaged couples. Most bloggers allow end users to leave comments on the posts—hence the “social” aspect of a blog.
There are two different types of wedding bloggers. There are wedding professionals who “blog” (write) about their work, ideas, and advice. The other (and most widely read) wedding bloggers post items, such as submissions from their readers and wedding professionals, on their blogs and will sometimes also provide photo-shoot ideas for engaged couples. This is not actually a professional wedding service. Now, this is not to say that the folks who run these popular blogs are not wedding professionals themselves; it just means that the sites are not dedicated to selling their services. This way, they can be unbiased as to who submits to their site and can showcase anyone’s work based on their niche audience. Every single wedding blog that has a large following typically has a very specific niche and specific audience. However, there are a few major wedding blogs that have their own niches but appeal to a very wide audience. Here are a few of the top wedding blogs:
Weddings are pretty much the one time in most brides’ lives that they will go nuts over losing weight and staying healthy for the big day. The following are the best blogs that brides (and grooms) can use to help them get fit and stay healthy both before and after the wedding day. Who’s to say you won’t learn a few things yourself—you have to get into a pretty dress, too!
The best thing to do, if you live in a large metropolitan area, is to do a simple Google search: your city + blog. This way, you can find a localized blog that can really show you amazing examples from your hometown!
Gone are the days when brides were looking for inspiration for weddings from only wedding websites and blogs. Brides want to make sure their wedding stands out and is a little different from those that have come before them. For example, brides want fabulous and different shoes for their weddings (no more white wedding shoes!). The best place to find such inspiration is daily fashion blogs. Here are a few popular ones:
There really are so many blogs that can provide inspiration to both you and your daughter. Taking a look at them should make gathering ideas easier for you.
Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) is one of the largest social media networks, and it looks and feels like it was created just for weddings (but it wasn’t)! Since you and your daughter will undoubtedly want to see ideas and organize them in one place, Pinterest can be a big help.
The basic concept of Pinterest is “pinning” photos to boards that you create. Pinterest is actually one of the easier social media sites to join. Just enter your email address and you'll up and running in no time. Once you are on the site, you will see all sorts of photos. To view wedding-related photos, find the drop-down menu at the top of the page and select the “Weddings” category (located under “Everything”). Here you will see a stream of photos of wedding ideas that you can start pinning to boards. Click on a photo, and once your mouse is hovering over the photo, click on the button that says “Repin.” At this point, a small box will pop up and prompt you to start creating “boards” to categorize your pins. So if you see a photo of a cute cake, call your board “Wedding Cakes” and then write a little description (or keep the one that is already in the box below) and hit “Pin It.” Then, whenever you see another cake you like, you can pin it to the same board. Repeat the same process for other categories or just create one board for all of your wedding ideas until you master the world of Pinterest!
Another way to pin items to your boards is directly from another website (like a blog). At the top of the main Pinterest page, go to the “About” drop-down menu and click on the “Pin It” button. Here you will find instructions on how to add this function to your browser so you can pin items onto your boards whenever you see anything you or your daughter might like for the wedding. You can also upload a photo from your computer by clicking on the “Add +” button at the top of the page. You can also just “like” a pin if you don’t want to create a board for it.
These are literally just the basics of how Pinterest works. Be careful, though; once you get on the site, you might get addicted to it (as there are all sorts of other categories to make boards for)! Pinterest also has an app where you can pin away on your smartphone!
You can also create a secret board for you and your daughter to pin things that only the two of you have access to. When creating the board, there is a simple option to indicate whether or not you want it to be secret. It also gives you the option to invite others to pin to the secret board. For example, you might want to include the bridesmaids or the mother of the groom.
Pinterest is the inspiration for many other hybrid sites, but there are two sites in particular that have a Pinterest-like feel to them just for wedding inspiration: www.lover.ly and www.weddinggawker.com.
Facebook (www.facebook.com) is one of the largest social media sites in the history of the web. Facebook is all about sharing ideas, photos, and videos with your “friends.” Friends can be your actual friends and family, or they can be associates, businesses, or people who just want to know what you are up to.
The idea behind using Facebook for wedding planning is to share ideas with your network of friends online. If you already have a Facebook page, you know that you can just post questions about the wedding, and then your friends can give you advice by commenting on your timeline. This is especially helpful if you live far away from friends and family and want to keep them informed about the wedding day. But don’t post too much information about the wedding, as you don’t want to give away the surprise element for your guests.
While Facebook is a powerful tool, it also can really diminish your privacy if you post too much about yourself. Be sure to read through their privacy and security sections should you sign up for Facebook to help share ideas for the wedding day.
Another way to use Facebook for wedding planning is to “tag” people in photos that you post to your page in order to encourage them to provide input and ideas. Also, after the wedding is over, Facebook is the perfect place to post photos so others can see what a beautiful day it was without clogging up their e-mail inboxes with images!
If you don’t have a Facebook account, don’t worry; it is really easy to sign up. You can also enlist your daughter’s help with how to become “friends” with her online. Facebook gives you the ability to set up a secret group, where just those who are involved in the wedding party can share ideas. You or your daughter can be the administrator (admin) of the secret page and invite the wedding party and others to visit the page to post ideas as well (without the rest of the world being able to see).
Facebook is also available on most smartphones, making it easy to take photos and make comments or ask questions and post them directly to Facebook right from your phone.
The best feature of Facebook is the ability to connect with old and new friends online. Who knows, you may find an old classmate who is throwing a wedding for her daughter, too!
Instagram (www.instagram.com) is one of the most popular apps for smartphones. However, it is different from any other social media platform in that it focuses on the photo-sharing aspect of social media. Until recently, the only people who could use Instagram were iPhone and Android smartphone users. However, since Facebook purchased Instagram, it has become the easiest way to post photos on multiple platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and Foursquare.
Like Pinterest, Instagram is truly one of the most addictive social media platforms. However, Instagram is more popular for capturing and sharing photos in your daily life and commenting on them, functioning almost like a daily photo journal. People can follow you and comment on your posts. You can also follow people and make comments on their posts. This platform is great for when your daughter or you are shopping and visiting vendors. You can take a quick photo with your smartphone and post it immediately to Instagram.
Instagram is also really fun in the sense that it has a wide array of filters to make your photos look more professional. One of the best ways to find useful wedding information on Instagram is by using hashtags. You can use hashtags to search for photos (of certain types of dresses or flowers, for example) and local vendors through the search function. You will find tons of photos from local florists on Instagram who use hashtags to describe their photos (for example, #dcflorist if you live in Washington, DC). These hashtags help MOBs like you find that perfect bridal bouquet and more.
Twitter (www.twitter.com) is a social media network that enables you to write questions or statements in 140 characters or fewer (known as “Tweets”) and send them out to other users. Your Tweets will then show up in your Twitter feed. Your “followers” (those Twitter members who are following you) can either respond by “Retweeting” what you posted or just answering, like a text message.
Twitter is also great for wedding planning because of its search feature. Many companies (large and small) will post giveaways and discounts on their Twitter feeds. Twitter also makes it extremely easy to interact with vendors. You can follow a person or a company by going to their Twitter page and pressing the “Follow” button. Once you do this, you can find out who is Tweeting with you by clicking on the “Connect” button at the top of your Twitter page. If you mention another person on Twitter by his Twitter “handle” (which is his name on Twitter), it will show up in his “Mentions” stream and he will see what has been said about him. Twitter also allows you to share images. As with most social media sites, Twitter is also available on smartphones.
No, Tumblr is not a misspelling! It’s an actual website where users can easily follow blog authors either from their computers or on their smartphones. In short, it is a network of thousands of blogs, and users can view all the blogs they want in one single stream, or one long webpage. Additionally, it is also a great platform for bloggers who love to update their blogs via their smartphones with photos and videos.
First, you need to sign up for an account at www.tumblr.com. Once you have an account, you can follow all of your favorite Tumblr bloggers in one stream. The best way to use Tumblr for wedding planning is to do a simple search. Search for a topic, and when you find subjects and photos you like, click on the button in the upper-right corner that says “Follow.” This way, every time you log into Tumblr, their photos and blog entries will show up in your blog stream.
Tumblr is great for wedding planning because it allows you and your daughter to share an account to post photos about wedding ideas. This can be used to create a journal about the process, which is a fun way to bond and document your time planning together. This might be a great way to keep records for your next daughter’s wedding, or for the bride to show her children one day!
If you’ve ever done an Internet search, you’ve heard of Google (this is where the term googling came from). The same company has created a social media site called Google+, which is similar to Facebook. Google+ users can provide updates about what they are doing and where they are doing it via their computers or cell phones. What sets this application apart from Facebook is its use of a video-chat feature.
To use Google+, you have to sign up for an account. If you have a Gmail account, they make it super easy for you to just add this platform to your existing account. If you do not have a Gmail account, you can sign up with another e-mail account (such as Yahoo! or Hotmail). Once you’ve created your Google+ account, you can post questions and statements along with photos. You can separate what you would like to post through a system called “circles,” and whenever you add someone to your list of friends, you determine which circle that person belongs to. In addition, you get to create the circles. This means you can have one circle for bridesmaids, one for groomsmen, and so on. Each time you post something, you can either make it available to everyone you are connected to or just to certain circles. The circle capability, and the privacy it provides, is one big difference between Google+ and Facebook.
In essence, Google+ works just like Facebook, but it is cumbersome to use in comparison to Facebook, so most people are not using Google+ to its full capacity just yet.
There is no way to list all of the apps available to help you plan for your daughter’s wedding day. In addition to the major social media sites that have their own apps mentioned in this chapter, here is a list of the most widely used and most popular.
Many couples are just not interested in posting everything about their weddings on the Internet. When it comes to small children, this is especially true. While it might be cute that the flower girl went screaming down the aisle half-naked, having that on Facebook is not a good idea. If the couple does not want social media to be the center of attention for the ceremony or reception, be sure to communicate that to your guests. During the ceremony, there is nothing more annoying than seeing thirty guests lift up their tablets and smartphones to take pictures. The devices get in the way of other guests, and it is really just downright rude. The ceremony is the reason why everyone is there for the wedding day, and it is a momentous social rite for anyone getting married. The seriousness of a wedding ceremony is the number-one reason why you have a photographer and videographer to capture the moments in the best possible way. You can ask your guests to silence their phones for the ceremony in writing on a sign or in the program. Your officiant can also make the announcement at the beginning of the ceremony.