Cover Photograph – Claire Fleck
Most of us will have used Pinterest at some point or another, whether for interior design inspiration, beauty hacks, or perhaps even DIY ideas, but Pinterest wedding planning is a whole different ball game. Of course, it can be an incredibly helpful tool for your own use, but it’s a game-changer when you’re working with a wedding stylist (hi!) and a team whose job it is to translate your vision into reality!
Photographs – Northern Aye
But with over 200 million pins, how do you start? How can you cut through the overwhelm, and use it to create a Pinterest wedding board that can, in turn, create the wedding of your dreams? We’ve got you.
Photograph – Claire Fleck
A note on the ‘Pinterest wedding’
As wedding stylists, it’s our job to blend aesthetic and authenticity; and you might be wondering just how Pinterest fits into this! But when we talk of Pinterest wedding planning, we don’t mean planning a cookie-cutter wedding exactly the same as the ones you can find online. We mean using it as a springboard for your own bespoke ideas, so that we can then translate them into a reality, and create a day that could only ever have been yours.
Photograph – Claire Juliet Paton
Why is Pinterest useful for wedding planning?
And that’s why we love Pinterest wedding planning. A Pinterest board is an incredibly useful way to communicate your vision to your stylist (and the wider team of suppliers too, potentially), by showing them exactly what you like. When we have initial calls with clients to go over their ideas and what they are envisioning, we always like to have their Pinterest board up on our screen, so we can walk through it as we talk through it!
Photograph – Nikki Leadbetter
Even if you don’t quite know why you like what you’ve pinned, or can’t yet put into words what you’re going for, your Pinterest board will help us see what your vision is, whether it’s through colour palette, styling items, or images which show the wider ‘vibe’. (Not sure what to pin? See our tips below!)
Photograph – Nikki Leadbetter
It’s also a really illuminating way to identify what’s important to you on your wedding day. What have you really zoned in on? Is it the ceremony space, or is it table décor? Is it a statement installation to accent your venue to greet people, or one for the reception? Though you might not know the answer to this when someone asks you, looking at what you’ve pinned can show you what your heart says!
Photograph – Nikki Leadbetter
How we use Pinterest wedding planning, as wedding stylists
Armed with the visual inspiration of your board as well as the information we’ve gathered in our chat, we then create a style concept that’s bespoke to you. We never copy from Pinterest; instead, we extrapolate what you liked about the images you chose, then expand on your bespoke ideas and push these creative elements further, to give you a cohesive, uniquely styled wedding that feels totally and utterly like you.
Photograph – Claire Fleck
And, of course: this is all done with your specific day in mind. Whether your venue has a particularly challenging (but exciting!) space, or certain parameters that have to be considered, our style concept translates these ideas to your venue, and your timeline.
Photograph – Claire Fleck
How to use Pinterest for your wedding planning
Fundamentally, of course, Pinterest wedding planning is just like anything else: you search what you love, and you save it to boards for your own reference. You can find these via specific searches or, over time, as the algorithm learns what you like, your home feed will become more and more curated to suit your style.
Photograph – Claire Fleck
Split your board into sections
Of course, it needs to be structured in a way that works for you, but we’d always recommend having one board for your Pinterest wedding planning which is then split into sections. That way, you can see everything as an overview and focus on particular sections when you need to.
Photograph – Elemental
Write notes on your pins
You can also write a note on a pin, if you want to highlight what it is in particular that you liked about the image. If your board is set to private so that you don’t spoil the surprise, no-one else will be able to see any of this; when the time comes, you can invite us as collaborators so that we can see all the exciting things you’ve got on there.
Photographs – Neil Thomas Douglas
Be realistic about your budget
Something else we always like to make our couples aware of is that a lot of images on Pinterest are from styled shoots. Styled shoots are a fabulous way for suppliers to flex a creative muscle, and show something extravagant, but they also usually work on a much smaller scale than a real wedding. For example, individual menus and really detailed place settings are fab for a table of 6, but can quite quickly become a huge expense for 120!
Photograph – The Curries
However, this shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Part of what we do is help with costs: together, we’ll discuss ways in which we can create something similar within your budget. Our styling and floristry is always impactful, and this can be done by focussing on the key areas. Here, https://pin.it/5HrcZjGPinterest wedding planning can actually come in handy, because we can see what comes up most frequently, and then how we can translate that into some serious real-life wow factor for you.
Photograph – The Curries
Flowers – ‘accent’ or ‘abundance’
We also see this quite a lot with florals. We feel there are two keywords to consider here– ‘accent’ or ‘abundance’:
If you envisage flowers everywhere, you’re probably thinking about bouquets, buttonholes, romantic ceremony features, aisle details, hanging installations, glorious centerpieces, and entrance designs. This is the abundance approach, and this could mean you’ll be looking at an investment of around 20-25% of your overall wedding budget on florals.
Photographs – Lianne Mackay
Alternatively, if you’d rather keep things simple and are looking for a lighter touch, then you might fancy a more accent-esque approach. This can mean that you might be looking to commit around 10-15% of your overall wedding budget to florals.
Photograph – The Gibsons
However, this all comes with the huge caveat that every event we design for is totally different, and these are the kind of things that we can and will tailor to your needs throughout the bespoke process!
Photograph – The Gibsons
So, get those pinning fingers at the ready, and if you’ve got something you’d love to show us to get the styling ball rolling, then please feel free to get in touch here. Plus, looking for Pinterest wedding inspiration? Follow us here!
