Photo: Leggy Bird
When wedding planning, it’s only natural to want to peruse Pinterest for all of the latest trends and wedding décor ideas. But if you’re like some brides, this Pinterest addiction can get out of hand — sucking up all your time and taking you away from the wedding tasks that need to get done. Here, therapist Allison Moir-Smith shares how she helped a client with a Pinterest addiction as well as what to do when you realize you have a serious pinning problem.
“Hi, I’m a bride-to-be, and I’m a Pinterest addict.” That’s how one bride introduced herself to me. Jokingly. But also kind of not joking.
She’d been engaged for four months, and at the very beginning, her behavior was completely normal by today’s terms: she went straight to Pinterest. She created boards galore for every possible wedding she could have: City chic, country quaint, vintage, modern, destination — the list goes on! At this stage of her engagement, the world was her wedding oyster, and she had the spectrum of Pinterest boards to prove it.
But she got a bit weirded out when large chunks of times disappeared down the rabbit hole that is Pinterest. In her quest for her Holy Grail of centerpiece designs, she’d look up from her computer and 45 minutes had evaporated. And she still hadn’t pinned that perfectly rustic mason jar with precisely styled wildflowers, that impeccably matched her color scheme. “If I just click around enough and spend enough time,” she thought, “I absolutely will find my perfect centerpiece.” The big question is — did she really need to find her ideal centerpiece on Pinterest? Or could she go on using the information she had in her imagination? There comes a time in each bride’s Pinterest journey when you must shift from “everything is possible” to getting actual tasks done.
Making that transition requires you to know what you like, make final decisions, start executing your plans, and get off Pinterest — so you can get your wedding planned. Going cold turkey with Pinterest isn’t easy; it’s a wonderland of possibility and pretty things. But, the website can be a time suck and avoidance tactic as well.
So, if you find yourself still down the Pinterest rabbit hole when you really should be working on prototypes for your centerpieces, do this: Set a timer.
See More: The Flower Wedding Cakes We Absolutely Loved on Pinterest This Week
The bride who called herself a Pinterest addict did just that: she set the timer on her phone to 15 minutes per day, and she let herself click around to her heart’s content during that timeframe. And then she logged out and got to the work on her wedding that actually needed to be done.
If you’re a Pinterest-addict, the good news is that you don’t need to cut Pinterest out completely. For Pinterest, as with anything, can be consumed in moderation.
Allison Moir-Smith is a bridal counselor and author. She counsels newlyweds, too. Visit Emotionally Engaged for information.