Social media has transformed wedding planning by allowing approximately 90% of planning to occur online, with 75% on social media. This has lowered barriers to entry for vendors while also oversaturating the market. Key elements of the evolution include integration of social media channels, personalized weddings utilizing many individual vendors, and influencers driving trends. Success now requires strong social media marketing skills, and the future will see continued personalization and lower costs as social media removes coordination expenses.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING TREND
Wedding Planning
Presented by Chris Ulyett

2. OVERVIEW
• Wedding Planning
• DSTVdesigns
• Analysis
• History
• Pros and Cons
• Trend in Action
• Elements of Evolution
• Expert Interview
• The Future
• References

3. WEDDING PLANNING
• “There are striking differences between the ideal wedding today and the ideal wedding in the
pre-social media era” (Arnold, 2018)
• Approximately 90% of wedding planning is done online, with 75% of that happening on social
media channels (WeddingWire).

4. -
• DSTVdesigns is a custom wedding stationery business run and operated by
Danielle Arietta since 2018
• Danielle is solely responsible for all design, printing, assembly, and marketing.
• She runs ongoing marketing campaigns across multiple social media channels.
• DSTVdesigns primarily works with wedding clients, but also works with a
variety of events and celebrations.

5. HISTORY
$23,000.00
$24,000.00
$25,000.00
$26,000.00
$27,000.00
$28,000.00
$29,000.00
$30,000.00
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Average Cost of Weddings
Average Cost
Tik Tok was
founded
Pinterest and Instagram were
founded between 2010 and
2014
*Cost data from The
Knot
Analysis: The above graph provides perspective of average cost of weddings over time with respect
to the prevalence of certain social media platforms. A spike in cost can be observed followed by a
stabilization. This suggests a frenzy in the wedding market caused by social media followed by an
ultimate reduction in cost due to social media’s ability to lower the barrier of entry for vendors.

6. PROS
• Removes barrier of entry for vendors
• Cost reduction
• Creates more opportunities for
vendors to engage with prospective
clients
• Allows for vendors to sell and operate
globally
• Over saturates the wedding planning
market
• Ease of developing professional social
media marketing makes brand
differentiation more difficult to attain
• Vendors need to be technically savvy
enough to succeed at social media
marketing
CONS
SOCIAL MEDIA’S IMPACT

7. ELECTRONIC PRESS KITS
• Vendors are required to develop
multimedia press kits that
demonstrate competency in photos,
videos, and audio
• EPKs need to be formatted to support
the variety of social media channels
that clients interact with
• Securing a contract with a client is
only the first step in the business
relationship
• Vendors must secure additional
business by associating their services
with the marketing that the client
does of their own wedding
• Having hashtags link your business to
the weddings of your clients ensures
continual growth of the business
HASHTAGS
TREND IN ACTION

8. ELEMENTS OF EVOLUTION
1. Integration of social media channels
• Content on channels becomes more uniform as channels more closely integrate
2. Moving away from package vendors and toward individual contributors
• Wedding planning via social media enables consumers to personalize every component of a wedding, resulting in more
vendors contributing smaller components
3. After-wedding content
• Videography and photography captured during the wedding allow clients to relive the wedding over social media while
simultaneously advertising the vendors that they used
4. Influencers driving trends
• Influencers increasingly plan their own weddings over social media. As this trend continues, influencers will shape styles
and content that people incorporate into their own weddings
5. Diversity in planning
• Social media provides an increasing number of ways that clients can plan and prepare for their weddings. These options
will contribute to increased diversity in event types.

9. EXPERT INTERVIEW
Question 1: Do you find that you are more successful through some social media channels over others?
Answer: "Definitely. I've found that I have by far been the most successful using Tik Tok. My content has gone viral 32 times with
views reaching as high as one million. It's definitely generated a lot of business."
Question 2: Do you have to cater your marketing campaigns to specific social media channels?
Answer: "Certain platforms are definitely more suited for different content. Like Instagram is obviously more focused on
photography, while platforms like Tik Tok allow me to add audio/video. So, what I'm advertising and the message I'm trying to get
across remains the same, but the specifics of how I present it on each channel differs slightly."
Question 3: How do you measure the success of your social media campaigns?
Answer: "I generally don't use the analytic features of the various social media channels. Instead, I put a lot of focus on hashtags. I
keep a list of which ones are associated with my content that gets the most views. I maintain that list and revise it as different
campaigns yield different results.
Question 4: How do you target your social media campaigns?
Answer: "My target audience is people who are planning weddings. I don't target particular areas, ages, or other demographics. I
have had some clients for events other than weddings, but I definitely target my business towards weddings."
Question 5: How much of an impact has your social media presence had on the success of your business?
Answer: "My social media presence has been everything for my business. It is the only way that I advertise my business and it has
directly led to tremendous growth over the past four years."

10. THE FUTURE
• Weddings planning will continue to be more personalized, allowing
more vendors to contribute fewer parts to a wedding
• Trends and style will be driven by influencers causing certain vendors to
go viral
• Cost of weddings will see an incremental drop over time as social media
will ultimately remove coordination and exclusivity costs
• Success in the wedding planning industry will forever require
competence and skill in social media marketing

11. REFERENCES
Arnold, A. (2018, August 16). How social media has transformed the idea and costs of the ideal wedding. Forbes.
Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/07/31/how-social-media-has-
transformed-the-idea-and-costs-of-the-ideal-wedding/?sh=6cd99e8461bd
Forrest, K. (2022, February 15). This was the average cost of a wedding in 2021. theknot.com. Retrieved April 24,
2022, from https://www.theknot.com/content/average-wedding-
cost#:~:text=The%20average%20wedding%20cost%20in%202019%20was%20%2428%2C000%2C%20and%20%242
8%2C200,averaging%20%2426%2C800%20for%20their%20weddings.
2020 Wedding Report. WeddingWire. (2020, January 15). Retrieved April 24, 2022, from
https://go.weddingwire.com/newlywed-report/2020
Tuten, T. L. (2021). Social Media Marketing. SAGE Publications.