Ok, confession time. I LOVE a good Pinterest board. Love it. Jerry will tell you I’ve got boards for recipes I’m never gonna make and home projects that are, let’s be real, never gonna happen.
So hear me when I say this… I am not here to take your Pinterest away from you.
I’ve been photographing weddings full time for a long time, and I’ve seen a LOT of boards. Couples send them to me before our consultation all the time, and I literally love getting them. But I’ve also watched Pinterest turn from a fun tool into a source of stress, comparison, and “why doesn’t our wedding look like that?”
Sooooo let’s talk about how to use Pinterest for your wedding planning the RIGHT way. The way that actually helps you plan a day that feels like YOU.
Step One: Pin Everything You Love (Seriously, Everything)
Don’t edit yourself at the start. Pin the dresses and the suits. Do the florals that cost more than your car. Pin the candlelit reception, the sparkler exit, the couple laughing so hard they’re bent over in a field somewhere.
No rules at this stage. You’re not planning yet. You’re collecting.
Whether you’re a bride and groom, two brides, two grooms, or two partners who just want a really good party… this part is for both of you. Pin separately if you can (more on why in a minute).
Go wild. I’ll wait.
Step Two: Stop Pinning and Ask WHY
Here’s the part nobody tells you, and it’s the most important part of this whole post.
Once you’ve got a board full of images, stop. Put the phone down. Then go back and look at what you saved and ask yourself: why did I pin THIS?
Because I promise you, it’s almost never about the exact arch or the exact chairs. You pinned it because of how it made you feel. Your board is trying to tell you something, and your job is to figure out what.
Here are a few ways to decode it:
1. The “I pinned this because…” exercise
Pick your 20 favorite pins. For each one, finish this sentence: “I pinned this because…”
Go fast. Don’t overthink it. Then read all 20 answers back and circle any word that shows up more than once.
“Cozy.” “Golden.” “Everybody’s laughing.” “They look like best friends.” “It feels like a family reunion.”
Those repeated words? THAT’S your wedding. Not the arch. The feeling.
2. The squint test
Open your board and zoom way out so the images get tiny. What jumps out?
- Is it bright and airy, or dark and moody?
- Lots of color, or soft and neutral?
- Close-up, emotional moments, or big wide scenery shots?
- Are there actual PEOPLE in most of your pins, or mostly details and decor?
That last one is a big deal. If your board is 90% tablescapes and zero hugs, it’s worth asking yourself what you really want to remember in 30 years.
3. Three feeling words per pin
Skip the stuff (flowers, dress, venue) and give each pin three feeling words. Relaxed. Romantic. Wild. Elegant. Joyful. Intimate. Loud.
Tally them up. You’ll probably find out you don’t actually want a Joshua Tree wedding. You want “wide open, relaxed, and a little wild.” And guess what? You can have that right here.
4. Sort into three piles
Go through your board (sections work great for this) and sort every pin into one of three groups:
- This is the vibe. The feeling we’re going for.
- We could actually do this. Real, doable ideas for our day, budget, and people.
- Pretty, but not us. Gorgeous. Also not who we are.
That third pile is where the growth happens. Letting go of stuff that’s pretty but not yours is how your wedding starts to feel like your wedding.
5. Compare boards with your partner
If you and your fiancé(e) pinned separately, now’s the fun part. Sit down together with some snacks (Albanese gummy bears for me, or caramel corn… but NEVER together, don’t come for me.) and compare.
The overlap is the heart of your wedding. The differences? That’s a great conversation about what matters to each of you. Sometimes one partner is all florals and the other one is ALL about the food. Both matter. Both belong in the day.
6. Ask your AI tool to find the thread
Ok, this one because I know you gonna use AI anyway. If you do use ChatGPT, Claude, or another AI chat tool, take a few screenshots of your board and upload them with this prompt:
“These are images from our wedding Pinterest board. Don’t describe the objects. Tell us what emotions, colors, lighting, and moods keep repeating. What do you think we’re really drawn to? What seems to matter most to us? Give us 5 words that sum up the feeling of our wedding.”
It’s not gonna plan your wedding for you (please don’t let a robot plan your wedding). But it’s a really interesting mirror. Use it as a conversation starter, not the final answer.
Wanna do all of this without the guesswork? I made a free Pinterest Board Decoder worksheet that walks you and your partner through every one of these exercises, step by step, plus the AI prompt ready to copy. [Grab it here.]
Your Pinterest Board Is a Mood, Not a Map
Ya’ll. Let me tell you what happens in my inbox.
Couples send me boards FULL of Napa Valley vineyards. Joshua Tree at sunset. Rooftops in New York. Cliffs in Big Sur. Basically anywhere on earth except… St. Louis. (Where they are getting married. In March.)
And look, those images are beautiful! But I need you to hear me with love: your wedding is not going to look exactly like somebody else’s wedding. And that’s a GOOD thing.
That couple in Napa had different light, different weather, a different season, different people, and a totally different story. Trying to copy their day frame by frame means you’re chasing a moment that already belongs to someone else.
Leave room for your wedding to be yours.
A lot of those pins aren’t even real weddings
This one surprises people. A LOT of what you see on Pinterest comes from styled shoots. That means paid models, a borrowed dress, a florist showing off, zero timeline, and nobody’s Uncle Ray trying to get into the shot.
There’s no shame in styled shoots. They’re art! But comparing your real, beautiful, busy wedding day to a staged photo is like comparing your actual kitchen to a magazine cover. Your kitchen has people in it. That’s the point. And if you are open to doing your portraits another day, that’s my jam too. That gives you more time to enjoy your wedding. (it’s what Gabrielle union and Dwayne Wade did – and that wedding was STUNNING)
Please don’t turn your board into a shot list
I’ve had couples hand me 40 Pinterest poses they want recreated. And I get it! But every minute we spend recreating someone else’s photo is a minute we’re NOT catching the real stuff. Your grandma crying at the first look. The best friend losing it on the dance floor. Your partner looking at you like you hung the moon.
Those moments don’t come from Pinterest. They come from you being present and me doing my job. Trust your photographer. (Hi. That’s me.)
Love That Vibe? Here’s Your St. Louis Version
Here’s the good news. Once you know the feeling behind your pins, you can find it right here at home.
- Love the Napa vineyard look? Missouri wine country is RIGHT there. Augusta was the very first federally recognized wine region in the country (yep, before Napa). Rolling hills, golden light, all of it.
- Obsessed with lush European gardens? The Missouri Botanical Garden in Shaw and Tower Grove Park give you that romantic, green, old-world feeling without the passport.
- Pinning New York rooftops and city energy? Downtown St. Louis, Washington Avenue, and the loft venues around town bring the brick, the lights, and the edge.
- Joshua Tree and wide open spaces got you? Try the prairie at Shaw Nature Reserve or the bluffs along the Great River Road. Big sky, a little wild, and golden hour for days.
St. Louis is gorgeous. I’ve been saying it for 17 years and I’m gon keep saying it.
Make Sure Pinterest Shows YOU
Let’s talk about something real for a second.
When you search “wedding” on Pinterest, what you mostly get back is white, straight, thin couples. Over and over. And if that’s not you, it can make the whole thing feel like it wasn’t built with you in mind.
It was. You belong in this. So search on purpose:
- “Black wedding” or “Black bride”
- “Queer wedding,” “two brides,” “two grooms,” “LGBTQ wedding”
- “Plus size bride” or “plus size wedding dress”
- “Cultural wedding traditions,” or the specific traditions your family carries
Build a board that looks like you, your people, and your love. You deserve to see yourself in your inspiration. Period.
Pin Your Real Life, Too
Did you know you can upload your OWN photos to Pinterest? You can!
So add the stuff that actually makes you you. Your grandma’s kitchen. The restaurant where you had your first date. Your dog in his little bandana. Your family’s traditions. The colors of the house you grew up in.
Put those right next to all the pretty strangers. Honestly? Those are the pins that tell me the most about your wedding.
Keep Your Wedding Board Secret
Ok this is a big one, and I feel strongly about it.
Make your wedding boards secret. Pinterest lets you set any board to secret so only you (and anybody you invite) can see it.
Why? Because your wedding day should be an experience for your guests. You want them walking into that reception and gasping. You want them surprised by the florals, the details, the dress, the whole vibe. If your aunties have been scrolling your public board for 14 months, the magic is kinda… already spent.
Keep a little mystery. Let them be wowed.
Share With Your Vendors in Pieces
Your florist doesn’t need all 600 pins. Neither does your baker.
Use board sections to organize by category (florals, attire, cake, photos, decor, hair and makeup) and then share just the part that matters for each vendor. You can invite people to a secret board as collaborators, or send screenshots of the relevant section.
And when you share, share the WHY too. “We love these because they feel lush and a little messy” is SO much more helpful to a vendor than “make it look like this.”
Know When to Close the App
Pinterest is a great tool for dreaming. It’s a terrible tool for deciding.
Once you’ve booked your big vendors and landed on your vibe, it’s ok to stop pinning. Endless scrolling after the decisions are made usually turns into comparison, second-guessing, and “wait, should we have done a sparkler exit?”
No. You’re good. Close the app. Go enjoy being engaged.
Bring Your WHY to Our Consultation
When we sit down together, I’d love to see your board. But I’d love it even MORE if you bring what you found underneath it. Your feeling words. Your “I pinned this because.” The stuff you and your partner figured out together.
That’s what helps me photograph your day in a way that feels like you, not like somebody else’s highlight reel.
Pin what you love. Figure out why you love it. Then let your wedding be yours.
That’s it. That’s the post.
Ready to talk about your day? Book your consultation with Pinxit Photo here.
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