For some couples, Pinterest is an invaluable resource for wedding planning. For others it's at best, overwhelming, and at worst, a total time suck! Here at One Fab Day, we're firmly in the camp of Pinterest lovers, but only if it's done right. So many brides and grooms use it to find ideas for their looks or décor, to create mood boards to bring their vision to life, or as a tool to show suppliers what they have in mind. So here, we're sharing our guide to how to set up a wedding Pinterest board, and how to use Pinterest to your advantage in planning your party!
There's a Right and Wrong Way To Use Pinterest
If used as a tool to gather ideas and streamline your vision, Pinterest can be your best friend in wedding planning. If used to compare your wedding to others, procrastinate on planning, or second-guess your decisions, it can zap all the fun out of the process. But knowing that before you start is half the battle!
Take it as inspiration, like flicking through a magazine, but try not to get hung up on having the 'perfect Pinterest wedding', because *spoiler alert* that bash does not exist, (and if it did, it would be one dull party!)
1. Sign Up to Pinterest
Start by creating a Pinterest account. As with other social media sites, Pinterest will invite you to find friends who are on Pinterest, too. While your Pinterest boards are generally public, you can make secret boards, which we'd highly recommend if you want to keep your wedding ideas under wraps - especially the dress. You can also set up shared boards, and share them with just your other half, your wedding party, or down the line, wedding suppliers who can also add to it.
2. Decide Who To Follow on Pinterest
As with other social media, you can follow individuals, businesses, blogs and publishers on Pinterest. You can also explore the wedding section and search wedding ideas, but to be honest, you have to wade through a lot of rubbish to find the good stuff. Our best advice? Be selective in who you follow, choose accounts whose aesthetic aligns with your own and start from there. Wedding planners, bridal designers, and wedding websites (*ahem*, like One Fab Day!) are a great place to start!
Some of our favourite accounts to inspire your wedding Pinterest board include Style Me Pretty, Over the Moon, Brides, Love My Dress and Vogue Weddings - along with lots of our recommended Irish suppliers!
3. Set Up a Single Wedding Pinterest Board and Get Pinning!
When you're initially working out the look and feel of your wedding - when the sky is the limit - we suggest setting up a single wedding Pinterest board. That way, you can pin everything you like in one place and chances are, you'll see some trends start to emerge. Have fun and pin to your hearts content!
Perhaps you're into all white flowers, you love barn weddings, you're mad for festoon lighting, or you can't pin enough minimal city weddings. This is a good way for you and your partner to put everything you like together and see where you overlap. Then you can start making some more fixed decisions and creating break out boards.
4. Streamline Your Wedding Inspiration
Once you've booked your wedding and have a better idea of what's possible in your space, it's time to streamline. For some people that means deleting anything from your existing wedding Pinterest board that won't fit with your wedding, or it could be a case of starting fresh now you know what you're working with. At this point, don't pin anything too aspirational or unrealistic, pin things that are achievable for you to recreate or that will help you describe your vision to your suppliers.
5. Settle on Your Ideal Number of Pinterest Boards
We think it's wise to have one wedding Pinterest board that really sums up your vibe for your day, similar venues, colours and textures to what you plan to have. That way, any time you're stuck on a decision, you can return to your board and see if it fits among your original vision. It's easy to get caught up in new trends and ideas mid-planning, so a central Pinterest board can help you stay on-track.
You can, however, create different boards for different elements; your dress, your hair and makeup, the flowers, the stationery, etc. These are particularly useful for showing suppliers what style you like, but again, try to keep your boards as curated as possible. There's no point showing your hairstylist 20 different styles you like, five takes on a similar style however, is far more helpful!
6. Make Pinterest Work for You
Less pretty but incredibly practical, Pinterest is also useful as a bookmarking system, whether it's a supplier you love or a ceremony reading you've spotted. Add Pinterest's 'Save' button extension to your browser, and that way you can quickly and easily pin products, articles, or useful websites to the relevant boards as you spot them, and revisit them later.
Another incredible feature is Pinterest Lens. Simply point your camera at a real life item or use an image on your camera roll, and it will find a similar item on the internet, even suggesting where you can buy it, or it can suggest similar aesthetics for your feed. It works really well if you spot a dress or decor item but don't know where it's from, or want to find something similar.
If Pinterest is Not For You, That's OK!
Some people aren't into the details, and that's just fine (chances are your wedding will be all about the fun!). Plenty of couples use Pinterest for the initial flurry of inspiration, but abandon it once they know what they're after, which makes perfect sense. And for many couples, Pinterest can add pressure that you just don't need, we hear you!
You'll find plenty of tips and ideas by browsing websites (*ahem* like ours!) and checking out real weddings. That said, if you're a details person who needs help to visualise your ideas, if you like making mood boards, if you plan on trying out some wedding DIYs, or if you just love to dream about your big day, then you need to get yourself on Pinterest, stat. Oh and make sure you follow us when you do!
Need more help planning your big day? Get our Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist, follow us on Instagram, and sign up to the One Fab Day newsletter for advice straight to your inbox.
