How to Break the Spell of Pinterest
It's engagement season! So we wanted to start off by congratulating all the newly engaged couples! This is a very special time in your life and we hope you truly enjoy the experience of being engaged and planning your wedding!
While wedding planning can be fun and exciting, we all know it can be pretty stressful. We can imagine most of you who are freshly engaged are already dizzy with all the possibilities for gowns, flowers, cakes, and all the many other beautiful components of a wedding. Pinterest is fast becoming your best friend...

You check it twice a day and look through endless pages of incredible images to get inspiration for your wedding gown, wedding decor ideas, wedding themes, and more! You’re hooked. Admit it. Look at those gorgeous centerpieces! Look at those exquisite hors d’oeuvres! The romantic bouquets! The precious dress on the flower girl! The butterflies, the sparklers, the fireworks! And OMG did you see those escort cards! You’ve got the "I wants." And it’s bad.
So this week we spoke with Ani Keshishian from Anoush Catering and got her tips on how you can control your Pinterest addiction and not let Pinterest ruin your wedding planning experience!
The Bait — Perfect Pictures
We all know Pinterest is fun, but it can be overwhelming. And it’s not Pinterest alone, of course. There are endless websites and blogs devoted to weddings, not to mention those bridal magazines that are so heavy you could rip an arm out trying to pick one up. Every single one of them displays nothing but picture perfect weddings.
These purportedly real weddings look like Ralph Lauren ads. Brides who look like cover girls. Grooms who clean up like George Clooney. Entire families have glowing complexions, pearl-white teeth, fabulous hair, and impeccable tailoring.

Every wedding detail is absolutely perfect. And the wedding locations are one more beautiful than the next. The sun radiating down upon it all in golden beams on the most pristine Southern California landscape you’ve ever seen. You can practically hear the angels singing.

You’ve Got Pinterest Fever
The ache for it all is so real it’s almost physical. You used to watch movie stars and princesses get married and knew you could never measure up to that standard. Westminster Abbey? Really? But now you’re driven to blow those glamorous weddings out of the water. You’re collecting inspiration pages faster than you can count them, and as they pile up in drifts around you, your eyes glaze over and visions of your perfect wedding have begun to take shape.
Hundreds of ivory candles — votives, pillars, and tapers massed in idyllic display. Golden chairs bedecked with perfect tulle bows. Exquisitely embroidered table runners and napkins. Wide swaths of shimmery fabric draped overhead. A sweetheart table that looks like it belongs to a botanical garden. Tablescapes (your new word!) made of things that glitter, sparkle and dazzle. Table numbers in gilded frames, ornate goblets, cascades of crystals. Over the top? There is no top!
Just a beautiful tower of cake won’t do at all. All over Pinterest there are dessert tables laden with pastel macarons, tiny parfaits with spoons tied on with satin ribbon, cheesecake shots, chocolate mousse shooters, lemon curd tarts, champagne truffles, petits fours. More kinds of cookies than you’ve ever seen in your life. All offered on elegant platters, trays, and footed stands. Every single morsel is in the wedding colors. With a dessert menu like this, choosing an incredible caterer for your wedding is now more important than ever.

You want everything. Every last bit of it. Your heart is racing, your pulse pounding. You can barely breathe for the sheer desire of it all.
Think you might need an intervention?
Your Pinterest Intervention
First, realize that you’ve been hypnotized. Most of the pictures you’re pining over were professionally styled. Some of them are editorial layouts from magazines, and some are advertisements. Almost all of them were shot by commercial photographers using the best lighting, equipment, and editing techniques. Everything has been designed to make you absolutely crave it.
Second, keep in mind that this wedding is about you and your groom and the guests you’ve invited. It isn’t a contest. There’s no Wedding Inspector who’s going to show up and grade you on your use of calligraphy and tea-dyed lace.
Take a lot of deep breaths. Focus on what best represents you both as a couple and go from there. Fashion designer Coco Chanel’s famous advice about accessorizing elegantly was, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” She was talking about jewelry, but the same thing applies to wedding décor.
Last, and most importantly, remember that your wedding is not the only party you’re ever going to throw in your life. There will be other parties for anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, and other big life events. This is not your last chance to decorate and to create wonderful settings with wonderful food. So save all your inspiration photos and you’ll find reasons to use them another time. Now, isn’t that perfect?

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