How To Make A Perfect Wedding Website

Wedding websites have become wedding planning staples these last few years. With everything moving more and more towards digital, having all of your information in one central location becomes an easily accessible way for all of your friends and family to find out all the details of your wedding. Wedding websites are a fun, personal way to have all of the weekend's information organized and given out to anyone who may need it. It also is much easier to include one URL on a wedding invitation than three different information cards...and much easier on the wallet.

And while these websites might be convenient, I understand that not all couples are going to be like me and be excited about designing a website. It may seem a little daunting for someone who doesn't have any web design experience. "How do I get a personal URL?" You're thinking to yourself. "What the heck goes into designing a website?" What do I even include in my website?!" No, I'm not psychic, I just get it. Never fear my friends... I have your answers and more! By the time you're done reading this blog post you'll be one step closer to a gorgeous and informative website!

The Set Up

First things first. To create a killer website, first you need to decide one of two things: make your own or hire a designer? Hiring a designer is obviously your easiest route, but not the most cost effective. If you decide to DIY your website, there are several places to find free adorable templates:

• The Knot
  
• My Wedding
• Wedding Wire
• Wix
• Minted
  

You also might want to purchase a personalized URL to make it easy for your friends and family to find and so it's cleaner to word on invitations. You can do so at GoDaddy.com. You can get as creative as you want, or you can always go with the classic "groom's last name-and-bride's last name-wedding.com"

The Info

Now that you have your custom URL and website template, you're going to need to know what kind of information to include and gather. You can choose to add or subtract any of the information listed below, however these are the items we suggest to make your website as comprehensive as possible.

• You and your significant other's love story, of course!
• Hotel/house accommodations
  
• Transportation information (any buses/shuttles going to and from the venue at the beginning and/or end of the night)
  
• Registry information including links directly to any online registries
  
• Wedding information
  
  • Time and location of ceremony
    
  • Time and location of cocktail hour and reception
    
  • Attire (semi-formal, black tie, etc)
    
  • If any of the wedding is adults only, this is a good place to note this instead of putting it on invitation
    
  • If you're having a cash bar, let guests know here so they can plan to bring money
    
  • Your wedding party
    
  • You can choose to do an RSVP directly from the website, but personally, I suggest against this as it's a little too casual and easy for someone who may not be invited to RSVP regardless
    
  • Directions from airports to hotels/venue or directions from hotels to the venues.
    
  • Any other events (rehearsal dinner, farewell brunch) but only if EVERYONE seeing the website is invited. Otherwise...tacky.
    

The Design

As far as design for your wedding website goes, you'll probably want to stick to a style similar to your wedding. Just as your invitations are a first glimpse for guests into what to expect for your wedding, the website will do the same. If you're having a modern, black tie event, you probably won't want to have your website be rustic and casual. It will confuse guests. The design of your website is also a great place to include your wedding colors in the background, images and text. Another design tip to consider is having your main menu have drop downs to specific items. For example you could have a main menu with "The Wedding" and have drop downs to "ceremony," "cocktail hour," and "reception." It makes it much easier for your guests to locate all of your specific details. The last thing to include in the design of your website is, of course, your beautiful pictures of you and your significant other! Your family and friends will enjoy seeing you two love birds. One or two per page, or a specific page with an album works great.

Now that you have all the information necessary, it's time to get working on that website! Learn anything new from our guide? Let us know in the comments below!