My pretend happily ever after

I guess many girls begin to plan their future dream weddings in their minds at a young age. They dream about the flowers and the ring and the horse-drawn carriage, and yea I guess that perfect man as well. Growing up, I never gave it much thought. I am 21 years old and recently I have a feeling a lot of people I know are getting married or engaged and it has encouraged me to start planning as well. I wasn't until recently when I was asked to be a bridesmaid to my friend's wedding that I started to think of mine. Thanks to Pinterest, I have been able to keep track of this future special day; and so have many other young brides-to-be.

If you have been living under a rock for the past year, let me tell you a little about what Pinterest is. Basically, it's a large virtual pinboard. It's separated in categories like books, clothing, quotes and places. You also have the option of creating your own categories, such as dream wedding. About 28 percent of the users are between 35-44 years old followed by 27 percent of the users are 25-34. Eighty percent of all users are also woman.

Using the search options, many have been able to search for wedding ideas and pictures that usually come hand in hand with a link that redirects you to the main source of a certain picture. Companies such as wedding planners, photographers and designers have been able to use Pinterest to advertise their business websites and blogs. One can even go into my depth and follow their search with a certain location, "in Richmond". With the help of Pinterest, many women are reinventing the term DIY bride. Anne Fulenwider, editor in chief of Brides, recently said that, "[Pinterest's] changing the industry for vendors, planners and magazines... it's exploded and really changed the conversation." Following in the track of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest has become the 3rd most trafficked social networking site according to Experian Market Research.

However, many feel Pinterest is taking away from the traditional wedding planner binders and resulting in wedding that have "been seen on Pinterest." Now these tech-savy brides are clicking away and have 50 boards dedicated to their best friend's wedding. Whether you like Pinterest or not, it's safe to say that this new network site has created a buzz amongst woman and the wedding advertisement industry in relations to technology. So even if you aren't married or engaged...or even dating (much like me), it's never too early to start pinning, oops I mean planning for your wedding. HAPPY PINNING!

Works Cited:

Barker, Olivia. "Pinterest Changes the Way Brides Plan Their Weddings." USA Today. Gannett, 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/story/2012-04-11/pinterest-wedding-planning/54188942/1>.

Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. <http://pinterest.com/crodr010/>.

"Pinterest SEO." History-of-Pinterest «. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. <http://pinterest-seo.com/history-of-pinterest/>.