Social Savvy

It all starts with a status update or tweet: We’re getting married! Brides love signing onto social media sites to share wedding updates and get the most of-the-moment ideas. According to Brides magazine’s 2011 American Wedding Study, 17 percent of brides use a social-media app to help plan their wedding, shop for wedding wares or register for gifts. But with all those status updates comes a little common sense. Follow these guidelines on how to appropriately, socially, plan online: Don’t Broadcast To Everyone When it comes to announcing plans online, “you have to be careful,” says Nina Callaway, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based wedding expert. Once upon a time, people who weren’t invited to your nuptials didn’t hear much about the event. But now with 24/7 sharing, “once you start being vocal people might assume they’re invited, and there might be hurt feelings,” Callaway notes. To update only those included in the celebration, create a limited group on Facebook of only friends and family who are invited to the wedding. This is an appropriate place to ask for advice, like if you’re searching for a great DJ or calligrapher in your area. Do Limit Photos After the big day, you may want to ask guests to limit any wedding photos they post to be visible only to the group. “You may have said it’s a small wedding, but [those who weren’t included] can see in photos and posts that 400 people were invited,” Callaway says. Don’t Overload Guests with Info Be careful not to post too often, so guests aren’t overwhelmed with your wedding plans before they’re even seated at the ceremony. It’s best to create a separate wedding website where you can post all the details on the big day and guests can check at their own convenience. Do Use Social Media to Research Vendors Outside of your immediate network, social media is a prime place to do research. “On Facebook you can look at a photographer’s work,” says Cara Davis, author of “Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot” (Relevant Books, 2006). Check out friends’ posts and pictures they’ve tagged - you never know where it might lead. Do Collaborate Online Pinterest serves like an online inspiration board, where brides can gather and share ideas, Davis says. Here, your mother, wedding planner and bridesmaids can add images of things like flowers or dresses they like so you can all see the big picture come together.