With all the planning that comes with your big day, have you considered making Facebook a part of it? Thanks to using a Facebook aggregator for weddings, you can make your wedding even better.
Odds are, you and most of your guests probably use Facebook regularly. After all, the platform had 1.59 billion daily users as of June 2019.
Don't push social media out of your wedding. Instead, create a live feed of beautiful photos and posts to make your day even more memorable.
Purpose Of A Facebook Aggregator
A Facebook aggregator isn't just for weddings, but any type of event, brand or even individuals. Instead of trying to find posts and photos related to a certain theme, the aggregator gathers all posts based on the criteria you set.
For example, Curator's social media aggregator pulls all Facebook posts based on the hashtags your specify. Since this aggregator is specially designed to work with events and not just websites, it's ideal for weddings. New posts are then displayed every five minutes or less so you get fresh content delivered to you and your wedding guests.
You have numerous options when it comes to how you want to display posts from a Facebook aggregator. You can have a live feed on your website, or in your case a wedding website, or use a big-screen TV or projector to showcase posts for everyone to see right at the event.
Common Issues With Guest Photos
Why use a Facebook aggregator for weddings when you could just check out guests' photos later on? While that sounds good in theory, you'll probably end up missing most of what they post. Some of the common problems you'll run into include:
- Facebook not showing all of the posts
- Having to search each guest's Facebook profile individually
- Not getting tagged in photos
- Guests not uploading photos until much later
- Having to check multiple social media platforms for posts
- Only finding photos, but missing out on text-only well wishes
The biggest problem is no one has time to comb through Facebook trying to find photos from dozens or even hundreds of guests. You've got a honeymoon and then the start of your married life to get on with.
Plus, some guests don't even take photos because they don't think you'll ever see them. Since you might have a professional photographer, they just let the pros handle everything. Asking your guests to get active on Facebook throughout your reception means you'll get more photos than you ever thought possible.
Facebook Aggregator For Weddings
If you've decided this isn't how you want to spend the next several post-wedding weeks, it's time to start thinking about using a Facebook aggregator for weddings. It's incredibly easy to set one up, so this means you get to reap all the benefits without adding extra stress to the wedding planning.
It's a good idea to implement this idea as early as possible. In fact, if you can do it before the invitations go out, even better. The main reason is you'll want to create a wedding hashtag for your aggregator to pull just wedding posts for your wedding.
However, don't worry if this is kind of a last-minute addition. More on that in just a minute, though.
The first step to successfully using a Facebook aggregator to make your wedding better is to create a unique wedding hashtag. Honestly, this is the most time-consuming part of the entire process. Some things you may want to combine to make your's unique include:
- First names
- Last names
- Couple name
- Nicknames
- Wedding date
- Wedding venue
- Wedding theme
- Inside jokes
- Wedding sayings, such as tie the knot, getting hitched, I do
You can get as creative as you want or keep it simple. Just make it memorable and easy to use. You don't want a hashtag that's a paragraph long. The Knot has some great template hashtags to use and some ideas for more creative wedding hashtags. You can also use eWedding's Free Wedding Hashtag Generator.
Now that you've got your hashtag, it's just a matter of letting people know and setting up your display. If you talk with your wedding planner, they can easily get the latter part taken care of for you. A large TV, multiple flat screens turned into a single display or a project display posts as they come in. The refresh rate varies based on the Facebook aggregator you use and the plan you choose. Curator's default is five minutes.
Yes, you can add the hashtag to your wedding invitations, any posts you add to Facebook as you chronicle your planning experience and in posts you tag with your wedding party.
If your wedding is almost here, do the following to let everyone know about your hashtag and make your wedding even better with Facebook:
- Add cards to every table with the hashtag
- Add a decorative poster board near the reception entrance displaying the hashtag and how to use it
- Make an announcement at the beginning of the reception
- Customize your Facebook aggregator display to show the hashtag
It's actually incredibly easy to a Facebook aggregator for weddings. A little bit of code is all it takes to start aggregating only the posts using your hashtag.
The results then display prominently at your reception for you and your guests to enjoy.
Professional Shots Aren't Enough
You may still be wondering how this will make your wedding better. You've probably invested in a great photographer. You don't really need to gather photos from your friends and family too. After all, their shots won't be nearly as good, right?
Wrong! You photographer is looking for those perfect moment type of shots. Your friends and family are getting candid shots instead. While your photographer might get the perfect shot of the two you feeding cake to each other the first time, a friend might get a shot of the two of you sticking your tongues out on the dance floor.
Plus, your friends and family take pictures of each other. While the wedding party is busy taking staged shots for the photographer, your guests are taking pictures of the decor and each other. All of this is things you'd miss out on.
Believe it or not, you might just like those candid shots as much or better than your professional shots. Getting both is the perfect way to remember your wedding and not feel stressed about trying to see and experience everything at that moment.
Plus, since the posts are showing up for everyone to see during the reception, you'll quickly see where the action is happening and see just how much everyone is enjoying themselves.
Gather Heartfelt Sentiments
It's not just photos that you'll get when using a Facebook aggregator for weddings. Guests can also use your hashtag to send you heartfelt sentiments or even funny comments.
Often times, these posts get overlooked on Facebook. After all, pictures are must easier to see. Just think how great it will feel seeing a close friend post something like "I'm so happy for the two of you. I've never seen a more perfect couple. I love you both!" Or what about "This is just the start of your life together. I look forward to helping you celebrate your 50th anniversary one day."
Those short and sweet messages are meaningful and make your wedding day even better. When you have so many guests, people don't always get the chance to come up to you and wish you well.
Plus, they might feel awkward saying something sentimental. On Facebook, they can say anything without it coming out wrong.
Get Guests To Start Posting
Of course, a Facebook aggregator for weddings only works if you can get your guests to use it. The last thing you want is a big blank screen. Your aggregator is supposed to help liven things up.
Get the posting started by:
- Making an announcement and encouraging everyone to post at least one thing to Facebook
- Announce photo challenges, such as goofiest shot or cutest picture of the flower girl and ring bearer
- Hold a scavenger hunt with unique lists of photos or posts to make for anyone who wants to participate
- Have a photo booth
- Make a request for tons of wedding selfies
- Ask everyone to show off the love in their life, such as couples, kids and friends
- Actively interact with those posting, such as grabbing the mic between songs and thanking your best friend for her beautiful picture and heartfelt words
It's easier than you might think to get everyone posting. Just remind everyone to use the hashtag so their posts appear on the screen. Just getting those few minutes of fame is typically enough to get your guests to take action.
Set Facebook Rules For Your Wedding
Now, you want your aggregator to make your wedding better, but it can be disastrous if you don't set a few ground rules. After all, you don't really want everyone taking photos during the ceremony and making a bunch of noise.
Some rules to consider include:
- No posting during the ceremony
- No posts ruining surprises, such as your maid of honor posting a shot of your wedding dress before you walk out
- Posts are allowed during the ceremony, but phones must be silenced
- Don't make posting to Facebook your main priority
- Don't do anything crazy just to get the best pictures
- Make sure what you post is appropriate to everyone attending (especially true if young children are attending)
- No posting wars, such as going back and forth constantly trying to outdo others
Rules might sound silly, but they can be necessary at times. This is especially true if you have an open bar where people might forget social etiquette, both online and off.
Interact With Those Not Attending
So far, this is all been about making your wedding better for you and your guests. However, what about all the people who are genuinely happy for you who can't attend?
Maybe your best friend from college is overseas right now and can't make it. This doesn't mean he can't be a part of the festivities. Share your wedding hashtag with them too. You could post about it right before your wedding or even send out invitations to those who can't attend about your wedding hashtag and how to use it.
Now, those people can add photos and thoughts too. While they won't be adding photos of your wedding, they might take a selfie or add a picture of the two of you along with a sweet message.
To make it even better for those not attending, create a wedding website. Then, have the same feed displayed on your site. Your non-guests get to see all the same posts and interact in near real-time. You could even take breaks throughout the reception to respond with thank yous or fun comments back.
Ideas For All Those Facebook Posts
Not only does a Facebook aggregator for weddings make your actual wedding better, but it also makes your wedding memories better. The fun isn't over once you turn off the aggregated feed display.
You retain access to all those aggregated posts. Once you've had a chance to settle back in after your wedding, you have a virtual scrapbook of your entire wedding, or at least your reception. Odds are, you'll miss many of the posts while you're busy interacting with each other and guests and that's fine.
While you're relaxing during your honeymoon, scroll through some of them to reexperience the event and feel all the love from family and friends. You can even leave the feed on your wedding website for everyone to see. If you'd rather keep it more private, make it a private site.
For lasting memories, create a physical wedding photo album or scrapbook out of your favorite posts and photos. It's a fun project for you to do as a couple. You can even frame some of your absolute favorites.
You could also use the photos in thank you cards. Or, send a frame with several photos to your wedding party as gifts for all they did to help make your wedding perfect.
Image: Sergio