Wedding Hashtags: The Do's and Don'ts of Hashtagging Your Wedding

As we all become more and more reliant on our social media and electronic devices, it comes as no surprise that it has become very popular for brides and grooms to integrate the use of social media into their wedding ceremonies and receptions. One of the most popular ways of doing so is the use of a wedding hashtag.

   

Why Hashtag Your Wedding?

To hashtag or not to hashtag... that is the question! When I was planning my own wedding, I knew that without a doubt I wanted to use a hashtag. My reasoning: I wanted to see our special day through the eyes of our guests. Let's face it... It's nearly impossible to catch most of what happens on that day as the bride and groom because the day flies by extremely fast! You're constantly being pulled in every direction to talk to this person here and take a picture with this person over there. After the craziness was done, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to go through the pictures that our guests posted and seeing moments that I missed!

Once my Etsy Shop, Bling, Sparkles, Oh My!, began offering social media hashtag signs, I began interacting with brides and grooms that had no idea where to start when it came to choosing their hashtag. I realized that there aren't really any cheat sheets out there to help couples understand how to hashtag their wedding and we could all use a refresher course in hashtag etiquette.

So here it is... my go-to rules for choosing your wedding day hashtag:

1. Simple - Simplicity is key when choosing your hashtag! If you want your guests to actually use the darn thing, don't make it really long or difficult to remember. The simpler, the better! If your husband-to-be's new last name is really hard to spell, avoid using it in your hashtag. You don't want to end up missing pictures or statuses just because your guests misspelled your hashtag. While there's no real cutoff number for characters that your hashtag should contain, but be mindful of your guests that need to type it in. I'd say keep it under 20 characters whenever possible.

2. No Symbols - Don't use symbols in your hashtag, such as &, !, -, commas, periods, etc! Most social media sites will cut off your hashtag as soon as you use any of these symbols. So when your guests try to hashtag #steve&sarah, they will really only be hashtagging #steve. This is especially the case on Instagram.

3. The Chosen One - Please, please pick ONE hashtag! I've seen many couples choose two or even three hashtags for their guests to use. Don't do this! Not only is this really confusing for your guests, but you will spend a lot of time searching each social media site for multiple hashtags. Choose one great hashtag and stick with it! Integrate it everywhere so that your guests have no chance of missing what it is.

4. Visual Appeal - Along the lines of simplicity, make sure your hashtag is visually appealing. Consider using capital letters on your hashtag signage to make it easier for guests to quickly read your hashtag. Again, the easier it is for your guests to read and remember, the more likely they will be to use it! For example, a hashtag such as #steveandsaraharehitched will take your guests a little while to read, but it's much easier if you write it like this: #SteveandSarahAreHitched. 

5. Catchy Phrase - Choose something creative and "out of the box". I've seen some really clever play on words with the couple's new last name or even their professions. Take some time to think it over before jumping to the final choice. 

6. Search First - Once you think you've decided on your wedding hashtag, do a quick search on the popular social media sites to make sure that you have a unique hashtag. If there are posts made to your hashtag every day, it may be hard to sift through all of them to find the pictures that your guests posted.

 xo Bling, Sparkles, Oh My!

Speaking of hashtags, if you're one of our past clients, we'd love to see pictures of our products at your wedding! Use #BlingSparklesOhMy for the chance to be posted onto our social media sites!

Check out our wedding shop on Etsy or go directly to our Website here!