Planning with Pinterest: Pros & Cons

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We all, meaning I, have spent hours browsing the endless eye candy that Pinterest has to offer. When I first joined I really didn’t understand what it was, other than I was finding tons of recipes, fashion, fitness and wedding (even though I’d already gotten married) ideas that I wanted or wished I could have to put into action. Pinterest can be a great tool to use to plan many things, and for many brides when they get engaged, they go Pin-crazy. I’ve put together a list of good and bad things about trying to Pinterest plan.

Pros:

-Ideas for pictures: I’ve found countless of picture ideas I never would have thought of if I never got online. I can easily show my photographer some great snapshots I can’t go without on my big day.

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First kiss from behind the preacher

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– Ideas for colors/bridesmaids dresses and flowers: I can easily show a florist and look for bridesmaids dresses that go along with a shot I’ve seen and easily Pinned.

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-Easy organization. When visit a vendor or go to the bridal salon to buy bridesmaids dresses, I can easily whip out my phone and show colors, ideas and my vision. I don’t have to print out endless amounts of pictures and remember to bring them with me when I meet with a vendor. It’s all right there!

Cons:

-Idea and Information Overload: One could possibly spend countless hours looking at ALL of the great ideas for favors, pictures, colors, decorations, extra fun activities, etc. But you can easily get overwhelmed with all of the ideas, trying to do all of these great ideas that sounded good at the time but make you lose track of the purpose of the day- marrying the love of your life. I was talking to a friend of mine whose friend recently got married, and commented that she got so caught up in doing all of the ideas she saw on Pinterest, it became too stressful.  You don’t want to spend your wedding day stressing over whether the photographer is going to still be there at the end to snap that awesome ‘sparkler picture’.

-Will I be able to afford that?: As many start to actually plan their wedding, they quickly realize that:

Things you think you are definitely going to have at your wedding- like a rustic barn venue and vintage cowboy boots for all of your bridesmaids- might not be a financial reality.  Looking at all the pictures then realizing what you can actually afford can leave you feeling inadequate and unfulfilled. Just remember that you don’t need all the bells and whistles- remember the true meaning of the day!

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– Usability of images you find: Again, as you start to plan, you’ll probably realize that some of the stuff you Pinned really isn’t even useful to your actual planning.

 Pinterest can be fun- but try not to get overwhelmed! It’s really easy to get caught up in “I need to do this” and “I must have this”. Don’t lose sight of the point of your day. My advice is pick 2-3 really good ideas that you find and focus on those instead of trying to focus on 15 things you find you want to do.

Blog inspired by Pencil & Pancakes

The Perfect Holiday Wedding

Holiday weddings are truly spectacular. Many bride and grooms choose to get married in their favorite element, which is often snow! There is something beautiful and cheerful about the holidays and snow. There are many reasons to have a holiday wedding too! First, you save money on decorations at numerous venue locations as they are already decorated for the holidays. Second, it’s a great time to have a wedding if you know out of town guests will be in town for the holidays.

Mark Parsons Photography

Take the time to add fun and special wintertime and/or holiday details to your wedding like an all white wedding, or giving throw blankets as favors, and serving hot buttered rum as specialty drink. If you want over the top, have an ice sculpture with fake snow in a room with dripping chandeliers, and don’t forget the bling!

 

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Want your cake to sparkle plus taste amazing? Order a white frosted sugar cake with each layer a different festive holiday flavor like, rum cake with a cheesecake filling, spice cake with a creamy cinnamon filling, and classic dark chocolate cake with a cranberry sauce filling, yum! Lots of candles will not only create a romantic atmosphere but also a cozy atmosphere, so choose a venue that allows candlelight and maybe a fireplace. Wintertime wedding dresses are so much fun to find, because you can actually wear the new trend of sleeves and will feel comfortable and not hot, like summer brides must face with this latest wedding trend.

Remember to take a few of these wintertime issues into consideration when planning your wedding. First, consider the weather, does it snow mostly every winter season where you live? Second, flights are more likely to be canceled during the winter months, remember that for out of town guests. Many of your friends could be out of town visiting their family around Christmas time, so remember to send a save the date cards as soon as you are engaged.

Enjoy planning your holiday wedding; it’s a fun time to get married!  For some ideas, be sure to follow TLC Events on Pinterest.. and check out some of our Winter Wedding Pins!

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Reblogged from MEGA Weddings & Events

Wedding 101: Pinterest Planning

With the world of technology growing every day, planning a wedding now in my opinion, has to be so much easier than it was for our parents and grandparents.  You can easily now “google” any key words that will help you find ideas about what you are looking for. With technology has come the world of social media and websites like Facebook, Twitter, and now Pinterest. I think their website has the best description of what Pinterest is that I’ve seen on line. “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.”

Not only are Pinterest users adding images to their virtual pinboards for inspiration to help plan their big day, but some are collecting ideas for the future and aren’t even engaged. Either way, Pinterest is an easy way to make planning a wedding more manageable. It’s like ripping the pages out of wedding magazines and taping them to your bulletin board — but digitally. Even better, each picture is typically linked to a site where you can buy the styles you want, learn DIY crafting tips and become informed about the latest trends. Friends and other Pinterest followers can also leave comments and feedback to make the whole planning process more interactive. Here are some tips from Mashable Media that can help you plan your wedding with the help of Pinterest.

1 – If you haven’t joined yet, why are you waiting?

There are two ways to sign up. Head to their website: www.pinterest.com and request an invite.  You’ll be added to a waiting list and will receive an email after a few days letting you know you can now join. Or if you know someone who’s already on the site, ask them to invite you. Usually that speeds along the process and you’ll get an invite to join a lot faster.

2 – Create Boards 

It depends how detailed you want to get with your boards, but we recommend creating various sections based on planning areas. Creating boards based on category makes it easy to keep track of ideas and narrow down preferences. Pictures can also be pinned to more than one section. Here are some board topics worth creating: Invitations, wedding dresses, veils, shoes, flowers, cake designs, hair styles, nails, makeup, bridal accessories, bridesmaids, groomsmen, centerpieces, favors, showers and photography (engagement/wedding day ideas).

3 – Follow The Experts

In addition to following your friends and family for style inspiration, keep tabs on what the wedding experts of the world are pinning to their boards. In fact, a lot of wedding and magazines blogs — includingThe Knot and Style Me Pretty — are getting in on the Pinterest trend, pinning hundreds of creative and beautiful ideas. Style Me Pretty is one of the most popular wedding presences on Pinterest, with over 160,000 followers and 52 boards. You can follow all of their boards or just a few that most interest you, such as “Hairstyles” or “Bouquets.” Also, try searching with broad keywords such as “wedding” and “hair” to find and follow users who have pinned images of styles you like. TLC Events has our own Pinterest page you can follow. I share other pins I’ve found from other experts, vendors and weddings I have worked with. Click here to follow me. 

4 – Starting Pinning

The site is overflowing with creative and beautiful pictures, so to keep track of what you like, click on a picture and “repin” it. Pinterest will ask you which board you would like to add it to.  Visiting your boards and pins will help inspire creativity with planning.

4 – Add The “Pin It” Bookmarklet 

If you find a picture you love on a site besides Pinterest, it’s easy to add it as a pin to your board via the “Pin It” bookmarket in Google’s Chrome browser. To install, click on the Wrench icon in the browser and select Toolbars – Always Display Bookmarks Bar. Drag and drop the Pin It button onto you Bookmarks Bar. Once installed in your browser, the Pin It button lets you grab an image from any website and add it to one of your pinboards. When you pin from a site, Pinterest grabs the source link so it credits the original creator.

5- Encourage Feedback

Friends and other Pinterest followers can leave comments and feedback on pins to make the whole planning more interactive. If you are interested in hearing opinions, ask questions and invite people to tell you what they think.

7- Download the App on Your SmartPhone

Instead of printing out pictures or bringing magazines with you to shop for wedding dresses and other items, iPhone users should download the app, so boards can be accessed while on the go. Unfortunately, the app isn’t optimized for the iPad just yet, though the site can still be accessed via the tablet.

Overall, I think Pinterest is a handy tool that gives you ideas you might not ever see in a bridal magazine. Enjoy it and don’t just use it for your wedding planning. I’ve found great DIY projects, ideas for the house as well as delicious recipes on the site.

Happy Planning!