The time has finally come. You said “Yes” to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Now it’s time to plan your wedding. Where does a girl turn to? You’ve got wedding magazines of course. But there’s also everyone’s favorite resource for pretty much everything – Pinterest! You too can have a Pinterest wedding, but there’s a few things to keep in mind as you browse all the eye candy that is bound to appear.

Now if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already figured out I’m a photographer. I can’t speak for every other vendor out there, but I know what I read in vendor groups. A large portion of this is going to relate specifically to photography, but is definitely applicable to other vendors. So let’s dive right in.

Without further ado, the number one mistake I see brides make comes down to one simple issue: You expect various parts of your wedding to be a duplicate of something you saw on Pinterest.

Can we PLEASE move past this expectation?????

But wait. How do you use Pinterest if I’m telling you not to duplicate what you see?

Let’s start with wedding photography. By all means, go ahead and browse wedding portraits. Then pay attention to what you like about them. Is it the style (dark and moody or light and bright)? Is it the posing? Is it the attention to details? Is it candid? Is it posed? And THEN you choose a photographer whose work already aligns with what you loved about the images you chose.

It’s OK if you have a photographer in mind who you already love, go ahead and book them! If not, then use the Pinterest images as inspiration to help you find one.

But please do NOT choose a photographer then hand them a whole stack of images you want a duplicate of. Keyword here is duplicate. Just don’t. Hire a photographer whose work you love, whose work aligns with the vision you have with your wedding day.

Your wedding day is uniquely yours. You are a different couple, on a different day, with different lighting, likely at a different venue with a different photographer. Do not expect your photos to look exactly the same. There. I said it.

Does this mean you can’t show images you love to your photographer? NOT AT ALL! I know I’m perfectly fine when a bride shows me ideas she loves and then lets me put my own spin on it. Also, showing your photographer images they took that you absolutely love might just score you some brownie points.

Just don’t expect me (or any photographer) to duplicate every single image you show me. And seriously, you’d be surprised how often that happens! When we have to spend our time duplicating ideas, we don’t get to use our own creativity. And that takes away from the uniqueness of your wedding day!

So use Pinterest to identify your style and find vendors who align with your style. Use Pinterest for inspiration. Plan a Pinterest Wedding that is uniquely yours.

Want to see some inspiration from past weddings I’ve photographed? Check out weddings on my blog!

Want to see some wedding inspiration I’ve pinned for my brides on Pinterest? Check out this Pinterest board!