How To: Create A Wedding Hashtag

What is a hashtag? Are they still relevant in 2022? How do you use them? All valid questions! First off, hashtags certainly are not dead…yet. For small business owners and social media managers they are still very much a necessity to use and understand, but they can also have a purpose when it comes to weddings that doesn’t have anything to do with marketing. A hashtag is a keyword or groups of keywords with a pound sign in front of it, and on Instagram, is used to categorize and group together content. When you click on a #hashtag, all the photos tagged with the same keywords will pop up to be viewed by the user. Now, how does this relate to weddings and how do you create your own personal hashtag?

I remember being a kid going to family weddings and always seeing disposable cameras scattered around the venue, before the age of fancy-shmancy cellphone cameras (cue Friends season 8 episode 2). This used to be a more common practice because it would give the guests an opportunity to take photos of the wedding from their point of view. Silly photos that maybe they didn’t want the professional photographer to capture. Then you have the fun anticipation of taking those cameras to your local drug store and waiting to have them developed – just hoping that some of the photos turned out! Well, we have now moved on to an age of instant gratification, social media, & living our lives through phones. Instagram & Facebook have become the new way to share photos and updates instantaneously. However, if you are a bride or groom on your wedding day it is highly likely (I hope) that you are not on your social media platforms until the next day at the earliest. But that doesn’t mean your guests aren’t instantly posting photos to their accounts highlighting little moments from the day that your professional photographer wasn’t able to capture (or captured from a different angle). With that said, side note… PLEASE put your phones away during the ceremony, and absolutely do NOT get in the way of the professional photographer in the aisleway!!

Ultimately, this is where a hashtag can be useful for you! Coming up with a fun and witty group of keywords for your guests to be able to tag their cellphone photos with will give you (as the bride & groom) the opportunity to go back to your social media accounts, search for that personalized hashtag, and revel in all the fun photos taken by your family and friends. However, for this to work you have to make it very clear and visible to your guests that you have a hashtag you want them to use and what the hashtag is. Put it on everything that makes sense… your save-the-dates, the wedding website, the welcome sign, the bar sign, the guestbook sign, maybe even create a specific sign for the hashtag. Tell all your vendors about it so they can add it to any photos they take throughout the day too!

Here’s the tricky part… coming up with the actual hashtag. Don’t get discouraged, this can take some time. Where do you start? There are a couple of #hashtag generator apps that could give you some good ideas – even if that means tweaking them a little. Otherwise, go ahead and start writing out words that are related to you and your other half. Last names, first names, nicknames, where you met, where you live, careers/professions, anything that your friends and family think of when they think of you both as a couple. See how the words can start to fit together. Are there any cliché wedding sayings that work (i.e. #Schatz4ever, #Childerssentenced4life, #ChrisandSydneysayido)? Are there any pun-y keywords based off classic sayings or lyrics that make sense (i.e. #turndownforWatts, #ohHillyeah, #somethingoldsomethingNewman)? What about an alliteration (i.e. #goingGodfrey, #theWilliamswedding, #Brownbetrothed)? Come up with a few options that feel right and decide together what is going to best fit your wedding day. Last tip… don’t make it TOO complicated or long, otherwise guests won’t want to take the time to use the tag.

If you found this article helpful but are realizing if it takes this much work just to come up with a hashtag, let alone plan the rest of the wedding… let’s talk!! Click this contact button to get a conversation started.