Okay, we all know almost every bride is well-versed in her own personal ‘dream wedding’ board, along with plenty of other girls who have everything sorted except the groom. However, using Pinterest effectively doesn’t just mean spending your valuable wedding planning time trawling through hundreds of mint colour schemes, pink peonies and A-line dresses and sticking them to your own board to show your friends. Don’t get us wrong, we do love that part and it’s still very important, but there are other important steps to using Pinterest effectively to plan your wedding.

Pin everything you love

You’re almost definitely already doing this part. As we said, it’s an important step, especially in the early days. When you’re on inspiration overload, don’t worry, just pin the things that catch your eye. Separate them into as many boards as you like to keep them organised, but be sure to separate them in a way that makes sense to you. If you want them separated by category, like flowers, dresses, cakes, etc. then do that. However, if you’d prefer to separate the boards by colour then do it that way. You can always do it both ways and pin pictures twice.

Look elsewhere

Orange van with open doors is decorated with yellow, red, purple and green flowers sits at the end of a small white crochet aisle. In the background are tall handing trees and the ocean KMD Photo and Film

Don’t just spend hours upon hours trawling through Pinterest actively looking for something to pin. Active pinning can lead to you pinning things that you don’t really like individually, but rather finding a diamond in the rough until you realise that it doesn’t go with the tone you’re trying to set with your own wedding. Have a more relaxed look through different articles, websites and other sources (including yours truly) and only pin things if and when you come across things you like, not when you’re actively trying to fill your boards.

Narrow down your favourites

Don’t delete any pins in the wedding planning process. Simply make a new board for your narrowed down selection. Go back through your boards, look at what jumps out at you most among what you’ve pinned already and re-pin these ones to a new board. Keep doing this until you start to hone in on your style. With each ‘elimination’ you’ll start to see what ideas are really shining through the din of inspiration overload. The ideas, style and colours you love most will keep speaking to you, no matter how often you look at them.

Know what appeals to you

Pink, white and gold stationary is laid out on a light pink table and decorated with pink and yellow flowers. At the bottom of the image is a wedding ring in a small red box Sarah McKenzie Photography

When you’re looking at your narrowed down pins, you need to know what about each one appeals to you. Why did you keep pinning those particular pictures? Is it the for the cap sleeves on those dresses? Is it the colours in those flowers, or the flowers themselves? Do you really love those place cards or just that style of writing? Make sure you know what about the pins are appealing to you to focus more on your style. That way you’ll be able to go to your vendors with very specific styles and ideas in mind.

Look for vendors on Pinterest

Speaking of vendors, a lot of the vendors you’re looking at might be on Pinterest themselves. Looking at their Pinterest boards will give you a feel for the kind of style they opt for, be it a venue, photographer or florist. If you have a few pins that you like from a particular vendor before meeting them you save them and show them. That way they have a stronger idea about the kind of style you’re going for based on what they have seen or done before.

Don’t get DIY carried away

A large role of brown, white and gold butcher paper acts as the backdrop to a small wedding. In front of the paper are several large barrels overflowing with pink, white, yellow and green flowers. Among the flowers are lanterns. In front of the flowers and paper are eight wicker folding chairs Alison Conklin

Since Pinterest has erupted onto the wedding planning scene, DIY projects were quick to follow. Brides and grooms are now committing to significant DIY projects for their wedding with supposedly easy tutorials from Pinterest. But beware. DIY is almost never as easy as it looks and many brides have been fooled in the past into thinking it’s a good idea to make their own favours. Take a look at some of these DIY Pinterest projects gone horribly wrong. If you want to make something yourself, think long and hard about how complicated the project is, decide if you have the skills and time to do it and only commit to one or two.

Pinning isn’t planning

Remember, Pinterest is a great way to start deciding what styles, colours, dresses and details you want on your special day with millions of ideas at the scroll of a mouse. However, it’s important to remember that pinning does not equal planning, so just because you’ve picked the perfect flowers, doesn’t mean you’ve booked your florist. Be sure to research vendors, follow up with them, organise meetings and nail down the details you’ve taken so much time to pin to your boards. For some inspiration to get you started, check out these essential wedding boards to follow. 

 

- Jenny Darmody