Pinterest + Weddings = A Look Towards the Future

by Stacy Haerr

I’ve been dreaming about my wedding for as long as I can remember. Now that my boyfriend and I have been dating for the better part of three years, I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been getting a little antsy for the engagement, the wedding, the whole big ordeal (not that he needs to know). So naturally, weddings was the first section I wandered into when first exploring Pinterest (well. The second after looking at Doctor Who pictures for half an hour). After spending a couple hours on the site and reading the Wilson & Yochim article, the concept of packets and pockets really stuck out to me in regards to my fantasy wedding. Before wandering around on Pinterest, I had about half an idea of what I wanted at my wedding. I wanted red details, a mermaid dress, and not to be married in a church. After my Pinterest adventure, I found little details (packets) that helped create my idea of a fantasy wedding (pockets). For example, I pinned a compilation of pictures that the bride and groom can take on their wedding day without seeing each other and breaking tradition, which fits the description of a packet (Wilson & Yochim 9). By pinning this, I helped fill a pocket, a place where I feel like something to happen, which happen to be things I want to do with my fiancé on the morning of my wedding (Wilson & Yochim 7). Now, instead of having a few unclear ideas of things I could do for my wedding, at least I have a few concrete ideas of things I could do.

When I was reading through Matchar’s first chapter, “The Pull of Domesticity in an Era of Anxiety,” I accepted what the author was saying, although I didn’t really felt like it applied to me. I’m not the DIY kind of person: I don’t knit, I have no desire to have my entire room organized, and you won’t catch me growing my own vegetables. But as I was scrolling through the wedding photos scattered across various boards on Pinterest, it dawned on me that while I’m not a DIY person, Matchar’s chapter still applied to me in a way, because I’m so excited about having my own family and being involved with them. The fact that I browsed wedding pictures for two hours on Pinterest speaks to how excited I am to start a family with my future husband. Weddings lead to the beginning of a family that starts off small with just two people; eventually, those family grow (at least mine will) to include children. While I don’t intend on being a stay at home mom, I do want to be involved with my children as much as I can. Will I use Pinterest to try new, organic recipes or for tips on crocheting like Matchar described (23)? Probably not, but I do want the more home-centric life she mentions (13).

I like looking towards the future, and my exploration of the Pinterest weddings section allowed me to spend the better part of my afternoon doing just that.

EDIT: Because I forgot to attach a link to my wedding board, here is a link to what kept me occupied all afternoon.