I’m OBSESSED with Instagram – it is by far my favorite of all social media. If you aren’t familiar, Instagram is a camera app (for iPhone and Androids) that allows you to easily create dreamy photos and share them in an instant across multiple social media outlets along with your friends and followers. Naturally some of the guests who attend your wedding will Instagram their favorite pics from the day… and I’m sure you’d like to see them all! Here’s how you can easily encourage your guests in four different ways, to add your wedding #hashtag to their pictures – and just like that all the pictures Instagramed at your wedding will be in one place!

I purchased the chalkboard above at Cost Plus World Market and using a chalk marker from Michaels (found in the wedding section) I simply wrote my message to the guests including my special wedding #hashtag. Place at the entrance to your ceremony and then somewhere visible during your reception and you’re good to go!

#hashtag

In the comment section of your photo, placing a # in front of any word or words combined creates a searchable category within Instagram (and Twitter) that essentially tags your picture by whatever word you use. For example, in the bouquet picture below I used the hashtags #bouquet #wedding and #somethingturquoise – if anyone was searching for a bouquet on Instagram, that image will be among the thousands ‘tagged’ as such. Same thing with my craft space below, I used #marthastewartcrafts #mastercrafter and #somethingturquoise – these words however don’t need to make sense, they can be funny and sometimes are used as a way of commenting. For example, if I shared a picture of a huge piece of cake and glass of milk, I might want to hashtag #notonmydiet. Your wedding #hashtag can be whatever you would like… my examples show to use your initials plus the word wedding along with the day you get married. If your #hashtag is too simple or too generic, there is a chance other people or weddings out there could have already used that #hashtag and you’ll have to sift through their photos as well. To find out if a #hashtag has already been used simply do a search on Instagram. The “#” needs to be touching the word and there are no spaces or other characters allowed – otherwise is breaks the #hashtag code… for instance if you use #m&jwedding – the use of ‘&’ will break the tag. So, stick to using letters and numbers in your wedding # and you’ll be fine!

Here are three other ways to inform your guests of your wedding #hashtag. You can add the info to your ceremony program, you can add a framed sign to your guest book or gift table, or you can make simple tent cards for each table. Think about including your Instagram name on your cards so that just in case your guests don’t follow you already, they can easily find you and tag you in the picture as well. What option will be best for your wedding?

In love with these ideas? Well you are in luck! I’ve designed this cute Instagram Wedding logo below that you can download for free and incorporate into your own wedding day designs. To download/save the image below you can drag it onto your desktop or for the PC users, right click it and hit ‘save as’. Import it into any design software and resize it to fit whatever style of information card that you are creating!

I’ve also created these free downloads below of the gift table frame and table tent cards. If you are computer savvy you can import these pdf’s into any design program and add your personal text to them. The font I used is called TeX Gyre Adventor and is free to download at FontSquirrel.com. Or you can simply print these onto your choice of cardstock and handwrite your wedding #hashtag onto them.

Gift Table Frame   //   Table Tent Cards

Here is a list of where you can print your Instagram photos:

1. Social Print Studio – From mini-stickers to calendars, posters and more, this is one of my favorite places to order prints of my Instagram photos.

2. CanvasPop – Easily print your favorite pics on high quality canvas! Even your low-resolution images print perfectly with their special ‘Picture Perfect’ technology!

3. Blurb – Has a new adorable, Instagram friendly way to make mini photo books!

4. Sticky9 – Make affordable and adorable magnets of your Instagram photos!

5. Image Snap – Prints your photos onto ceramic tile of all shapes and sizes!

6. Casetagram – Create custom Apple and Galaxy mobile device cases from your photos!

7. PostalPix – A free iPhone app that lets you order real prints of any pictures on your phone!

Please keep in mind that you CANNOT print images from other people’s Instagram feeds! If you want to print one of your friends Instagrams from your wedding, you will need to ask your friend to send you the picture and then you have to Instagram it yourself. Please don’t screen shot your friend’s feed then crop and re-post, you can do this for fun but print resolution will be lost in the screen shot resulting in blurry prints. You can however re-post a friends image to your Instagram using an app like Insta-repost… and then you’ll have the ability to print the image from your own feed. Happy Instagraming!

All that being said… If you have created a project inspired by one of our DIY tutorials please share it with us via Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag: #SomethingTurquoiseDIY ~ Even if you don’t have a project to share, find me and say hello on Instagram @jen_somethingturquoise.

DIY Tutorial Credits

Photography + DIY tutorial and free downloads by: Jen | Something Turquoise // cute chalkboard frame and white gift table frame: Cost Plus World Market // white chalkboard pen (in the wedding section) and peach cardstock: Michaels