SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS

As the social media space is growing, one can find many sites that appeal to every interest and lifestyle. As soon I got engaged a year ago, I wanted to learn as much as possible about planning my wedding. As usual, the interwebs did not fail me. Not only were there sites to help me learn what is involved in the planning process, the vendors were also active on these sites. Although it seems like the wedding 2.0 industry is still relatively young, I believe that it is going to take the online world by storm.

Social media hasn’t only been a research vehicle for me; it has also served as a way for me to connect with my potential and current vendors. I believe that if they know you better, then their work will reflect your personality. Many of the vendors I met were extremely knowledgeable and can execute my vision to perfection. The element that set them apart was their personality. Although one-on-ones are a great way to meet people, I feel like I learned more about them by reading their tweets, blogs, and checking out their facebook profiles. In the end, I hired the vendors I clicked with!

Below is my online journey with some of my vendors:

Wedding Planners:

Due to my busy schedule, I realized that planning this massive celebration would be very challenging. Although I wanted to maintain creative control, I couldn’t take care of all the details, do all the research, and do all the legwork.

In order to identify top wedding planners in the St. Louis region, I visited review sites and forums. Based on the comments written by other brides about their experiences with the wedding planners, I was able to pinpoint five potential candidates. Unlike hand-picked testimonials posted on websites, I believe that comments on forums are more legitimate and credible.

Meeting with them wasn’t enough for me to make a final decision. I really needed to know if I could have a relationship with them for the next year. Hoping they were social media users as well, I looked online to see if they had any profiles. As soon as I saw Shelli Alred’s pictures and profile on Facebook, I fell in love with her spunky, creative and gregarious personality. I immediately knew she would get my vision. She was hired the following day and I have yet to regret my decision.

Dresses:

While working with Shelli, I have been able to make quick and informed decisions. How many women can say that they picked their wedding dress after visiting ONE store and buying the THIRD one they tried on? Me, I can!

I believe that the many hours I spent online viewing dresses really helped me make my decision. I was privy to the latest fashion designs in the wedding industry. I even bookmarked a picture of my dress to share with dear friends who want to see it. Ok, fine, I admit that I sneak peaks at it at least once a month.

Invitations:

I really liked the idea of customizing my invitations to match the theme of my wedding. Since our wedding is reminiscent of the 1001 Arabian Nights, I wanted to make sure that it was an integral part of the final design. During my meeting with Melissa Haley, we worked together to design my invitations, save the dates, menus, agenda, etc.

The first thing I did after receiving the quote from Melissa is check online on sites like on Wedding Paper Divas to make sure that I am getting a competitive price. I was so excited to see that there wasn’t much of a price difference!

Photographers:

The most challenging decision I’ve had to make thus far is picking a photographer. I am a big fan on the photojournalistic style. I searched for a photographer who can document the love my fiancé and I share. I noticed a major trend while visiting different photographers’ sites. They don’t only feature picture galleries, they also blog! I filtered out many of the photographers based on whether I connected with their blog.

One of the photographers who really grabbed my attention was Joanne Kleine. I was really disappointed to find that she was not available to shoot my wedding. However, we connected on facebook and had a long chat. Thanks to our conversation, I was referred to a few other top photographers in town. I look forward to closing the deal on this portion on the wedding planning really soon.