Whats your Wedding #Hashtag?
Yes, that’s a real question for the 21st century #bride and #groom
Using #hashtags are definitely in vogue. Everyone’s hashtagging their weddings these days on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and on every social media platform possible. This got me thinking about the possible benefits of this latest trend and boy oh boy, I can tell you it’s definitely the way to go. I don’t know about you but I’m already thinking of what #Hashtag I would use for mine. In this post, I have listed a few benefits couples and wedding guests could get from creating the perfect #hashtag for their nuptials and using it effectively.
Fun, Fun, Fun
Hashtags (apart from the serious benefits) spell fun… They’re cool, fun, young and hip. The key to ensuring they work is informing everyone what your chosen hashtag is. Whilst some couples just rely on friends to spread the word, its probably best to consider including your chosen #hashtag on your invitation card(s), pre-wedding pictures, programmes, souvenirs, wedding decoration etc. The picture above shows how you can use souvenirs such as a customised bottle opener by The Artisan’s Gift Company to inform your guests about your chosen hashtag. Simply place one or more on each table. Whatever you decide, just make sure everyone knows what your chosen #hashtag is; this helps ensure people don’t create their own hashtags for you, which can be really confusing and defeat the purpose.
Interactive
With #hashtags, you can almost be certain that your wedding will be extremely interactive. I know what you’re thinking, everyone’s going to be on their phones not paying attention, etc… Well the truth is these days, most people are on their phones 100% of the time anyways so I don’t think your wedding will change much except of course you decide to seize their phones, tablets, cameras, etc before they get into the venue… if that’s what you decide… Good luck with that and let us know how you get on 🙂 .So rather than try to stop them, indulge them. That’s my advise.
Also, for couples who have friends and family in other parts of the world who are not present at the wedding, it’s a great way to ensure they get live updates from your big day…
Back Up
Not only do hashtags enable the couple have access to a variety of pictures and videos from their big day, they also serve as a possible back up. These days, some wedding guests could actually pass for professional photographers. I attended a wedding recently and couldn’t believe the number of SLR’s and gadgets some guests brought to capture special moments. Also, I’ve heard countless stories of photographers who either don’t deliver good pictures or just vanish after the wedding day. One photographer once told a bride after the wedding ‘Sorry, the pictures I have aren’t great, my phone kept going off whilst I was trying to take good pictures’ (This is a TRUE STORY. Hmmmm Hmmmm…)
So in addition to paying a professional wedding photographer, you could also get great pictures from your wedding guests free-of-charge courtesy of your guests (Yea, the same ones who never sit down and try to obstruct your official photographer from doing his/her job).
I hear you asking, who can be asked contacting each guest to try and get pictures… Well that’s where #hashtags come in, if you create a really good hashtag for your wedding (e.g. #TiwaandTBillz2014, #UgonneandChizi, #TheBlacks2014, #NonoMuna, #JokeandAzeez2014) all you need to do is search on any platform for these hashtags and there you’d see all uploaded images.
As noted earlier, it would be a good idea to include your chosen #hashtag on your invitation card, programmes, souvenirs, etc. or you could just rely on friends to spread the word. You definitely want to choose one to ensure you can trace all posts regarding your wedding and it also saves you from searching endlessly.
Selfies
Selfies are amazing. Who doesn’t love them. With #hashtags, chances are you can trace and actually get copies of all the selfies you take on your big day with guests. Let’s face it, your photographer would only take some pictures and a lot of guests want #selfies with the #bride and #groom, it’s almost a way of confirming they were present. Again, indulge them… Some selfies actually turn out to be some of the best pictures from your big day… I’ve seen some pretty amazing #selfies from some weddings and they look absolutely cool.
If you were already thinking of using #hashtags for your wedding or we’ve managed to convince you to, here are a few tips to help you choose one that works.
Make It Unique
With hashtags, because everyone uses them for different reasons, you want to create one that’s unique to you as a couple and not one that potentially everyone might think of or use. So for example using #hashtags like #savethedate #wedding, #nigerianwedding #weddingday #abujawedding #dubaiwedding wouldn’t be a good idea because you’d probably find so many other posts not directly related to your day. And this defeats the objective. Rather, go for #hashtags that are unique to you as a couple; get creative. Consider using your names, nicknames, the year, venue and possibly a combination of these. For example, #hashtags like #tiwaandtunji #tiwaandtj #tiwaandtbillz #tiwaandtbillz2013. You could also merge the names of the bride and groom e.g. #seyifunmi #ugonnechizi #tolabola #nonomuna, etc.
KISS (Keep it Short and Sweet)
Hashtags are meant to be fun, cool, hip, young, etc. You don’t want your guests trying hard to remember your #hashtag. Also, if it ends up being too long, you stand the risk of spelling errors, which is one of the biggest things you want to avoid. So here’ are a few examples of wedding #hashtags we think you should consider and some that we wouldn’t quite recommend.
We think you should consider #hashtags like;
- #tiwaandtunji, #tiwaandtj #tiwaandtunji2013 #tiwaandtunji2014
- #ugonneandchizi, #ugochiz #ugochiz2014 #uc2014
- #TheBlacks2014
- #OCandIbukun #TheUkejes
- #Ivietsola #IvieandTsola
- #Stantonia2014 #ToniaandStanley2014
We wouldn’t quite recommend
- #tracymoorandstevewintersromanticunionintheberkshires
- #SavetheDateMay18th2015StephJordan
- #ItsTiwatopeSavageandTunjiBalogunsWeddingTodayPleaseUseThisHashtag
- #UgonneandChiziaregettingmarriedtodayCongratulations
Share your thoughts and drop your comments below… 🙂
Featured Image Credit: Ashley Peterson Photography
