W Hotels announced that all four of its New York City hotels will be offering a revolutionary social media wedding concierge for a mere $3,000. Journalists and wedding planners scoffed at W Hotels’ venture following the press release.
Despite the negative response from industry professionals, social media is playing an increasingly large role in weddings. This trend has flourished especially in the weddings of young couples.
“I would say it is becoming more mainstream for couples to create and use a hashtag at their wedding,” said Gabrielle Roper, 20, an elementary education major.
Breck Day, a recreation management student, said she requested all guests to use the hashtag #davidandbreckday at her wedding in August of 2013 and is glad she did. It allowed family and friends who were unable to attend the event to feel involved and also provided a convenient way for her and her husband to look back on their happy day.
“It was fun to be able to see all of the posts from our wedding that we missed out on,” Day said. “It is a quick, organized way to view wedding-day photos.”
Even people who are not active on social media are joining the trend. Bride-to-be Alison Mercer, a recent graduate from BYU’s linguistic program, has incorporated the app WedPics into her pre-wedding events and plans to use it on her wedding day.
WedPic is a simple app that allows wedding guests to upload pictures to the bride and groom’s personal wedding file. In order to upload pictures, guests download the app and enter the wedding’s preset identification code.
“I really envision my mom, who doesn’t have an Instagram, using (WedPics)” Mercer said. “She’s excited about wedding pictures enough to install an app specifically for the event. It makes sense.”
Mercer said she also plans on having a hashtag at her wedding for those who use Instagram.
Wedding photographer McKenzie Deakins, from Orem, thinks the integration of social media into weddings is a wonderful idea and is here to stay.
“About 40 percent of my weddings from 2013 created a hashtag,” said Deakins. “I’m sure that most, if not all of my weddings, will have a unique hashtag … this year. Personally, I love to use it.”
Having an established hashtag allows family members from both the groom’s and bride’s sides to feel involved in “the behind-the-scenes wedding madness,” Deakins said.
