Creating a Wedding Website
Creating a wedding website is yet another thing that is added to your TODO list. Your wedding website is the one stop shop for all your guests to obtain all the information you need them to know before the wedding. I have found creating our wedding website to be extremely fun. It has let me express my creativity in numerous different ways. If you aren’t like me and the first thing that comes to your head when I say “wedding website” is “ahhh.” I am here to make it easy and less daunting for you. I am also going to give you a few tips to help make your wedding website your own and take it to the next step.
Picking a Platform
Free Platforms:
– Joy (We are using this one)
– The Knot
– Zola
– Minted
– Wix
– Luv Birds
Paid Platforms:
– Appy Couple
– Riley & Grey
– Square Space
I choose Joy for our wedding website, as it only is super user friendly but there is a free app that comes with building your website. Your wedding guests simply go to the app store. Download the joy app, put in your event code and wa-la they have your wedding website at their fingertips.
What to include on your website:
1. Wedding party
When putting our wedding party on our wedding website I took a few things into consideration.
- I let our wedding party pick their picture that I put on the website. I feel it’s common courtesy to let each individual pick their own picture so that it’s one they feel confident and beautiful in.
- Instead of writing a paragraph about each of the individuals in our wedding party I instead included a few words. It gives anyone looking at the website the quick and dirty about that individual.
- Ex:
- Wild Child. Skier. Sanity keeper. Bottoms up. Shenanigans. Handsome Husband XXX.-Met Jessica in Vail, CO when she first moved out to CO-Denver, CO
- Template: Few words to describe the person. Describe word. Describe word. Their significant other.-where the person met the bride or groom/how they know each other-Where they live
- Ex:
2. Wedding hashtags
- Make sure you include your wedding hashtag(s) somewhere on the website, so when people start posting photos surrounding your wedding they include the hashtag and you have a quick and easy montage of everything on social media.
3. Wedding details
Specific Details to include:
- Time
- Date
- Location
- Map of location (optional)
Include these details for:
- Bachelor & Bachelorette Party details
- Wedding shower details
- Rehearsal dinner
- Wedding ceremony
4. Q & A
Questions to include:
- RSVP deadline
- What time should you arrive to the ceremony and reception?
- Is there parking?
- What is the attire for the wedding?
- Will the wedding be indoors or outdoors?
- What type of shoes should I wear?
- If I have additional questions who should I contact?
- Are children allowed?
5. Registry
Include links to the wedding registries you have created. (Blog post coming in the near future for wedding registry creation. Stay tuned.)
6. Love Story
As much as you would like to think everyone knows how you and your boo met and fell in love, not everyone does. Take the time to write out your love story.
7. Get to know the couple
Include tidbits about your life, such as:
- What your favorite meal is
- Your favorite activity to do
- Beverages of choice (Bride & Groom)
- Where you got engaged
- Nicknames for each other
- Who is more likely to take the garbage out
- Who is the better cook
8. Travel
Make sure to include information about hotel blocks, rental houses and car rentals; especially if the majority of your guests are coming from out of town.
For lodging we recommended people coming in from out of town for longer than the weekend use:
- AirBnB
- VRBO
Instead using the typical car rental services we also recommended guests using:
- Turo
9. Things to do
Most of our guests are coming from out of town for our wedding, as neither my fiance nor I are originally from Denver. To help out our guests and ensure they have a fabulous stay here I included lists of recommendations for:
- Breakfast/Brunch recommendations ($, $$, $$$)
- Lunch & Dinner recommendations ($, $$, $$$)
- Cocktails ($, $$, $$$; Wine, Beer, Cocktails)
- Things to do
- Hikes to go on
- Different Towns to Visit
10. RSVP
As much as RSVP cards are nice to include with your invitations for guests to send back, you can grab so much additional information if you have your guests RSVP online that will be valuable to your wedding prep.
Some additional questions we included for guests to answer when they RSVP are:
- Do you have any dietary restrictions?
- Are you friend or family of the bride, groom or both?
- What wisdom do you have to provide the couple for a successful marriage?
- Will you likely be drinking wine or beer?
- Are you single and ready to mingle or off the market?
- What song will get you on the dance floor?
11. Include pictures
I included a variety of different pictures on our website in addition to a few engagement photos. Include pictures of when you first met and some of the significant time points in your lives. Let your guests really get to know you.
Take your time when creating your wedding website. You can definitely build it in a day, but I recommend taking it one step at a time. Start it as soon as you get engaged and slowly build on it. After all wedding planning is a process.
If you have any additional questions with wedding websites feel free to contact me or ask in the comments. I am happy to provide insight.
Cheers!
Photos courtesy of Gillespie Photography
