Navigating through the rules of wedding etiquette has always been difficult, but now social media is taking it to a whole new level. Engaged couples already have enough on their plates without having to worry about when or when not to post, tag or share. To make it easier, here’s some tips and tricks for celebrating a wedding in the digital age.

Do’s and Don’ts

  1. Don’t Change Your Facebook Status First: Getting engaged is incredibly exciting, but be sure to personally contact those who are most important to you (such as your parents, your siblings, grandparents, etc.) before posting your engagement on social media accounts.
  2. Do Think About Different Invites: If you’re going to have a formal engagement party or a Jack and Jill, then it’s best to send traditional invitations, but if they’re going to be casual and low-key, then you can feel free to send a Facebook invite.Wedding Etiquette in the Age of Social Media - Crane Post Script
    Engraved Embassy Regatta Wedding Invitation
  3. Don’t Brag About The Bling: It’s perfectly fine to post a picture of your engagement ring, but steer clear of creating hashtags or commenting on the carat weight, where it’s from and, of course, the price.
  4. Add Tech to Save The Date: There is nothing more special than receiving a Save the Date! Guests love the personal feeling of being thought of and included in your special moment. Don’t forget to add all of your social media and wedding website information on your stationery! This way, guests will know from the beginning what your hashtag is and will be able to see all of the pictures and information about your special moment from the start.
  5. Don’t Do Everything Online: Wedding invitations should always be physically mailed because the digital ones are impersonal. However, it is perfectly acceptable to allow your guests to RSVP digitally. Simply instruct them to text, use Facebook or your wedding website to RSVP. Likewise, thank you notes should be physically mailed, and hand-written, anything else seems cold and impersonal.

    Wedding Etiquette in the Age of Social Media - Crane Post ScriptEngraved Marquis Buchanan Invitation

  6. Do Be Honest! If you prefer a phone free/technology free wedding, tell your guests you prefer they don’t take or share photos of your wedding (you can do this online or on your wedding invitations). Be sure to let them know that you will be making wedding photos available for anyone who wants them.
  7. Don’t Update Social Media Immediately: While some couples are so excited they change their Facebook status to married right at the altar, it’s best to wait until after the reception so you can take the time to enjoy your special day.
  8. Do Share Your Location: Be sure to share your Google map location for the church as well as the reception with your guests to make it easier for them to navigate especially for those who are coming from out of town.

Creating a Wedding Website

Creating a wedding website is a fun, easy and efficient way to organize all of your wedding plans and activities. You can use your wedding website to create and share a wedding checklist with the rest of the wedding party, share updates about the wedding with your guests and create a link straight to your bridal registry.

This is ideal for couples who are registered at multiple places because most sites combine all your registries into one easy access gift list. In addition, your guests can quickly and easily RSVP right from your site.

Free website platforms make it easy to find a wide array of wedding themes and designs. That are also well-known wedding sites that offer hundreds of wedding website templates, that make it easy to create and personalize yours.

These platforms allow you to create personalized URLs as well as link your wedding hashtags and all your social media accounts to your site so that all your wedding moments are saved in one place.

How and When to Create Wedding Hashtags

Wedding Etiquette in the Age of Social Media - Crane Post ScriptEngraved Lily Table Card

For those who embrace having a digital wedding and want their friends to take pictures of their special day, creating personalized wedding hashtags is great way to access all of your wedding pictures and videos online. It is important to make your wedding hashtags are personal so that they stand out from the rest.

When Creating Customized Wedding Hashtags You Should:

  1. Try to incorporate your first, last and/or nicknames. It’s also popular for couples to use mashup names in their hashtags.
  2. Use numbers in your hashtags because there may be a ton of #WeddingReception, or #JackandJills out there but few #WeddingReception060517. While it’s best for the numbers to be associated with the wedding date if those numbers are not available, try using the day you first met or another number sequence that is meaningful to you and your future spouse.
  3. Be sure to test your hashtags out to verify that the pictures are actually associated with them before instructing your guests to use them.
  4. Once they have been created, be sure to include the hashtags you want your guests to use on your save-the-dates, wedding invites, and all of your stationery so everyone knows well ahead of time which ones to use.

Naomi Shaw lives in Southern California with her husband and three kids. She is a free-lance journalist and stay at home mom that enjoys writing on fashion and beauty around the web and is a regular contributor for Brilliance.com.

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