10 Tips On How To Manage Social Media On Your Wedding Day
Social media is a relatively new concept and something we all now consider during important life events, such as your engagement, pregnancy reveal, and of course your wedding day. Some couples use it to its fullest, with brides covering their whole wedding on Instagram stories, with other couples opting for a completely ‘unplugged’ day, where social media and photos are prohibited. Here are our 10 top tips on how to manage social media on your wedding day.
Before we get into our tips, we wanted to show you how important social media can be on a wedding day. Check out some of these statistics collected by bride magazine:
1) Of the 90% millennial brides-to-be getting married in 2017, it has been reported that a staggering 84% use social media on their wedding day and 19% use their mobile phones during the wedding party.
2) 64% of Brits request their guests to use a unique hashtag when uploading Instagram photos.
3) 11% of brides admit they would rather not have photos shared of their wedding posted online.
4) Only 7% of couples request that their wedding be unplugged.
How To Manage Social Media On Your Wedding Day
1) Decide your policy in advance
Do you want your wedding to be fully ‘unplugged’, or are you happy for your guests to share everything about the day.
Before you can successfully manage the social media surrounding your wedding day, you must decide on the policy that you and your partner will be opting for.
Some good questions to ask yourself to determine your social media policy include:
- Do you want to be the first one to post a picture of your wedding on social channels?
- Do you want your wedding to be captured by your guests in angles and positions a photographer could not achieve?
- Will you be upset if elements of your wedding are shared outside your social circle?
- Do you want to have all of your wedding day pictures under one social media hashtag?
2) Communication
Once you have decided your policy, you will need to communicate this to your guests with plenty of time before your wedding.
You can achieve this by including some additional information on your wedding invites or website if you have one.
3) Hashtag
If you will be asking your guests to use a hashtag, ensure it is simple and easy to type after a few glasses of champagne. Be sure to check it out prior to the day to see if it is already in use on Instagram.
Displaying your hashtag on a chalkboard on the day is also useful to highlight this to your guests.
4) Do not hate
Try not to look at social media as a wedding demon; it can be super useful in some areas. Some photo booths have an option to upload to Facebook. If so, you’ll need to create a Facebook page and add everyone beforehand.
5) Work with your photographer
Your photographer will be eternally grateful if you restrict photos during the wedding ceremony. This way, it ensures they will get much better shots without guests leaning out into the aisle. It also means that your wedding photos will not be littered with guests holding phones up. Key times to deploy this rule include when the bride walks in and when the vows are read.
6) Mange your suppliers
Your suppliers may want to get shots of the venue set up for their own social media channels whilst they are working and may have included this in your contract, so be sure to read it thoroughly.
7) Appoint a social manager
If you would personally like to stay off of social media for the day but still appear active, appoint a close, social media savvy friend to change your password and be your social manager for the day. Let them know how much you would like to be posted, what kinds of photos are okay and what style you would like the captions to be. This way, you will be able to relax and focus on the day and not be constantly worrying about what your wedding looks like to the outside world looking in, whilst also retaining your online presence for the day.
8) Accept that people will forget
Some guests will forget (or ignore) the rules you set in place – It is inevitable. You may want to appoint a cool, calm and collected member of the wedding party to handle such incidents in a gracious way, if noticed. On the other hand, if you have created a hashtag and people are not using it, ask a friend to get the ball rolling, or even have someone with a speaking role to do a little hashtag shout-out.
9) Social wall
If you want to go all out, hire a social wall. This is where all photos of your wedding hashtag will literally appear live on a large screen at the wedding reception. This is the perfect way to embrace social media and use it to make your day one to remember!
10) Your day, your decision
Do not forget that it is YOUR big day and you can decide whatever you want. Don’t feel awful for setting boundaries if you truly think they will make your wedding the most enjoyable for you both. Do what ever makes you and your partner happy!
If you are in the process of planning and booking your wedding day why not visit The Wedding Guides list of hand pick suppliers. They are always happy to help in any way possible.