Unpinned
I was originally planning to name this blog post "Fuck You Pinterest", but not surprisingly, I discovered that has already been done. After further research, I found that what I'm about to say has been said before.... many times.... by many different people.....
Fuck. You. Pinterest.
In a world where it's hard enough to just live in a moment, you've got Pinterest yelling in your ear telling you exactly what your wedding should be like before it even happens; Throwing list after list your way with exactly what your day needs to be perfect; Masquerading as your helpful buddy when in reality it is your passive aggressive "friend" at best. Eye. Roll. Pinterest is helping to remove the importance of genuine interaction from a day that should have all of your attention.
It isn't the listing specifically that puts me off. I'm high grade obsessed with lists. If you spend over an hour with me, you'll notice me checking at least one of my many to-do lists and checklists I keep on my phone. The problem I see, and many others as I stated, is that Pinterest is placing importance on planned bullshit that has no real meaning if it doesn't happen organically in the first place.
There's a story from the early days of Roni Rose Photography that we like to tell all the time. We were doing couples portraits on a dock one afternoon after a beautiful outdoor ceremony. The sky was gorgeous, and it was windy. Severe thunderstorm warning right above our heads windy. All of a sudden the bride's 10+ foot long veil goes flying off of her head and into the water. Instead of panicking, the couple laughed about how quickly it disappeared off of her head. A nearby fly fisherman saw what had happened and came running over to save the day. He was able to fish the veil out of the water. It was my favorite part of the day. None of us could do a thing but laugh, and I'll remember that moment forever. Here's a few more examples of some perfect imperfections.
When your wedding venue unexectedly closes less than 20 days before your wedding, and you end up with an even cooler venue and a perfect day.
When you accidentally crash a music video being filmed, and all of those other marvelous passerby's you may meet. I love a good distraction during portraits.
Stains on your dress that produce moments of closeness.
Escaping into back rooms and coat closets to have a quiet minute alone together.
The ride to your first look, your ceremony or your venue, and all the feels on the way.
Unexpected weather for your outdoor ceremony.
And every seemingly unimportant moment in the between.
In the end, is your day really ruined if you don't have, for example, that shot of the bride holding her lipstick to her mouth while staring uncomfortably in the mirror? Is your love for each other somehow dampened without that? (The answer is no). Embrace the wind and the crazy weather, your crooked ties and the stains on your dress, the distractions and the waiting. Embrace the unpinned.