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What I learned from Instagram: Wedding planning isn't the People's Choice Awards
I've come to hate the question: "How's the wedding planning going?" Because it's usually followed by someone totally shooting down my last planning decision. But... Read more
A lot has changed since I planned a wedding eight years ago. Mostly… Instagram's existence. It's my favorite social media platform, for keeping up with friends and sharing my own life. But it's also been surprisingly helpful for wedding planning!
Getting inspiration
Have you checked out any wedding tags on Instagram? The #offbeatbride hashtag itself will send you down an endless rabbit hole of wedding inspiration. In a few seconds I went from scrolling, to clicking on a cool looking dress and discovering a new designer…
To learning that printed veils were a thing…
To thinking of awesome ideas for fern crowns instead of a floral crown.
To getting to a #woodlandbride ceremony set up that I like…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKjV2c2Ar7H/?tagged=woodlandbride
And then starting the process all over again when I reach the end of that rabbit hole.
Instagram-stalking your vendors
I hired a wedding planner (yay!) and I'm gonna have a whole post on how awesome Holly is soon. But I have to say one of my favorite things is following her on Instagram and seeing all the weddings she's pulling off…
Or the inspiration she's getting from industry events…
And even just watching her having fun with her boyfriend on the weekends, and asking where I can get her dresses, sunglasses, and golden pineapple…
I'll let you in on another little secret… I'm following a bunch of vendors in the Northern California area so I can stalk their work over time, and see if we might be a fit. No awkward trial period, no fear of having to reject them after we meet if I don't like their work… and it's been awesome for this anxious bride.
I already rejected and un-followed a couple of vendors who BLEW ME AWAY with their floral arrangement Instagrams, until I realized that they were pretty much one-trick-ponies, never really working far outside of that one particular style. Meh.
And I'm still following some of my favorite dress designers that haven't quite designed “my” wedding dress, yet, but they might!…
I'm also working up the courage to contact another vendor who keeps consistently making my mouth water with his foodstagrams. Which brings me to my next point…
Finding vendors that don't even know they're vendors
Sure you can Google search for wedding vendors, but what if you're looking for people who don't even know they're wedding vendors? I don't want a wedding cake, but I do want a lot of fun dessert options for folks. So I started looking for donut makers in San Francisco, who might want to supply us with creative donuts. The #sfdonut tag was awesome for that…
Mini donuts with individual toppings!? Rad.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BC_gwWgsGxP/?tagged=sfdonuts
A tower of donuts instead of a cake!? Awesome.
Did you even know that roasted pear and walnut, humus and herb pesto, and cookie butter and chocolate donuts were all things? Yum!
All of those Instagrams have been followed, and I'm stalking them for ideas, and possible hirings.
Getting feedback
Once upon a time I found this dress, and it blew my mind. I wanted it to be my wedding dress. But it's a freaking one-of-a-kind Valentino couture dress that is not possible to own nor wear for a wedding. So I posted this picture of it on Instagram, and waited to see if anyone out there could help me, or have any ideas.
Sure enough, a friend contacted me who happens to be a dress-maker, and studied under Valentino's bodice-maker, and she offered to create a custom version of this dress for me if I wanted.
In the meantime, she encouraged me to look at other wedding dresses to see if I could find something I like. So I've been sharing them on Instagram, and really enjoying all the feedback!:
Speaking of feedback… are you using Instagram to plan a wedding? If so, how are YOU using this awesome tool?
About the Author: Megan Finley Horowitz
When Megan's not writing, traveling, and sleeping, she's eating like the fate of the world depends on it. (You're welcome, world!) You can snoop into her personal life over on her website The Dash and Dine!
My favourite thing about the “my little pony” dress was the comments your Queen’s guard left chastising you for posting it xD Too real, and too funny.
OMG, they lost their damn minds. It was amazing!!!! I’m so glad you got a kick out of that too. 😉