Social Media at Weddings: Trendy or Trashy?

A few weeks ago, a reporter from Fox Business News called us for some comments about the W Hotel’s $3,000 “social media concierge” service providing professional coverage of the wedding via Twitter, Instagram, Vine and even your blog.

It got me thinking about the impact of social media on modern weddings.  I turned to our wedding pro friends for some feedback about what’s happening out there.

5 Wedding Social Media Trends

1 – Social Media Butterflies vs. the Purists

The social media rage has divided couples into two camps: those who embrace and include social media at the wedding, and those who absolutely forbid it.

“The last thing I want is people texting and tweeting while I’m exchanging my vows,” one bride said.  She and her fiancé asked guests to kindly refrain from using mobile devices and social media during the wedding.

On the other hand, high-tech couples encourage liking and sharing throughout the day, providing hashtags and instructions for their guests to use before, during and after the wedding.

Action Step: Ask couples during the planning how they’d like to handle the social media question and discuss the alternatives.

2 – Pinterest for Planning

Leann Moore of Whimsical Floral creates a private Pinterest board for her clients to gather floral design inspirations and communicate about which ideas the bride likes best.  The social media bulletin board makes the process easier for both the wedding professional and the client.

Action Step: Designers and artists should utilize Pinterest boards to share design inspiration to customize designs for the couple and increase sales with images of additional features and upsells.

3 – #Wedding Hashtags

Couples are organizing photos online by asking their guests to use a custom hashtag like #sallyandlarrybakerwedding to tag photos and posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.  This makes them easily searchable on Google.

Terry of Flash Shack Photobooth says, “[I offer] direct social upload from my Photobooth to Facebook, Twitter, email and cell phones. I brand the pics and add hashtags to the uploading program so everyone knows which Photobooth the photos came from!”

Action Steps: Make it easy for couples to spread the word.  Entertainers can announce the couple’s hashtag at the reception.  Planners and stationers can remind couples to include it on the invitations.  Savvy photographers and photo booth owners can brand and hashtag uploads, using it as promotion.

4 – Live streaming and Skype ceremonies

Guests who can’t attend the wedding are able to enjoy the ceremony via live streaming video broadcast, Skype and Google Hangouts.

Our first personal experience with this came almost four years ago when we introduced a live Skype toast given by a friend in Africa.  His entertaining speech was projected onto a screen and amplified for all the guests to enjoy.

Action Step: Videographers and photographers should add live streaming services to their packages and delight their clients with these premium features.

5 – Social sharing at the reception

Couples are using technology to allow their guests to broadcast social media musings right at the reception.  Services such as Wedpics allow couples to create a custom app and share it with friends and family so that guests can add photos and videos to an album and share instantly on multiple social media networks.

“[Wedpics]…created a serious buzz during the reception as all of their Photos taken by their guests began to appear on the projection screens in their venue…It also gave me lots of opportunities for some guerilla branding, as my own images appeared with our Watermark added in a subtle way.”  Gerry Duffy, Gerry Duffy Wedding Videos

Action Step: Introduce couples to apps like Wedpics and encourage them to use them at the reception and then include your own branded photos in the mix.

Like it or not, it looks like social media at weddings is here to stay.  Until the next big thing, that is.

What do you think about social media at weddings?

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