Tips for Planning Your Wedding with Pinterest

Submersing yourself into the world of weddings can be overwhelming at times – even for wedding bloggers like me! So as part of our year-long partnership with Sheraton Grand London Park Lane we set out to find out what role YOU think social media should play in planning your wedding.

Last month we hosted a workshop with social media expert Helen Eriksen of Socially Beautiful, to share our findings; from planning your wedding with Pinterest to wedding day hashtags. We also teamed up with some of London’s best wedding suppliers helping to create some swoon-worthy wedding inspiration for us in the ballroom (check out the gallery below!)

With 90% of our readers admitting to sometimes feeling overwhelmed at the amount of inspiration, ideas and sometimes conflicting information out there – and that’s before your well-meaning groom, bridesmaids, mum and mother-in-law get involved with their opinions!

We live in a digital world, where information and inspiration is available to us 24/7, not just at our desks, but on our laps at night, at our fingertips on the tube – from social media platforms like pinterest and instagram, to blogs and magazines. We’re constantly connected and when planning our wedding there is a seemingly endless supply of content out there to inspire us to create beautiful celebrations!

So here are our tips for planning your wedding with Pinterest – sans overwhelm!

INDULGE

bridal details of silk wedding dress skirt, glittery shoes and bouquet of flowers

Kate Nielen Photography on B.LOVED

When you first get that ring on your finger give yourself free reign to indulge in any kind of wedding media you can get your hands on!

Whether you’ve been dreaming about your big day since you were old enough to toddle down the hall with a sheet wedding dress and veil, or this is the first time you’re really thinking about it – no holds barred!

And don’t forget lots wedding inspiration sources exist, don’t let one source, like Pinterest or a certain blog, dictate your entire wedding day look! Buy the magazines, read the blogs, follow every bridal Instagammer and Facebook page, visit the fairs and shows and pin everything you like on Pinterest so that you can start seeing what’s out there and start incorporating ideas that truly represent you!

COLLECT

wedding table setting with hanging floral installation and colour palette of white peach pink and grey

Rebecca Goddard Photography on B.LOVED

Once you know what’s out there and have found the blogs, sites and resources that appeal to you (check out this fab list if you’re unsure where to start) then it’s time to start collecting ideas! Of course Pinterest is the best place for this!

Pinterest is an amazing resource, with literally millions and millions of images ready to be discovered! There are around 40 million people using Pinterest to plan their wedding, saving around 900 million pins!

But it can be all too easy to fall down the Pinterest rabbit hole, saving pin after pin with no real aim or direction! So how do we try and avoid this?

Start by creating more than one wedding board – separate your ideas into dress, beauty, venue, décor, flowers, groom etc so that you can keep things organised. It will make things easier to find again later! Oh, and remember to make them ‘secret’ unless you want your Great Auntie Joan or Jane from work sharing your dream wedding dress with the world!

Ever struggled to find exactly what you want, even though you know it must be out there somewhere? With 900 million wedding pins, there’s an awful lot of rubbish! Using longer search terms can really help to cut through the crap and find the images you’re really after!

For example; if we search ‘pink flowers’

But if we search for ‘romantic blush organic wedding bouquets’

A more tailored set of result means wasting less time finding what we want! Searching non-wedding related images – from interior design mags, fashion blogs & travel photography can be equally inspiring and help you to define your own wedding style!

Remember to keep your expectations in check! Pinterest is a curated collection of images so a lot of the images you find will be from highly styled editorial shoots, or real weddings from the world’s very best suppliers!

Bear in mind that your budget and resources may not match – those blousy blush peonies might not be in season for your August wedding, and that couture gown may be way out of your price range.

Remember, collecting images should be fun, but inspire elements of your day rather than trying to recreate a whole look.

EDIT

bridal hair style inspiration for an updo

Lucky Malone on B.LOVED

After a few weeks and months of collecting images you’ll find you have hundreds (if not thousands!) of ideas that are probably a bit all over the place. This is the stage when you’re starting to feel overwhelmed and confused about all your ideas and how to pull them all together.

Right?

Well, don’t worry this is perfectly normal! The trick at this point is to recognise it and start editing down your ideas to create a cohesive concept.

When I’m working with brides, I suggest they edit images by creating 3 or 4 different ‘concept’ boards and then going through each of their pins and repining to one of these new boards.

You could edit by colour (if you’re having a tough time narrowing down your wedding palette) or by style (if you’re hovering between a rustic barn wedding and glamorous city venue).

Once you’ve done this you’ll probably find one board has HEAPS more images than all the others! This is your wedding concept (nearly!) nailed.

But what if you’re still hovering between two ideas? Well, there’s no harm in combining concepts. In fact, this is something I do all the time! Don’t be scared to mix things up and make them unique to you!

REFINE

dessert table of wedding cakes against a barn brick wall with rustic taper candles

Melissa Beattie on B.LOVED

Now you’ve focussed in on one cohesive theme, it’s a good idea to revisit your pins and refine your ideas even further before taking them to your suppliers to bring to reality!

This bit is pretty simple; delete anything that you’re not totally in love with anymore!

Once you’ve been through your board and are completely happy with every dress, detail, ribbon and bow your concept is ready to share!

Of course, as you talk through your ideas with suppliers and friends your ideas may evolve further and this is totally fine! But wedding trends are constantly evolving so be careful not to keep changing your mind again and again. I’d suggest setting yourself a cut-off date a few months ahead of your wedding date for refining all your ideas and going cold turkey on Pinterest unless looking for specific ideas!

Try working your way through our steps and let us know if it helps you to refine your ideas and feel more confident in your wedding day plans.

We’d love to see what our B.LOVED brides are planning! Share a link to your Pinterest boards with us below!

Psssst… don’t forget check out our gallery of images from the workshop captured by Amanda Karen Photography below: