When you plan your wedding there are lots of decisions to be made it can be hard to keep track of it all, but don’t fret, there is a handy free tool called Pinterest that can help you along the way and in this blog I’ll show you how. Pinterest is a place to discover ideas for all your projects, I like to think of it as the modern day equivalent of Post-it notes and a noticeboard. You create Boards for all the different areas of your project and once you find things on websites and Pinterest that you like you simply Pin them to your Boards to keep all of your ideas in one place. You can get your friends involved, share ideas with your suppliers and even create secret Boards too. Read on and I’ll show you how to take the stress out of your wedding planning. I also love #weddinghour on Twitter for lots of wedding inspiration and advice. Find out how it can help you plan your wedding here.
How to use Pinterest to plan your wedding in 7 easy steps
1. Inspiration made simple
There are lots of different areas of your wedding that you might need help with so first of all create a Board for each of these. You might be searching for venues, dresses, kilts, cakes, flowers, hairdressers, make-up, photographers or decoration ideas. Whatever it is, create a Board for it. Here’s a wee snapshot of my Boards. You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking this link
2. Discover your favourite things
Then the fun part begins and you can get pinning! Use the search tool at the top of Pinterest to hunt down your favourite things. If it’s wedding hair ideas you’re after simply enter “wedding hair” and see what pops up. When you see what you like simply click “Pin it”, you’ll be asked which Board you want to Pin it to and then you can add a wee description to the Pin to remind you what you like about it. If you love what you see on a Board you can follow it so it will appear in your feed with new Pins and if you find someone with lots of Boards you love you can follow them too so whenever they add any new Pins they’ll appear in your feed. You can also go to other websites and if they have Pinterest enabled you’ll see the “Pin it” logo and be able to Pin the images to your Boards.
3. Get your friends involved
You don’t have to feel that you’re alone with all the planning. It’s so easy to rope your friends in to help with the planning too. If you’ve found some bridesmaid dresses that you love and want to get your bridesmaids’ opinions before you make an appointment or you want to know what they think about the hair styles you’ve found, invite them to your Board. To do this edit your Board and then in the Collaborators area either add their name (if they’re on Pinterest) or email address. If your friends already use Pinterest you can follow them too.
4. Share ideas with your suppliers
You might find your favourite florist, cake maker or photographer on Pinterest and not only can you see what they have to offer but you can also get a good idea of what inspires them too. You can invite them to your Boards the same way as you invite your friends. I think this is a great way to show your hairdresser the hair styles that you love.
5. You can keep your wedding plans secret
It’s all very well being able to keep all your ideas in one place, but what if you don’t want the whole world to know what your big day looks like before it’s even started? Pinterest has a simple answer to that and you can create Secret Boards that only the people you invite will be able to see. Clever! When you create a Board there is an option to “Keep it secret”. A wee word of warning though. By default, your Boards are public when you create them unless you select this option and unfortunately once you’ve created a public Board you can’t change it later to secret so do have a wee think when creating your Boards. I have a Wedding photography Board that showcases a few of my wedding images. I love to capture weddings naturally as the day unfolds and my clients love this style. I do find that some of my clients like a short time away from their guests for photos just the two of them so if you do have other ideas please ask me to create a secret Board for you and you can Pin a few of your ideas.
6. You can take your wedding planning with you wherever you go
Whether you’re sitting at your computer in the comfort or your own home or you have a bit of down time while you’re out shopping with your friends or have a break from work, you never know when you’re going to be hunting for inspiration. If you can fit your mobile in your handbag or your pocket, your wedding planning can be with you always as Pinterest has a mobile app too.
7. You’ll never plan the same way again
Once you discover Pinterest out will go your Post-it notes and Noticeboards, planning will never be the same again. You don’t have to use it for just your wedding planning. You can use it to plan your henny, your stag do, your bridal shower, your honeymoon, your holidays, how to decorate your nursery, you can keep all your favourite recipes in one place. The possibilities are endless!
How Pinterest works for me
If you’re a fan of Friends then you’ll understand what I mean when I say I’m a girl after Monica’s heart. With a love of lists, Pinterest makes it super duper easy and anything that saves me time gets a big tick in my book! Pinterest for me has such a huge variety of uses but one of the greatest for me is that I can use it to get to know my wedding clients. I always have a pre-wedding consultation with my clients and there will be emails between us too. With Pinterest in the mix you’ll know what inspires me and we’ll get to know each other as people, you won’t feel like I’m a stranger on your big day. It’s a great way for me to keep in touch with my friends in the industry too and check out the latest up and coming trends. You’ll find that no two photographers are the same, we all have our own styles and Pinterest is a huge source of inspiration for us creatives.
My Fiancé and I haven’t set a date yet but I’m gathering lots of ideas and have started a Board, My fairytale Scottish wedding. Queue lots of tartan! Whether our big day will look anything like that who knows but one thing for sure, I’ll never be short of ideas! I also use Pinterest to help me with my Munro bagging. Yip, you’ve guessed it, I have a Board for that! I also have a Board for planning future photography trips. There is so much of Scotland I’ve yet to explore and photograph and this really helps me visualise my plans. It’s also a useful tool to help others too as so many people visit Scotland and ask how to find the places I’ve been. Lastly, and certainly not least, I love Pinterest because it really inspires my creative side. One little search and there is a visual feast for my brain within seconds!
Over to you
I’d love to hear how Pinterest works for you. Has it made your planning easier? Have you discovered any great uses I haven’t mentioned? Pop me a comment below.