
Daniela Raciti
In March, I wrote about finding my (soon-to-be) husband online and planning my wedding while not taking my eyes off the phone/computer screen. The more wedding planning I do (online, of course), the more websites, apps and information I come across that peak my curiosity.
Is your wedding trending?
Wedding selfies aren’t the only aspect of your wedding that should go viral. Through the end of December 2014, W Hotels in New York is offering a “social media wedding concierge” for the low price of $3k. W Hotels even goes so far as creating you a wedding blog, registry wish list, Pinterest board for your honeymoon, and putting together a Shutterfly book with wedding day highlights from all the social media platforms.
While this may seem a bit excessive (and not just financially), plastering of weddings on social is not something that is uncommon, including couples taking selfies at the altar (… that’s a bit excessive). Let’s think about it for a second. You know your guests are going to take pictures and post them whether you want them to or not, so why not add this one extra ‘vendor’ to your list to aggregate everything for you so you can enjoy the honeymoon instead of looking up your hashtag on the beach to see what people posted?
If you don’t happen to have $3,000 extra in the budget to spend, you can always see if your wedding planner would be willing to add “social media” to her list of services and create a hashtag for your day. (If you don’t have a wedding planner, create the hashtag yourself and be sure to share it with your guests.)
Wedding planning mobile apps
You don’t have to tell me that there are not enough hours in the day to plan a wedding and do everything else you have going on. For us soon-to-be brides who are always on the run and don’t want to lug a wedding binder around (you know how I feel about those), just download an app or two:
v The Knot’s Ultimate Wedding Planner: When you’re engaged (well, let’s be realistic, before you get engaged), The Knot is one of the first websites you create an account on to start planning your dream wedding. In October of 2011, they launched their Ultimate Wedding Planner, an “all-inclusive wedding planning application” for iPad and iPhone for $4.99. According to the press release: “Couples can… create and update their wedding to-do list, track wedding budget expenses, browse thousands of wedding dresses and bookmark inspirational photos of cakes, wedding décor and more – all while on the go.” Soon after the launch, they added a few more features to the app including vendor and guest list managers and mobile wedding message boards.
v Wedding Wire: Wedding Wire (another site you typically sign up for before/when you are engaged) actually has a family of mobile apps to make wedding planning easier: WeddingWire, WedTeam, WedSocial, and WedStyle. Each app has different functions, so if you’re looking for inspiration and you’re Pinterest-ed out, WedStyle has thousands of photos; If you want to share all the photos your guests took in one place, download WedSocial; If you have no idea where to start with vendors, WedTeam has you covered an easily searchable list by preferences and location; And lastly, if a management tool is all you really need, the WeddingWire app is all you will need to manage budgets, checklists, RSVPS and you can even participate in the forums as if you were on the website.
v David Tutera Live – My Dream Wedding: Having David as your wedding planner is every girl’s dream (sorry guys, finding you was second on the list) and unfortunately for most of us, a dream is all it will ever be; But for 99 cents, you can have the next big thing: David’s wedding app! Available for iPhone and iPad, the app has a real time countdown to your wedding and anniversary, a wedding checklist, tips, videos and advice from the man himself, “accessible wedding party contact information” and “ceremony and reception location details”. I’ll take it!
Wedding video and picture apps
The wedding day is over (sad) and you’re looking for a way to combine all the photos and videos from your guests into memories you can look back on forever (if you had a social media concierge, you wouldn’t have to worry about it, but I digress). Here are some great apps that will get the job done, for far less than what your photographer and videographer charged you:
v Animoto: “Animoto is a video creation service (online and mobile) that makes it easy and fun for anyone to create and share extraordinary videos using their own pictures, video clips, words and music.” Your completed video will be in HD and ready to be shared on your social media platforms and burned to a DVD.
v Eversnap (formerly Wedding Snap): Simply put, “Eversnap app and website help you to collect all your guests’ photos AND videos in one online album.” Once you sign up and create an album, you’ll receive 200 “adorable instruction cards for your guests” that will allow them to upload their photos and videos all in one place. You can use a custom hashtag (ie #danielabilly2014) and the best part is your guests’ photos can be used for a slideshow during your reception! Just make sure your entertainment package includes a screen.
v Wedding Party App: Wedding Party is a private app that does everything from the minute you get engaged until after you get married. Share information with your guests, invite loved ones and track RSVPS. Guests can even “share their favorite memories of your relationship and stay connected to the celebrations no matter where they are.” Once the big day is over, feel free to relive the entire journey all over again through the app.
Bridal Registry Apps
v My Registry: With this app and website, you can “add gifts from any website onto one universal gift registry”. It doesn’t even have to be for a wedding, it could be a general wish list as well. If you created wedding registries at various stores, you can sync them on this site so your guests can very easily see everything you’ve requested in one place. Once completed, you can download printable announcement cards to include with the bridal shower invites.
v Simple Registry: Very similar to My Registry in the sense that you can “put any item from anywhere on one wedding registry”, this app also lets guests suggest items that you may like but didn’t think of requesting with the SimpleAdder tool. Additionally, when it comes time to write thank you notes, the gifts you received were already tracked, so no need to “google” addresses and wonder if Aunt Liz was the one who gave you the Lenox vase. A full checklist with details was already built for you, so just print (if you want) and thank away!
v Wedding Scan: Another app that lets you “register any product at any store by scanning a barcode or manually entering the item”, but what makes it stand out amongst the rest is that any and all items that you scann include a geo-location so your family and friends are able to view where you found the item. For instance, if a small boutique store in your town has an incredible local artisan piece that you just have to have, your guests can easily visit or call the store and buy the item for you without spoiling the surprise by asking you where it can be purchased.
Now that you have all the tools you need to pull off an incredible wedding, there is no excuse for your big day to not be trending on social!
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