Smart phone users unite!  “Hashtagging” your wedding is a great idea for brides these days!  You’ll be able to enjoy some wedding photos of your day even before your head hits the pillow that night!  If you’ve hired a photographer for just part of the day or weekend, this is how you can ensure you’ll have fun, candid shots when the photographer isn’t there!

I will take a moment to explain this topic first as I’m betting some of our readers are as clueless as Loose Mansion’s owner (and I say this with love) when I first talked with her about hashtagging weddings.

• Hashtags are words preceded by the pound sign (#), which categorize tweets by topics.  Most recently, hashtags have become popular for organizing photos taken at events, and this is done through an application called Instagram.  This is a camera application for iPhones and Androids that allows you to create photos and share them instantly across multiple social media services to your friends and family.

The tricky part in using Instagram for your wedding photos is to come up with a good hashtag that is not already taken.  If your hashtag is too simple or too generic, there is a chance other people or weddings out there could have already used that and you’ll find yourself sorting through their photos.  To find out if a hashtag has already been used, simply do a search on Instagram. Ideally, your hashtag should be as short as possible, unique, and fun so that guests can memorize it.

When brides have asked me about creating their hashtag, I’ve suggested:

• Use wording such as “love,” “wedding,” “wed,” or “married” in the hashtag.
• Use your first names, initials, your initials as a couple, or your new last name in the hashtag.
• If you have a destination wedding or a wedding at a unique venue, use the venue’s name, initials or location in the hashtag.

How do you let guests know about your hashtag? 

• You can do this with a sign on an easel by the front door, a note in your ceremony program, or place a picture frame or a tent card on each dinner table.  You’ll want to say something like, “Please Instagram our wedding!  Use hashtag: #barbielovesken”.

It’s a given that you’ll have guests using their phones to take photos on your wedding day.  Give them an outlet to share the photos by letting everyone know your hashtag!