Guys, by now you’ve likely heard about Pinterest—the virtual pinboard site that lets you “pin” or save images of anything you come across while surfing the web for later reference—from your sister, mom, fiancée or her friends. But trust me, this site isn’t just for women. In fact, it can be an incredibly useful social media tool for grooms.

Think of Pinterest as a massive corkboard for collecting all of the ideas you come across, but better. Pinterest lets you pin ideas, products, photos, instructions, etc. with a link to the original source, or upload items on your own, so you can reference them later on. And instead of having little scraps of paper thumb-tacked all over the place in your home office, the site organizes your pinned items into folders or “Pinboards” that you can customize to your needs. Also, users of the site can see the items other people have pinned—either on the main page or through users you “follow”—which means it’s a great place to troll for ideas you probably wouldn’t have found on your own. If you see something you like, you can “like” or “repin” another user’s pin to one of your own boards.

Ever come across a great gift idea for your groomsmen while surfing the Internet, only to forget about it later? Once you see an item you like, pin it to a board, such as “unique groomsman gift ideas,” so you can go back and check it out later on once you’re ready to start shopping for your attendant gifts.

Here are some other sample boards grooms can create that may come in handy: wedding day style & attire (think tuxes, suits, tie/vest/cummerbund colors, for you and your groomsmen – remember, your groomsmen can also pin ideas to give you their 2 cents), honeymoon ideas (such as destinations and travel gear), rehearsal dinner plans (like food and beverage ideas, venues and vendors), groom’s cake ideas (such as cake concepts, cupcakes, donut cakes, cake pops, etc.), and bachelor party gear (think t-shirts, shot glasses, etc.).

Here’s how to get started:

1.) Go to Pinterest.com and enter your email address to request an invitation.

2.) Soon after (usually within the next day or two), you’ll receive an invite to create an account. You can also log in using Facebook or Twitter (so your activity can be added to your timeline, if you want).

3.) Click on images that interest you and click on “follow people,” so Pinterest can suggest users to follow. Then, you’ll see a list of users you’re following (you can un-follow them later).

4.) Create Pinboards to group items you want to organize by subject or category.

5.) Download the Pinmarklet, which adds a “Pin It” button to your Web browser, making it easy for you to pin items you come across online.

6.) Download the Pinterest app for iPhone to better access the site on the go (this includes a camera function, so you can easily snap your own photos and pin them directly to your boards).

7.) Start pinning your rear off!

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Have you or your bride-to-be utilized Pinterest yet? If so, in what ways? Share some of your boards in the comments section below.

Social media services like Facebook & Twitter can simplify wedding planning

If you haven’t hopped on board the social media train by now, you’re probably never going to. Social networks like Twitter & Facebook are changing the world so fast that it’s often hard to keep up. One industry that has seen rapid change and growth due to social media is the wedding industry. With countless new resources available to brides & grooms, it’s no surprise that their wedding planning questions, dilemmas and ideas are now the thing of public record: and that’s not a bad thing!

Here are 6 of The Man Registry’s favorite ways that social media can aid in the wedding planning process:

Wedding Vendors have gone social. Literally. Hundreds of thousands of them.  Have a question? Need a basic consultation? They’re not giving their services away for free. But you can start the process of locating vendors and identifying favorites online. You can even create a Twitter list to compile names of vendors you want to follow up with.

Try a basic Twitter search for the topic you’re researching. For example: “Save the Dates.” Doing this will show you everyone who is tweeting about this topic RIGHT NOW. Browse tweets, see what you like and go from there. Lots of vendors run Twitter of Facebook specific promos. There’s no telling what kind of deals you might find.

OK, preferably ask the ones who are still married. Chances are you have many Facebook friends that are married. If you’ve got a wedding question bogging you down or you need a vendor recommendation; post it on a status update. You’ll be surprised how many responses you get Brides (and grooms sometimes) love to share their wedding planning experiences. The good ones and the not-so-good ones.

Here’s an answer to another common dilemma. If you’re planning your wedding from afar and you won’t be able to go dress/tux shopping with friends and family, we’ve got a solution. Create a Facebook album full of your possibilities and ask for suggestions. There’s nothing more beautiful than connecting from thousands of miles. Single tear running down my cheek.

You want your wedding party to get along and have fun during the wedding festivities. The best way to guarantee this happens is for them to get together (and perhaps party) before the wedding. OK. But what does a blog about social media have to do with a get together? Lots. Our good friends at OneWed.com recently launched Wedding Pre-Party. This savvy wedding planning app allows your wedding party and other guests to get to know each other, plan, share photos and more using their Facebook profiles. Check it out!

Many consider including your wedding registry info along with the invitation or save the date is tacky. Through the power of social media, you can be even more tacky and post direct links to your registry on your Facebook profile page. Hell, you can even highlight specific gifts that you really really want. Want to be less subtle? Share your registry info on your wedding web page. This works as well.

Like free stuff? Wedding bloggers love to give prizes away. Make a note to do a daily scan of your favorite wedding tweeters. I’d bet my lucky $2 bill that you can find at least one contest per day. Sometimes all you have to do is post a tweet to be entered. Here’s one from Chatterberries. The prize? A pair of his and hers designer wedding bands. All you’ve gotta do is tell them who your favorite celebrity couple is.

Planning a destination wedding? Have a lot of guests who can’t make the long trip for the wedding? No worries. Through the miracle of Ustream, you can live stream your wedding to the masses. Our friend @mbernier did just this and actually beat out an episode of ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’ in the Nielsen Rankings.

We asked some of our favorite wedding tweeters to share their #1 piece of advice to grooms and brides who want to use social media to help plan their wedding:

@OneWed – Don’t burn bridges by blabbing about your wedding on FB to the uninvited.

@MrFrostings – You can learn a lot about potential vendors by following their Twitter stream. If you’re passionate about the environment, find out who runs a sustainable business. If you’re looking for someone who gives back to the community, this is where you can confirm that they walk the talk. Also, and more importantly to me, look at who follows them and how they engage with them.  I have more respect for the “Popular” kids when I see them help and engage with competitors regardless of their status in the industry. Lastly, if you find a vendor you like and their Twitter stream is one long advertisement, expect to be sold. If they engage on a personal level, expect them to treat you like an individual.

@BarbieHull – Get feedback!!  Whenever I doubt something I put it out there and ask for opinions!  My twitter peeps always seem to have an opinion.

@AnneChertoff – If your fiance asks you for wedding ideas a quick search on Pinterest will help you gather some together quickly.

@GigMasters – Twitter can be a great way to get the inside scoop on the wedding business. A lot of wedding pros basically use it for B2B marketing. Following potential vendors gives you insight in to how they talk about their clients, and access to great articles.

@Firefly_Men – My advice falls into the “What not to do” category. As a purveyor of well planned bachelor parties I would advise AGAINST putting up your party images on Facebook and Twitter. This is hugely important to remember while under the influence of alcohol. A picture that seems funny to post at the time can have consequences when you sober up.

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We want to hear what other ways our readers have used social media in their wedding planning. Leave a comment below and share your story.