I'm all over Pinterest. Pinning away dinner options, DIY gift ideas, and fashionable outfits. The most deplorable epidemic I have found from the site has been the disturbing amount of wedding pins that occur over anything else.
I'm not talking about my engaged friends, oh no, I'm looking at you "girl who doesn't even have a boyfriend." I get why we pin onto our boards every idea for our non-existent weddings. The old saying about girls dreaming about their wedding day since they were little has evolved from magazine clippings to an internet shrine. I think these Pinterest boards have us focusing our minds on the wrong prize.
When people used to get married the ceremony was held in a church and the "reception," usually consisted of punch and light pick-ups in the church fellowship hall. As time has passed, the price of weddings has skyrocketed and what once was a ceremony of love has shifted all the focus to the after party and the photos of the day.
When you're planning your wedding on Pinterest, are you daydreaming about your wedding, or are you dreaming about your marriage? I can tell you that the two are very different things. Before getting married, we should be focusing our energy to our relationship. Get to know your boyfriend. Make sure the two of you put just as much effort into planning out the rest of your lives as you do one big expensive day.
I'm not saying that women are more excited for their weddings than they are for their husbands, but I think that Pinterest wedding boards are getting girls so hyped to throw this big party before they even find someone they want to spend their life with.
Pinterest is a unique resource and a wonderful tool to help brides plan out special details for their day. I don't know how helpful it is for girls in high school to be pinning things like "50 details of your engagement ring he won't want to get wrong." Do not even get me started on the whole engagement ring fantasizing. Without seeming too overdramatic, I think it may be just a little insane that girls have their engagement rings picked out before they even find a man. This was the one thing that used to be left to the guys and now girls go into a first date saying "Hey I'm Amy; I went to college at Rutgers and I would like a 3-carat, emerald cut set beside mother of pearl. So tell me about yourself."
There's no harm in the occasional pin for a dress you are in love with or a floral arrangement you love, but unless you plan on getting married in the near future I say put those wedding boards away and focus your energy on your relationship. After the cake is cut and the DJ goes home, you need to be 100 times more in love and excited about your man than you are about your DIY photo booth and table settings.
In the interest of full disclosure, I might have a Pinterest wedding board, but I never pin on it, I swear... Okay, maybe just a little.
