A Planner's response to Plan a DIY Wedding Using Social Media

I read a great little article written by groom Josh Catone, an editor over at Mashable. He discusses using Social Media to plan his own nuptials slated for July 2010. I loved this little article. I don't like the bad word DIY, which Marcy Blum calls Do It Without Us, it leaves a bad taste in this planner's mouth.

The bottom line? YES, you can plan your wedding using social media. And NO, technology can't help you with everything. As a confessed social media junkie and professional planner, I use social media to plan weddings. New resources are readily available and at my fingertips. If you tweet it, they will come. If I need a great designer for custom invites all I do is ask and within minutes, I have 10-20 choices. I like the comfort of working with my tried and true San Antonio wedding professionals, but every year we must bring it to another level, find the next best thing, bring a new trend. One thing i have learned from social media is that wedding professionals can make it happen anywhere and get it to you (and we love to travel for your wedding). That awesome photographer from Dallas? Sure, I can get him here for your San Antonio wedding.

These easiest of Social Media resources to use:
Blogs: aaah, blogs, also known as eye candy. This is mecca of social media for your wedding inspiration. Detailed pictures, how-to, you name it, it is out there on a blog. Some great blogs to start if you haven' already discovered: Southern Weddings Magazine, The Bride's Cafe, Style Me Pretty, and DIY Bride. (Janie's Bride Cafe has a lovely DIY project, Wedding Cake Chandelier this week)

With all the technology at your fingertips such as my favorite iphone app: evernote, wedding website, twitter, the dreaded Facebook invitation, and many more, why do you need a planner? Well let me throw a few things out there:

1. Your iphone isn't going to tell your fly is open right before you walk down the aisle with your best man. Your best man might, but if he is twitpic'ing your wedding, he'll probably miss it.
2. All those great reviews on that wedding website (wedding vendors - you know what I speak of) didn't tell you that those glowing reviews were former brides now in the wedding business and really have NO business in the wedding business (say that three times fast)
   
3. Does your twitter account help smooth out the rough patches during the reception when you've gone a little long taking your post ceremony photos?

I'm being funny, but as planners we do much more than connect vendor A with Client B. We work with you every step of the way, listening to everything you have said, burning it to memory so that when that emergency does arise, we handle it with grace and you never ever have to know about it, because it didn't change one thing in your perfect day. We do so much more, but I don't want to put you to sleep.

I love social media. It has changed the way I do business. It has made my work so much easier and I love my iphone. I couldn't live without, much like my crackberry, uh I mean blackberry in the years before.

Get out there and socialize. There are 100's of us professionals out there, with our Facebook fan pages, tweets and blogs. Thank you for reading mine.

Lastly, because we believe in love, we wish Josh Catone and his betrothed a stress free wedding planning experience and many Many MANY years of married bliss. Best of luck and hit me up on twitter if you have a questions (on weddings).