I’d say there’s a fair majority of women that dream about their wedding from the time they can start appreciating Disney princess movies and happily-ever-afters. There’s no problem with that, but there IS a problem with setting your expectations too high for this one special day. Enter: Pinterest.

When Pinterest first debuted, I thought it was the greatest thing EVER. I made boards for amazing recipes, handmade Christmas decor, and yes, I even had a secret wedding board too. I wasn’t even engaged at the time, but I was already envisioning my big day…I know I’m not alone here either!

Then, after B popped the question and we really started planning our wedding, I found myself obsessively looking at Pinterest for a couple weeks straight. Let me tell you, it was completely overwhelming. The problem was it had given me TOO many ideas and there wasn’t enough time or money to complete everything I was drawn to. It actually made me feel like my wedding wasn’t going to be up to par (up to par with what?! I don’t know). Isn’t that AWFUL? Being engaged is supposed to be one of the happiest times in our lives, and I was honestly sad that we couldn’t have cornhole boards. Seriously. Luckily, I got over myself and cut myself off from Pinterest cold turkey. I focused on the important aspects of the wedding like writing my vows and the projects that did make me happy like searching for the milk glass vases we used for center pieces, crafting our invitations with twine, vintage stamps, and wax seals, and hand stamping the muslin bags for our favors. Staying off Pinterest also gave me more time to just enjoy being engaged and relish in the fact that I had found the love of my life.

So, having gone through this spiral myself and come out on the other side, I suggest using Pinterest as a tool to get started with your wedding inspiration, get ideas for the theme of your wedding, and then STOP LOOKING. The big trend these days is to have a wedding that reflects the couple’s personality, so do something totally unique to you rather than copying someone else’s wedding.

While we’re on the subject, let me further go on to talk about the photography boards on Pinterest. Again, there’s nothing wrong with looking  for wedding photo inspiration. I actually encourage my brides to make a board for me with photos that they love, BUT these boards are strictly for me to understand the style of photos that they like (wide landscape portraits vs. tight close-ups, color vs. black&white, serious vs. fun, etc.) not to recreate what they found.

All too often I see people pinning photos captioned “must have this photo on my wedding day!”, and it’s a candid image of a fleeting moment that is impossible to recreate naturally. I can’t capture raw emotion if there’s no emotion happening, but please don’t tell your fiance that he has to cry when he sees you or to pump his fist in the air during your first kiss. I know y’all have all seen that photo a million times on Pinterest!

I want to create something new and fresh for my couples, not copy what someone else has already done. Being able to be inspired by the environment we’re in and your personalities will result with much more genuine photographs than if I’m trying to fulfill a list of “must have” shots. Besides, wouldn’t it be awesome to have YOUR original wedding photos being the ones that are pinned?!

Bottom line, brides: trust your photographer and their eye. That’s why you hired them in the first place, right? ;)