It’s June which means that the Wedding Season is in full bloom.
Being a young strapping 23 year old myself means that I have a lot of weddings to attend (unfortunately none that are my own). Friends are getting married every week, almost like they are afraid the rapture is going to happen in the fall. And with all these weddings comes many weekends of sitting through picture slideshows, exchanging of vows, and that Uncle who doesn’t know that he should not be dancing.
Wedding season is always a fun time to partake and witness. One of the amazing things about marriage ceremonies is that it is not done alone, it is done in front of hundreds of people. This weekend, my friend invited a couple hundred of his closest family, friends, and all of his twitter followers.
There has been a lot of discussion about the effects of social media on relationships, even videos made of couples updating their facebook status right after they exchange their first kiss as a married couple, but I have yet to see someone tweet through their own wedding, at least that was until last Saturday.
That’s right, my friend Josh Hunt decided that he wanted to make his marriage special and give those in attendance something to talk about.
How did he tweet during his wedding? Find out after the jump.
You might be picturing my friend Josh standing at the altar taking out his iPhone ever couple of minutes to provide some commentary on what was happening. At least that is what I picture when I hear someone tweeted during their own wedding.
Instead, Josh decided to schedule his tweets throughout the ceremony in hopes that he timed them right and at that moment he was talking about what was happening.
Check out some of his tweets during the wedding:
Pretty clever little trick and a great use of social media during a wedding ceremony, right?
After seeing this idea out in the wild it got me thinking of some creative ways to use social media during your big day.
Here are some ideas…
1. Live Stream
Have that Aunt or Uncle that 2o hours from you and cannot make the ceremony? Or maybe that best friend that lives in another country? Instead of sending them a wedding invite send them a URL.
That’s right, live streaming has never been easier with sites like ustream.com and livestream.com to set up an camera and some sound and let those that could not be in attendance partake in the service online. And who knows, maybe you will get married at a church that already does live streaming and will let you borrow their stuff.
2. Live Discussion
During most weddings those in attendance sit quietly in their seats snapping pictures and grinning. But this is the 21st century, its time to get them involved. Using services like hotpotato.com and twubs.com give those in attendance a chance to chat about the wedding, the brides dress, the special music, and the excitement for the couple.
Not only is this a great way for those in attendance to partake in your special day it also provides you a chance to go back and review what others were talking about during the wedding.
3. Live Contest
If providing live discussion is not enough for you, how about providing your readers with the chance at live contest? Before the wedding, set-up a contest for all those smart phone users out there to see who can capture the best picture at the wedding and reception.
Not only do you get a ton of free pictures, you also give people a chance to compete for something besides catching the bouquet of flowers or garter. The prize could be a free dinner or a wedding present that you think is ugly and want to return but can also re-gift or giveaway in a cheesy contest.
These are just a couple of ideas of using social media at your own wedding.
What are some ideas of using social media at weddings?
Katie says
I’ve had friends live tweet their labor and deliveries but I had not seen anyone Tweet their wedding! Too funny. I Love it!
Stuart says
It’s likely just me and yes, I know it was scheduled, but I find the thought of those tweets most depressing. And his “kiss tweet” would have failed miserably if it was my wife – she was 40min late but we’re still together 24yrs later!