Some of the most memorable moments of your wedding happen when your professional photographer isn't ready. This is why you need a social wedding aggregator.
The best way to relive your wedding day is through photos and all the well-wishes from your family and friends. An aggregator gathers all of these from social media just for you.
Your guests are posting on social media anyway. Why not gather all those special memories in one place for you and your guests to enjoy together?
Social Media For Lasting Memories
One of the great things about social media is what you post stays there until you take it down. But, it's not always easy going from profile to profile looking to see if any of your guests might have posted pictures from your wedding.
You could be missing out on some of the most memorable photos of your big day. Yes, your photographer is going to provide amazing pictures, but let's face it, most of these are set poses and not any "in the moment" type of shots.
All of those great pictures are being stored on guests' phones. Many of them may never even get posted to social media unless your guests have a reason to.
So, tell them all about your social wedding aggregator. Explain how it works and then, they'll start posting those pictures instead of just leaving them on their phones.
Suddenly, you've got lasting memories being posted all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and so on.
If you're not sure how a social aggregator fits into this, it gathers all those pictures and posts into a single feed. No more searching. Even if guests post pictures after the event, those pictures are still being gathered. Lasting memories without the hassle.
Must-Have Social Media Aggregator Features
Of course, you'll need to actually decide on a social wedding aggregator if you want to be able to gather those posts. While there are quite a few options available, you'll get the best results if you look for an aggregator with the following features:
- Works with multiple social networks - You want an aggregator that fully supports all the networks you and your guests regularly use.
- Super easy to use - The last thing you want is to have to hire a rocket scientist just to get your aggregator up and working. Look for one that only requires a few lines of code and provides ample support.
- Offers a variety of customizations and themes - Most couples want to not only gather posts, but showcase the posts in real-time at their wedding (more on that in a moment).
- Allows multiple hashtags - You may have multiple hashtags for your wedding and you'll want an aggregator that supports that.
- Cost-effective - Weddings are expensive. The average cost in America is over $33,000. Pick an aggregator that won't kill your wedding budget. Curator has packages starting at just $25 for updates every 30 minutes, up to $200 for updates every 5 minutes.
It's such a simple thing to add to your wedding, but it makes such a lasting impact for years and years to come.
Enjoy Memorable Moments In Real-Time
Your wedding guests are there to celebrate with you. What better way than to make lasting memories together? Make sure everyone sees those memories so they can enjoy them by showcasing aggregrated social media posts in real-time.
A social wedding aggregator is designed to refresh at set intervals. These can anywhere from seconds to hours. The interval is all up to you and the aggregator you choose.
You can add a wall to display the posts on at your wedding reception. Guests get to see what they've posted and see how others are interacting with the posts.
Plus, anyone who couldn't attend still gets to join in on the fun. You may already have a wedding website. If so, simply add the social media aggregator code to a page and turn it into a live social media feed of your wedding.
As long as people have the site address, they get to view the pictures in real-time too. This means they also get to post well-wishes for you to see during your wedding.
Hashtag It All
The only way to gather all these lasting memories into one place is to hashtag every post. Unless you want your memories interspersed with those of other couples, you don't want to pick something generic like #wedding or #weddingday.
Plenty of people do use those hashtags for wedding-related posts, but you want a hashtag that's so unique that no one else is using it. It's important to search all the social networks you'll be using to ensure your hashtag isn't being used. You'd be surprised at just how many hashtags actually exist. Razor Social provides a great guide on how to determine if your hashtag is really unique or not.
Make sure every single guest knows your hashtag. Add it to your wedding website for those who can't attend. As long as they use your particular hashtag or hashtags, your aggregator will only pull those posts, giving you a real-time post feed at your wedding.
Getting Everyone To Participate
Believe it or not, this is much easier than you might think. Who doesn't love taking pictures while they're attending an event? This is a chance for your guests to post pictures of their friends and family all dressed up and having fun.
The easiest way to get people to participate is to simply let them know that you want them to take pictures. Of course, once they start seeing posts pop up on a wall at your reception, everyone will want their 15 minutes of fame by adding their own great picture.
Remind that it doesn't have to be a post of the couple. It can be other guests, selfies, the food, the band or anything else related to your wedding. Just remind them to have fun too and not live on their phones the whole time.
Gather Memories Easily
As your guests start posting and using your hashtag, your social wedding aggregator goes to work. Don't be surprised if you don't have that many posts at first. It takes a little while for everyone to start taking pictures and posting them.
The rest is easy. The aggregator does all the work for you. As posts come in, they're gathered and added to your feed. The only posts you'll see are those with your hashtag. It's that simple to gather all the memories posted on social media from your wedding.
Set Up Fun Stuff To Do
If you want to have even more fun and create more memories, set up fun stuff to do at your wedding. This encourages people to take even more pictures. Some great themes you might want to try include:
- Dance offs
- Karaoke time
- Games at the tables
- Group picture areas
- Video dedications
- Newlywed game
- Outdoor lawn games (for outdoor receptions)
- Scavenger hunt
To make your wedding reception amazing for everyone, consider some of these fun ideas from Brides.com and The Knot.
Create A Wedding Memories Site
You don't want to just see all those great memories at your wedding. You also want to be able to enjoy them later on. After all, it's about lasting memories that you can look back on for decades.
This is why you should create a wedding memories site. This can be just for the couple or something you share with those you love. Add your social wedding aggregator code and all the posts will show up on this site.
You can also just leave your wedding site up and running if you don't want to create a second site.
Then, adjust the settings for the aggregator to display the posts how you want. This gives you a quick and easy way to look back at many of your wedding photos anytime you want.
You could also pull the posts you like most to create collages to post on your wedding site. Get as creative as you want. After all, these are your memories.
Provide Selfie Sticks Everywhere
It's your big day, but don't you want to remember all your guests too? Let them show off and be silly by providing selfie sticks everywhere. This is the perfect way to get shots of other couples, families and individuals.
You can even join in and post a few selfies yourself. Pose with your wedding party, each other, family and friends. These photos are usually far more personal than professional shots since you're just having fun. Plus, you can take as many as you want and post your favorites.
As people move away or you lose touch, you can always look back on these fun memories you made the day you said "I do." You could send loved ones those posts as a reminder to get together again sometime so you don't lose touch.
Forget About Posing All The Time
Professional wedding photos look amazing. There's no denying that. However, it can be tiresome posing all the time. Every shot is perfectly posed and thought out.
With a social wedding aggregator, it's not about posing. It's about capturing those genuine moments that you'll always remember. For example, someone might get the cutest picture of the ring bearer and flower girl dancing together or the couple sharing a whispered joke and laughing.
These are the types of photos that make great additions to your professional shots. They fill in the gaps between posed photos to give you a fuller picture of your entire reception. Guests don't just take photos at certain times. They do it all through the reception.
From start to finish, you'll have photos of it all. From silly dancing to that first kiss that may lead to your best friend's wedding one day, you'll have pictures of everything.
Start Before The Wedding
Most couples tend to only use a social wedding aggregator for their reception. However, your wedding day is just a part of it.
What about your engagement? How about shopping for the perfect dress (remember, don't post the actual dress until the ceremony is over)? You can't forget about the bachelor and bachelorette parties!
All of these events lead up to your wedding day. Capture them and add them to social media. Let those lasting memories start before you walk down the aisle. You can even create separate hashtags for the pre-wedding planning and events.
Plus, when your reception starts and your social wedding wall appears, there are already pictures to share.
Add To The Fun During The Honeymoon
See a beautiful sunset on your first evening as a married couple? Why not add this to your social wedding album? Share the honeymoon fun with your friends and family. Of course, you don't have to share everything.
However, some couples are now bringing along their closest friends and family members on their honeymoon. They go to dinners, check out attractions and basically let the reception fun continue for another week or so.
Take pictures, share videos and let your social wedding aggregator gather all of it together for you. And yes, you can definitely have another hashtag just for the honeymoon.
Create A New Album Each Anniversary
Make an anniversary tradition out of the lasting memories you've gathered through your social wedding aggregator. Each year, sit down as a couple and great a physical photo album out of some of your favorite posts. You could print them yourself and do a scrapbook. Each year, you could create a new page for the scrapbook if you don't want to do a full album or scrapbook.
Even if you don't create anything, sit back and look through the posts. Laugh, happy cry and reminisce about one of the most memorable days of your lives. If you have kids, let them sit in and tell them all about the guests and your favorite moments. It's a fun tradition and one that will ensure you never forget your big day.
Remember, the earlier you add a social wedding aggregator as part of your wedding plans, the sooner you can start using it. So, make that a priority so you can gather lasting memories from the moment you said "yes."
Image: David Kokainis