360DigitalInfluence

Wedding bells are ringing. They’re no longer just ringing at your ceremony, but all over the internet. Social media has expanded your wedding planning and day-of events to not only guests attending the big event, but to your entire social networks. Social media allows you to communicate with guests prior to the event and keep the memories forever. Since I’m getting married in less than a week, I decided to take a glance at how social media has changed the wedding process.

Wedding Proposals

Wedding proposals are getting more and more creative. Along with being creative, they’re being captured on video and uploaded to YouTube. There are more than 6,000 results when searching “wedding + proposal” on YouTube. Some of those proposals videos became so viral they have millions of views.

Wedding Vendors

Wedding vendors are using blogs and social networking sites to showcase past work and connect with potential clients. They want your business! Using online outlets gives vendors a chance to highlight their offerings instead of having to look through flip books with outdated trends. Wedding photographers often post their pictures of your wedding to their Facebook fan page. This allows for your friends to be tagged in professional photographs, extending the reach of the photographers’ capabilities even farther.

I recently chatted with my colleague Jessica Solloway, a digital producer by day and wedding blogger by night about finding wedding vendors online. “Social media was helpful for finding vendors, especially photographers. Many are active on Facebook and Twitter, and have amazing blogs that are constantly updated,” says Jessica. “So you can determine if their style is right for you before sitting down for a meeting. Plus, seeing other people’s weddings on photographer blogs is great inspiration for your own décor, flowers, dress styles, even food.”

Looking for wedding vendors who are doing it right on Twitter? Enter wedding keywords on Twitter search engines such as Listorious and WeFollow.

The Big Day: Chief Social Media Officer

Even though we’re utilizing a professional photographer, there will be tons of wedding photos on Facebook by amateur photographers (aka guests) before we ever see a professional snapshot. Some people recommend designating a chief social media officer for weddings. Duties of this person include taking pictures for the bride and groom’s Facebook pages and wedding website and live tweeting. While it’s a great way to keep everyone who could not attend informed, I personally don’t think I could burden someone with those responsibilities. After all, your guests are at your big day to celebrate with you!

What are some other ways social media has affected the big day? Some people decide to UStream their wedding for guests who could not be there in person. This also creates for an online meeting space for those guests to virtually sit next to each other and chat during the ceremony.

Want to go the extra mile for your socially savvy guests? Entice them with a rare Foursquare badge by providing them with an incentive to check-in to your wedding.

Weddings are supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life. It’s up to the bride and groom to deem how they want to integrate social media into their wedding planning process and the day of the big event. How did you integrate social media into your wedding? If you’re not married, how do you foresee yourself using social media during the planning process and on the big day?

As for my wedding, we won’t be setting up a UStream nor will there be an official hashtag. Our wedding planner already told me she’s taking my cell phone away so there won’t be many live updates directly from my end, but I’m sure pictures will be uploaded as soon I step on the glass.