Have you ever had to deal with a Pinterest Obsessed Bride? She sends you endless photos for “inspiration” and asks you to recreate every photo but her wedding venue, time of year, etc… doesn’t match the photos she’s sending you? Well, this issue happened to one of my very own Tea with Jainé Facebook members and she reached out to me for some advice.
It’s a great topic and I recently did a Instagram IGTV video sharing my thoughts and advice. It’s happened to me so chances are it’s happened (or will happen) to you too. Here are my tips on how to deal with a Pinterest obsessed bride.
I should start by saying that I absolutely LOVE Pinterest. It’s a wonderful tool for gathering your inspiration and sharing your ideas with your wedding vendors, bridesmaids, families, etc… I use it to send clothing inspiration for engagement photos, newborn, and maternity sessions. I’m a visual learner so having a visual tool to help me get my point across is invaluable however, they are just suggestions, and I don’t expect my couples to go purchase these exact outfits. I say use it for inspiration when shopping your own closets!
So what do you do if you encounter a bride is who is so Pinterest OBSESSED that it’s beginning to hinder your creativity? Well, here are my tips for navigating through this situation.
No. 1 - Look at her inspiration. When your bride asks if she can send you her Pinterest board for inspiration for her wedding or engagement photos, happily accept it. Tell her you’ll review her inspiration and give her your feedback. By doing this, you are starting out on the right foot, showing you are open to suggestions, and most importantly, sharing in her excitement too!
No. 2 - Set the Expectations in Advance. After you’ve reviewed her images, give your honest feedback. Explain to her that you’ll take her inspiration photos into consideration for their session or wedding day but you won’t be able to “recreate” these photos exactly (if at all!). Simply explain that you are not a “copycat” and you cannot “duplicate” someone else’s work BUT you can create new original photos just for them. I would say something along the lines of “I love these images, the colors, the tones, they are stunning but just so you know that I can’t recreate these images exactly. We’ll come up with our own fun poses and make new images that are just for you!”
No. 3 - Be the Leader - don’t follow everyone else! Each wedding day, venue, weather, and situation is unique and you need the freedom to create with these unrealistic expectations over your shoulders. Set the expectations that you are you own artist and not a copycat. Wouldn’t she/they want to have their photos be the ones that everyone else is pinning? I would think so too!
But what if you couple is adamant about creating one particular type of photo and won’t budge? Maybe it’s the completely overdone “jumping” shot and you pretty much hate those? Well, here’s my advice, just do it! Do it for them and then… do a photo for you :) A good rule of thumb that I have in the back of my head all day long is “one for thee, one for me”. You can make your couple happy and you can make your inner artist happy as well. Does the jumping shot have to be shared on Instagram and/or your website? Nope. If the couple shares it, that’s great because they will rave to all their friends about how amazing you are and what a incredible time they had with you and that is what you want. It’s not really about the photos, it’s about their experience with you and you ALWAYS want it to be positive so make them happy!!
No. 4 - They Hired You for You, not for Somebody Else. My last piece of advice is to remember that they hired you for you and NOT for somebody else’s work. Do I still get sent Pinterest boards for inspiration? Sometimes. But when I do, I know that my couple hired me for me and they TRUST me to do my job. They KNOW that I’m going to make some incredible images for them and I’m going to be using all the resources in my “tool belt” to do so.
So, I think the biggest take away I can give you is to EDUCATE your bride and groom’s about how to use Pinterest and clearly set the expectations in advance before their wedding day. It’s for inspiration not duplication. Once you’ve worked through that pain point, you’ll be on your way to a happy couple who loves their photos because they are THEIR photos and not replicas of someone else’s.
Inspiration is a great thing, we all need to be inspired but we just don’t have to copy it verbatim, you know? Good luck!!
Has this happened to you? How did you handle it? We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below! xo Jainé
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