Creating a custom hashtag for your wedding is the latest bridal craze. Its a hipper version of the disposable camera on every table and it allows you to one, create a super cute and clever hashtag, and two, instantly share and connect all your wedding photos. It allows you to get all sorts of pictures that you might otherwise miss and it creates a fast and easy way for those not present to feel as though they were there.
All of that sounds great, right? You want your own unique and sweet hashtag, right? You want to involve your guests. You want to capture every moment of your perfect day. You also want to include people who couldnt make it, and you want the chance to get dozens of likes and comments on your photos. I hear you. Plus, your guests are going to take pictures anyway, why not ensure that you get to see them? Why not have them all collected neatly via hyperlinks online?
But anytime there are trends there are those who choose to go against them, and in this case there are some fair points to consider for doing so. To being with, do you really want to be indiscriminately tagged in every photo a guest of your takes? Because there are going to be bad photos. Well intentioned photos, yes, but bad ones with poor lighting where you are inevitably making a weird face. The difference between the quality of photos that professional photographers take and the ones guests take are vast and noticeable and you might not notice it until youve been tagged in one of those bad photos for everyone to see.
Perhaps thats a vain argument, but Im going to say that at least on your wedding day you have the right to be a little vain and to want to project a certain image. However, lets say that you could care less about whether or not you get tagged in bad photos. Thats fair, too, but do you care if people are holding up their phones and snapping pics during your ceremony? Do you care if you look out over the crowd and see people on their phones all trying to be the first to post a pic of you and your spouse? Of course you want to share your wedding with friends and relatives who were unable to attend, but do you have to share it that second? Maybe and maybe not. That all depends on what type of person you are, and what type of wedding you want as well as how social of a social media person you are. Can you kindly ask guests not to live-tweet your ceremony? Yes, you do it in the same hand-drawn-chalk-sign-way that you would have announced your wedding hashtag. In a world so digitally connected, an unplugged wedding might even seem a quaint quirk to some guests rather than an arbitrary rule.
In the end you might choose to have a wedding hashtag and spend the weeks after your wedding sifting through all the photos and comments and likes online. You might have fun reminiscing over the moments you remember and asking yourself where was I when that happened to others. Or you might ask guests to keep their phones hidden during the ceremony or at least waiting until after the wedding is over to post photos. You might savor the moments as you live them, and you might not be concerned with how many posts related to your wedding go up.
The choice is yours, but it is something to think about ahead of time. Sit down, weigh out the pros and cons and decide which option is best for your wedding or whether either one matters to you.
{Lindsey}
Should You Unplug Your Wedding?
Should You Unplug Your Wedding?
Aug 26, 2015
Creating a custom hashtag for your wedding is the latest bridal craze. Its a hipper version of the disposable camera on every table and it allows you to one, create a super cute and clever hashtag, and two, instantly share and connect all your wedding photos. It allows you to get all sorts of pictures that you might otherwise miss and it creates a fast and easy way for those not present to feel as though they were there.
All of that sounds great, right? You want your own unique and sweet hashtag, right? You want to involve your guests. You want to capture every moment of your perfect day. You also want to include people who couldnt make it, and you want the chance to get dozens of likes and comments on your photos. I hear you. Plus, your guests are going to take pictures anyway, why not ensure that you get to see them? Why not have them all collected neatly via hyperlinks online?
But anytime there are trends there are those who choose to go against them, and in this case there are some fair points to consider for doing so. To being with, do you really want to be indiscriminately tagged in every photo a guest of your takes? Because there are going to be bad photos. Well intentioned photos, yes, but bad ones with poor lighting where you are inevitably making a weird face. The difference between the quality of photos that professional photographers take and the ones guests take are vast and noticeable and you might not notice it until youve been tagged in one of those bad photos for everyone to see.
Perhaps thats a vain argument, but Im going to say that at least on your wedding day you have the right to be a little vain and to want to project a certain image. However, lets say that you could care less about whether or not you get tagged in bad photos. Thats fair, too, but do you care if people are holding up their phones and snapping pics during your ceremony? Do you care if you look out over the crowd and see people on their phones all trying to be the first to post a pic of you and your spouse? Of course you want to share your wedding with friends and relatives who were unable to attend, but do you have to share it that second? Maybe and maybe not. That all depends on what type of person you are, and what type of wedding you want as well as how social of a social media person you are. Can you kindly ask guests not to live-tweet your ceremony? Yes, you do it in the same hand-drawn-chalk-sign-way that you would have announced your wedding hashtag. In a world so digitally connected, an unplugged wedding might even seem a quaint quirk to some guests rather than an arbitrary rule.
In the end you might choose to have a wedding hashtag and spend the weeks after your wedding sifting through all the photos and comments and likes online. You might have fun reminiscing over the moments you remember and asking yourself where was I when that happened to others. Or you might ask guests to keep their phones hidden during the ceremony or at least waiting until after the wedding is over to post photos. You might savor the moments as you live them, and you might not be concerned with how many posts related to your wedding go up.
The choice is yours, but it is something to think about ahead of time. Sit down, weigh out the pros and cons and decide which option is best for your wedding or whether either one matters to you.
{Lindsey}