Pinterest, what is it?
A few years back, I discovered a new activity: pinning on Pinterest. I first applied for an invite through others and when I could finally get started a world opened up to me.
Think of Pinterest as a digital mood board; an online place where you can store all your visual notes. For example, when you see an awesome wedding dress you no longer have to save the entire website to your bookmarks, no you can just save that one specific photo!
Why should I use it?
Shall I give you a very clear example? Check out our Pinterest page. Do you see all those folders? That’s why.
You can create numerous folders to group your photos, you can easily search for other photos on the same topic, and if you want you can also comment on each other’s images. In terms of weddings and Pinterest, you can think of folders with special wedding dresses, one for styling, one with your favorite wedding photographers, one with beautiful shoes, fun hairstyles, great printing. In short, the possibilities are actually endless.
Inspiration in terms of color
When I got married I didn’t really know what I wanted in terms of styling and so I first just started looking for colors that appealed to me. When I noticed that certain colors did come up quite often I decided to just go for it. The result: a wedding that was also a perfect fit for us in terms of styling.
The fun part of Pinterest: discovering wedding photos
You can discover photos in several ways, namely by looking at the stream of photos of the people you follow, but also by actively searching for photos yourself within Pinterest. For example, when I want to learn more about the emerging trend “chevron,” I search for this term in conjunction with weddings using the search function. The result is lots of fun examples of how I could use chevron during a wedding.
Tip: Use a Pin-it button so you can easily enter photos from numerous websites. For example, if you see something on our website, on Style me Pretty or Arnhems Meisje, you can easily save those photos.
How to start my own Pinterest account
I hope by now you are convinced to create your own account as well. This can be done in X steps:
- Go to www.Pinterest.com and register via Facebook or your email address.
- What do you like: pick a few areas of interest, such as weddings, DIY and art.
- Follow Pinterest’s own super easy tips to create your first mood boards right away. If all goes well, you’ll already be setting up your first photo collections during the tutorial!
Pinterest tips for your wedding
Personally, if you want to use Pinterest for your wedding, I would immediately create some folders of your own. For example, the following format:
- – Styling (can also be subdivided into various elements)
- Wedding photos (see our blog post about this)
- Wedding Dress
- Wedding Hairstyles
- Sweettables / Dessertables / Wedding cake
- and many more
In addition, I personally use Pinterest the most while watching programs on TV. Before you know it, you’re spending an hour pinning and I don’t mind as much if I do it at a time when I’m less productive anyway.
And overall: lots of fun with pins!
Finding your wedding photographer through Pinterest
So yes that’s the fun part: you can use Pinterest in a targeted way to find services that fit your needs. What you can do is as follows:
- Create a new board in which you will very deliberately look for your (Dutch) wedding photographer. You don’t have to fill this board with countless photos right away, but you can at least slowly build a new collection here that includes photos you like. For example, photos of emotional moments, photos of beautiful details, beautiful overviews of locations or photos where you can see the guests again. If you come across a special photo somewhere: pin it!
- See if you encounter one or more photographers more often. We often find, when our brides (yup: often ladies!) allow us to look at their pins with them, that we are already deeply hidden, reflected in their boards. We then often see photos of wedding venues, of a beautiful wedding dress or of details and emotional moments. If you see one, two or maybe even three photographers pinned frequently, it could mean that this is your wedding photographer!
- Take a look at each photographer’s website, portfolio, references and price list and see if all of these fit you as well. Perhaps that will leave you with two of the three photographers and inquire about his/her/their availability immediately.
- Have you found “the perfect wedding photographer”? Do not hesitate to stop by for an informal introductory meeting or if you are really sure: book and tick off your to-do list.
Disadvantages of Pinterest and marriage
We think it’s super fun to ask our brides and grooms what’s so unique about their day. Of course, every wedding day is unique in itself, but sometimes, for example, the bride along with her mother has put an enormous amount of time into DIY; homemade styling. We like to hear this in advance so we can take extra account of it and also take some nice pictures of it. Of course we photograph everything that appears in front of our camera, but especially those little frills like cut-out hearts, confetti-dipped vases and homemade garlands are not always overtly homemade. Absolutely pass it on so, nice!
Forwarding a must-have list
But when you find yourself making a list of literally every styling element of the day and you exceed five points, I would take a moment to consider whether this is really necessary for your photographer. If you often see details appear on her/his blog, assume that things are really going to work out with those photos. If you have a very special detail such as a heart of fabric sewn into your wedding dress, or a handkerchief from your deceased grandmother, report it immediately.
Cross it off
The tricky thing about check-off lists is that, as a photographer, at some point you just start looking for all the items on the list. Have I found and photographed point three yet? Do I have point seven and eleven in combination in the photo as well? And where is item fourteen on the list! Your wedding photographer has to check very carefully if everything has already been photographed and therefore can miss real sincere moments. That you’re just standing there chatting with your best friend, or that your grandmother is checking to see if that beautiful vintage cabinet is really as sturdy as she remembers it being in the past. You’d much rather have those moments immortalized, wouldn’t you?
Why is it better not to forward my Pinterest folder to my wedding photographer?
So the tricky part is that your photographer can’t know what’s most important to you. You’ve probably been collecting all your favorite wedding photos in a big folder for a year. Is it entirely realistic to assume that your photographer will take all those photos in that one hour? That Pinterest folder consists of photos taken with evening light, a few were taken right after the preparations (because that bride and groom had explicitly asked for this and had thus scheduled an extra hour for “bridals”), some photos were taken right before the bride and groom met, there are first-look photos among them, here and there a photo with a balloon, with glitter-confetti, with particularly beautiful morning light, in a very unique location.
In short, what you see is the result of “the best of the best” from perhaps 50 different photographers. And then from very different weddings too sometimes. One wedding took place in the Napa Valley in California and the other wedding in the mountains of Switzerland. And that photo with the cute sparklers was taken during a shoot where the photographer was present throughout the party night and could therefore go outside for half an hour during the party to capture that special effect with the light trail for you.
Are there any “dangers” to Pinterest for my reportage?
To be very honest, I have to answer “yes” to this question. Ramon and I find it very important that we make unique reports and of course certain elements of a wedding are always the same, but especially during the creative highlight, the photo shoot, we like to have all the freedom. Therefore, we also very consciously look at colleagues’ work as little as possible.
Indeed, there have been times when we thought, “ah, this is a typical Photographer X photo, so let’s not take it!”. As a result, we came home with something totally different. But when we are saturated with images of others, you therefore run the risk of being limited in your creative freedom.
And why not, because at the end of the day you want a reportage that really suits you? Which was not made because that one bride and groom also stood this way and that way, but because it suited your feelings and your day.
So what is the conclusion?
If you find that you actually like more and more photos and want to cram them all into the hour and a half photo shoot, I would still consult with your wedding photographer to see if your expectations are realistic. I’m sure he or she would love to take a look with you to see which way you want to go with the photo shoot. For example, I always try to find some kind of atmosphere in my brides’ folders. Often it comes down to romantic photos, preferably if possible an additional 30 minute evening shoot and if there is time “something with” balloons, styling elements of the day or confetti”. So have a nice chat with your wedding photographer and come up with a unique reportage together!
Would you like to read more tips and ideas for your wedding? Then click on the link!
