{"id":12834,"date":"2019-10-11T11:12:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?p=12834"},"modified":"2019-10-11T11:13:07","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:13:07","slug":"reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","title":{"rendered":"Reviews, communities and wedding planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am planning my wedding. October 12<\/span>th<\/span> is the big day; as I write this I am 19 days away. <\/span><\/h2>\n

The to-do lists have reached a level that can only be described by imagining the credits at the end of a movie sped up 8x playing inside your eyelids set to the craziest part of any<\/span> Dan Deacon song<\/span><\/a> ever made.\u00a0 Dramatic, but\u2026 accurate.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thrive on thinking ahead, I love anticipating the needs of my clients before they know they need something, but when the client is your entire family PLUS everyone you\u2019ve ever known, it gets personal and overwhelming. Add in the unfamiliar territory of learning to be an event planner and a strict budget and you\u2019ve got a recipe for a lot of questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

My reaction to any unknown, any question at all, big or small, is to go straight to the internet. <\/span><\/h3>\n

Is the new cheap Thai restaurant any good? Yelp. What is the best immersion blender for less than $100? Wirecutter. What kind of shoes should I wear to my wedding? Reddit. How much does a photobooth cost in Western North Carolina? Wedding Wire. UGC (user generated content) in the form of topical groups on Reddit or Facebook, UGC as customer reviews, and formal consumer research are my first and primary sources for every decision I make. Every, single, decision. Even after I think I\u2019ve found what I\u2019m looking for, depending on what it is, I\u2019ll use geolocation tags or other hashtags on Instagram just to make sure it\u2019s what I want!<\/span><\/p>\n

I know some of this is personality driven; my mom is a librarian so having as much information available was always king (queen? ?) at our house. The bigger the price tag related to the item or event in question, the more reviews and research and time I spend on it. I\u2019m your car salesman\u2019s worst nightmare.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not news that millennials (and most anyone with access) use online reviews and groups to make decisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Wedding Wire\u2019s<\/span> 2019 Newlywed Report<\/span><\/a> is full of data that backs me up; 80% of couples plan their wedding online and aside from price when considering a vendor, couples look for reviews next followed by photos. Reviews <\/span>matter<\/span><\/i>. Something else I\u2019ve learned while planning my wedding is that a good review online is worth as much as a monetary tip to a vendor \u2013 I know tipping culture is unique in the US, but to spell it out for anyone who isn\u2019t getting married in the USA in 19 days, in many instances that could be running $100+ per vendor.<\/span><\/p>\n

What seems to be evolving are the arenas where people are asking for opinions and answers. In addition to sites that are dedicated to consumer reviews, internet forums as we knew them in the 1990s and early 2000s have had a resurgence in the form of Facebook Groups. Subreddits are still active community centers for subcultures and all sorts of self help topics, so when you have a question you really can\u2019t find the answer to, you can ask a community of other folks who will know. The quality and responsiveness of these groups varies, but especially with all things wedding related, there are a lot of people out there who are interested and willing to share their own experiences or ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Building a brand as a <\/span>reaction<\/span><\/i> to a community is probably my favorite take of all, especially in wedding world.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Wedding marketing and societal expectations (also a direct result of marketing) paint very specific swim lanes for what it takes to have a successful wedding with no consideration to what a couple may actually find meaningful to them. A lot of the pressure in current wedding marketing comes directly from social media itself (including Pinterest! Very much including Pinterest).<\/span><\/p>\n

Bridechilla<\/span><\/a> is a reactionary community that flies in the face of \u201ctradition\u201d and empowers the couple to create a wedding with meaning on their terms\u2013 no more \u201cBridezilla.\u201d (Just because you are a woman demanding that goods and services are exactly what you want while you spend an average of<\/span> $38,000 on your wedding<\/span><\/a> while also more often than not working a full time job does not make you a literal monster.) People in the community are referred to as \u201cBridechillas\u201d or just \u201cchillas\u201d. It started out as a podcast and is now it\u2019s own online community via Facebook Groups with a few books to read as well. Chillas can listen to podcasts like \u201cThe F**k It Bucket\u201d and \u201cStop Saying Yes to S**t you Hate\u201d or ask for recommendations in the Facebook group and people give their honest opinions based on their experiences. Chillas even ask how to deal with family issues \u2013 the support of the community goes beyond the surface planning work.<\/span><\/p>\n

All this to say, online reviews<\/a> and online communities around your brand or industry matter and they are going to keep mattering <\/span>a lot<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/h3>\n

When you are investing in your audience research, these areas should be your first port of call \u2013 it\u2019s worth considering how you as a brand could participate in a non-disruptive and supportive way, even in a reactionary way. It\u2019s not just about weddings, this is true for everything. The New York Times bought<\/span> The Wirecutter<\/span><\/a> in 2016 for $30 million dollars for a reason- an investment. Community springs out of common interest, and if that interest is your brand then you need to be in it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am planning my wedding. October 12th is the big day; as I write this I am 19 days away. The to-do lists have reached a level that can only be described by imagining the credits at the end of a movie sped up 8x playing inside your eyelids set to the craziest part of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":12835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nReviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Social Element USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-11T11:12:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-11T11:13:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532-1024x680.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Koenig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Koenig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning\",\"name\":\"Reviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-11T11:12:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-11T11:13:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/4110fe90791f0c47eb99c9f970eb6406\"},\"description\":\"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg\",\"width\":3216,\"height\":2136,\"caption\":\"reviews\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews, communities and wedding planning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/\",\"name\":\"The Social Element USA\",\"description\":\"Be amazing on social.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/4110fe90791f0c47eb99c9f970eb6406\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Koenig\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c63906427c55dc1c8955239fdc7f590d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c63906427c55dc1c8955239fdc7f590d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Koenig\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/author\/elizabeth-koenigthesocialelement-agency\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA","description":"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA","og_description":"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.","og_url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","og_site_name":"The Social Element USA","article_published_time":"2019-10-11T11:12:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-11T11:13:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":680,"url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532-1024x680.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Koenig","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Koenig","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning","name":"Reviews, communities and wedding planning - The Social Element USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-11T11:12:27+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-11T11:13:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/4110fe90791f0c47eb99c9f970eb6406"},"description":"In our latest blog post, Elizabeth Koenig her wedding planning with the help of the internet and why online reviews matter to brands.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/abandoned-antique-architecture-263532.jpg","width":3216,"height":2136,"caption":"reviews"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/reviews-communities-and-wedding-planning#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews, communities and wedding planning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/","name":"The Social Element USA","description":"Be amazing on social.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/4110fe90791f0c47eb99c9f970eb6406","name":"Elizabeth Koenig","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c63906427c55dc1c8955239fdc7f590d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c63906427c55dc1c8955239fdc7f590d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Koenig"},"url":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/author\/elizabeth-koenigthesocialelement-agency"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}