Social Media and Your Wedding

Hello it's Helen.

We live in a digital world. It seems that everyone has a smartphone with a camera and people are always snapping pics wherever they go and posting them to social media. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram let people share (and perhaps overshare) every moment. So what does this have to do with your wedding? A lot actually. Do you want people sharing your day in real time? Maybe you care, but perhaps it's no big deal, and maybe you want to actively help people share. Either way, it's a conscious choice you should make. This post will help you decide and give some options on how you might want to share your big day!

First of all, you're likely paying a photographer a decent chunk of change to capture images on your wedding day and that's great, (we highly recommend it 😉), but those photos won't be seen until days and possibly even weeks after the event. Your formals and venue/decorations pictures are a treasure and you'll want those to be captured by a professional. 

But what about all those people with smartphones? I'm glad you asked! 

"We don't want our ceremony shared in real time. We'd rather be the first ones to share photos of the day." If this is you, that's great. Lots of people choose to have a phone/sharing free zone at their ceremony. This option is completely fine, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to keep a private and intimate feel to your wedding ceremony. You can include this decision in your invitation materials, post signs at your venue, or have someone make an announcement before the ceremony that respectfully ask that there be no personal photos taken. Your day, your choice. Simple. 

"We don't mind if people take and share photos during our wedding and reception." Let it flow: Just let your guests snap their pics and share them however and on whatever platform they use. This is super easy and you don't have to do anything but smile!

"We want to actively help our guests collect their pictures of our special day into a meaningful experience." If this is you, awesome! Lots of people want their day to be shared with the world as it happens. If you'd like your day to be shared in this way there are several options on how you can do it. Here, I'll share a few possibilities just to give you some ideas.

1. Snapchat: Snapchat has super cool features that can make photo sharing fun and easy. 

   • Geo-filters: Snapchat geo-filters are a cool way to personalize the photos taken at your wedding. (A geo-filter is basically a graphic overlay for your photos). Snapchat makes it easy to create these yourself and it's pretty inexpensive. You can design your own in photoshop or you can customize one of the designs that Snapchat offers. (Eleven11 Photography offers a full range of social media assistance that can include design and management of geo-filters).

   • Our Story: This feature allows everyone within a certain area photos to be consolidated into one continuous steaming story. This story can be viewed by everyone for 24 hours. 

2. Wedding photo apps: There are a PLETHORA of apps that allow you download an app or sign up to a site that will consolidate all the photos taken at your wedding in real time. So many so that the good folks over at the Huffington Post compiled a list of 10 wedding photo apps. These apps range from free to $250+. Depending on which apply you choose (besides sharing photos from the event and having them all in one place) you may be able to share information with your guests about your event, create a website with a custom domain, order prints, create instant Facebook albums, or even have the pictures be shown as a slideshow live during your reception! So be sure to look at and compare the services for each to see which one fits best with what you want. 

3. Bring in a professional:You've already got a lot on your plate so maybe you want someone to manage all of this so you don't have one more thing to stay on top of? We can help! With our Virtual Wedding Service we manage all of these important details and even capture all the photos for you as part of photography package so that you get the complete version of your story. 

Whether you choose to let people share share share or leave the picture taking to the professionals, when you choose Eleven11 Photography, we are here to support you every step of the way. Hopefully you found something here you can use, we'll see you next time!