Guests Interacting With Each Other Via Social Media During A Wedding Ye Or Ne?

Guests Interacting With Each Other Via Social Media During A Wedding Ye Or Ne?

Chances are that at a wedding there are going to be instances where guests have an opinion about something concerning the wedding right? Well what would the vibe be like if guests were able to share opinions and interact with each other via social media during a wedding? Now right off the bat it seems like it would be a bad idea. Social media seems to be a world where people get the courage to say things they would never dream of in person.

It could be a good thing though, depending on the feelings of the bridegroom. Guest interaction via social media platforms offers a chance for guests to feel more included in the wedding. It offers the chance for guests who at the moment may be merely “friendly” to become actual friends. It offers a chance for guests to be truly present while at the same time chronicling their thoughts in a way that will live on forever, hopefully like the wedding union.

The main concern for a bridegroom is obvious in this case though. And it’s the idea that guests would be focused on something else versus being focused on the ceremony. No woman wants to feel like anything else is going to be getting the attention she deserves on this day. The key is to have ground rules of course. Take the case of Maria and Rob. Both were social media addicts who had actually met via one of the platforms. So for this couple the idea of incorporating it somehow made sense.

The idea of allowing guests to interact via their social media pages was met with concern at first, but once Maria and Rob determined that they can set some ground rules, it became a risk both were comfortable with taking. The ground rules in this case were simple enough.

• Interaction was to take place via the primary social media pages of the couple. In this case Maria and Rob had setup a special wedding day account just to allow commentary. This would keep comments separate from their private accounts.

• Anything objectionable wouldn’t be permitted. Guests were to maintain not only a respectful disposition overall, but would be instructed to be respectful to the comments that might be left by other guests. The reason for this is the bridegroom only wants good vibes on this day. Plus the messages might be utilized in different ways down the road.

• Guests would be directed as to when it was appropriate to interact via the platforms and when it was not. The time it would not would be during the most pivotal points of a wedding so that the bridegroom would have the guests’ complete attention. This part can still be tricky, but wedding ceremonies tend to be very emotionally taxing and at times allowing guests to get a social media pick me up can work wonders.

• Rob and Maria thought it would be a good idea if they took a degree of control over what specific topics were discussed. They actually wanted to encourage dialogue and felt like if they laid out some questions for guests to focus on then this would be a big help. Questions such as “How‘d you enjoy everything up until now” were simple enough questions. They even decided to setup some questions in the form of polls.

• Maria and Rob felt like even though they could have it to where guests were told to be respectful, there should still be someone in charge of moderating the social media account/s they setup for this purpose. So an appointed moderator was put in place whose job it was to keep things clean and fairly pleasant. Anyone who didn’t follow the ground rules would be quickly frozen out.

The tricky part as mentioned in one of the points above is still the “when” question. How would a couple determine when they felt okay for guests to have smartphones in their hands typing in commentary via social media?  Couples that consider this need to understand they have many options in this regard in order to keep things from getting out of hand.

For instance, a bridegroom could decide to elect for only a few carefully chosen guests to have this luxury. While this may seem unfair to some, there are clearly going to be guests a couple has more of an intimate relationship with then others and a couple might prefer for only them to have the privilege to interact through social media during the wedding. All guests could still interact, just not during the wedding.

In Rob and Maria’s case they felt like allowing everyone to take part during the wedding was fair, but they really were aggressive with making sure that guests used proper etiquette. They felt like things should be done as inconspicuous as possible.

Another option for couples that don’t mind getting away from convention would be to setup a portion during the wedding solely for the purpose of social media interaction. Keep in mind that this would be through a specific account setup by the couple. Once again, the implementation of this can be tricky, but if a couple isn’t too concerned with keeping things super formal and traditional, then they can find a way to make it work.

The reality is that social media is a part of life these days. Even if a bridegroom doesn’t allow it during the actual wedding, it will still be a part of the big day in some way.  Allowing it during a wedding is just an idea, but certainly not one that any couple has to incorporate. For those couples who might though, if careful thought and planning is put into the execution of it, then it can inject an element of uniqueness into a wedding that may serve to make it even more memorable than it will already be.