How to use Pinterest to plan your wedding: by lovely bride Lauren
The lovely bride and self-confessed Pinterest addict, Lauren (@lolasourbutts), is here to share her top tips for using the platform to plan your wedding. Lauren and her now-husband Sam got married this summer at the amazing Villa il Pozzo in Tuscany. Originally planned for 2020 and postponed, Lauren’s had ample time to play with Pinterest and subsequently pull off one hell of a stylish affair - check out their beautiful table setting and Ginori plates above - swoon!
So before you go diving headfirst into a Pinterest black hole, take a look at her advice below and become the savviest Pinner in town.
Create your wedding board, and make it private. As your plans get more detailed, you’ll want to keep them secret from friends and family so they will still be surprised on the day - especially if you’re going to be pinning wedding dress ideas!
Get started by browsing through existing pins, and don’t be afraid to be specific. Pinterest has SO many images; if you’re looking for table setting ideas for your romantic Springtime wedding in Italy, search for just that.
You can split your board up into sections. Grouping your pins by topic will save you a lot of scrolling & searching time. I split my board up into lots of sections, for example, flowers, tables, venues, colour palette ideas, photography styles, stationery etc. You can create sections within your board by clicking the Organise tool at the top.
And don’t forget a ‘miscellaneous’ board for pins that don’t fit your ideas now but you still want to hold on to.
Adding collaborators to your board is a great way to run ideas past those who are helping you to plan your wedding, such as your partner, bridal party, wedding suppliers or wedding planner. Your top 5 bouquet photos will do a much better job of telling your florist what you want than trying to describe it.
To add collaborators click the + beneath your board name. Let your collaborators know beforehand if you do or don’t want them to add their own ideas.
A lot of pins will have a link through to the original webpage they came from. By following the links, you may just find a whole album of photos from a real-life wedding or a dress designer you love.
Download the ‘Pinterest Browser Button’ for your web browser (this extension only works with Google Chrome) or use the Share to Pinterest function on your phone.
Use them to save every single thing you find for your wedding. Images of real weddings, Instagram posts, pictures in wedding magazines, items you want to buy, stills from films, everything. You will build a plan that’s totally personal to you, and it’s also a great way to collate everything without having to scrabble through your saved Instagram posts and bookmarks to find that tiny detail on a wedding dress you saw 6 months ago.
If you open a pin and scroll down, Pinterest will suggest similar images. This is a great way to discover new ideas similar to those you have already saved and hone in on the exact thing you want.
This is really clever! Click on the magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of a pin and zoom in on the part of the image you are interested in, for example, this might be the flowers in a bouquet a bride is holding. Pinterest will then bring up all similar images, allowing you to find out what that particular flower is and pin this to your board!
When you first start planning, you will find a lot of things that you love. As time goes on, go back through your board and you will start to see trends emerging in the things you have saved. You may even realise that what you thought you wanted at the beginning isn’t what you really love. Don’t be afraid to delete pins that no longer feel right, or move them into a separate ‘old ideas’ board if you don’t want to lose them. By the time it comes to making final decisions, you will hopefully have a curated selection of what you want your wedding to look like - the more specific you can be, the better.
And remember, it all takes time. You won’t find the perfect venue, dress, bouquet, shoes and photographer in a week. And nor should you. By taking your time to save an idea or two a day, even if you just spot them when scrolling on Instagram, you will give yourself time to really think through the different elements of your wedding and make it completely your own.
Thanks so much to the lovely Lauren for sharing all of her wisdom with us.
Looking for some wedspiration? Check out La Lista on Pinterest and read our Wedding Trends Edit for 2021.
Written by Beth Butler, marketing person and lover of all things weddings; with a particular passion for beautiful photography, muted florals and a good cup of tea.
