Top 10 Tips to Create the Perfect Wedding Website

I have recently got married and the truth is before meeting my husband, I did not really think I would get married. So I have never thought much about the wedding.

On the other note, the one thing I know very well is the technology, internet and specially website design and development. So immediately after saying yes we started planning and designing our wedding website because we wanted to do things differently.

Both of us are from web design and development industry and we have seen the spectrum of different websites ranging from good to bad and template cluttered to ugly. We thought of doing some research before creating our wedding website and we have found out ten most important things that make a wedding website breathtakingly impressive and spectacular. So whether you are an internet geek or a beginner, the following list is a perfect place to start when you are planning to create your wedding website.

1) CHOOSE MEMORABLE AND EASY WEDDING WEBSITE URL:
Consider securing a website domain name that has both yours and your partners name if available - this makes it a bit more special for you and will be more memorable for your family, friends and guests too. Try getting the combinations like these two examples:

- SuzieAndJonathan.com
- SuzieJonathanWedding.com

However on invitations, it makes sense to put the shorter URL so you can ensure your wedding website fits well on invitations. You can use URL shorteners like Bitly or Google's URL shortener.

2) INCLUDE VENUE INFORMATION:

It’s important to provide your guests as much information as possible for them to arrive on time and easily find the venues. You can have the following on venue page:

•    Phone numbers of contact personnel’s at the venue
•    Location map that can provide easy directions. The best way is to add a Google Map
•    Ceremony start and end time
•    Additional special information and instructions

Expert Tip: Include a link on your wedding website to download a document with phone number, location and any other important details for the venue. Some or most of your guests will want to get the map printed and have the venue information readily available on your big day.

3) PROVIDE INFORMATION OF HOTELS:
Find out the best hotels in the area and list them on your website to help your guests find the best hotel to stay, also try providing several options and a different price range. Ensure that you provide following useful information of hotel page on your wedding website:

•    Information of location
•    Contact details of the hotel including phone numbers and email address

4) PROVIDE INFORMATION OF REGISTRY:
There are many online stores who offer element for their registries. You can consider linking them directly to your registry from these pages. Some popular registries which you can include are:

•    Crate and Barrel
•    Bloomingdales
•    Williams-Sonoma
•    Macy's

Expert Tip: You can also add some items which are not part of an official registry. For example, you could add wish list of Amazon.com or add a link to any other specific item.

5) ADD A PROPOSAL STORY:
We all love a great love story, isn’t it? So give your family, friends and guests what they want. This is the best chance you have to talk about your proposal and share your personal stories and everyone will naturally get curious to know all the details.

6) SHARE A PHOTO ALBUM:
You can share photo albums on your wedding website and make a life story. Albums can be combined into various categories. Here are some ideas of organising your photos into different categories:

•    Pictures as a couple
•    Pictures of engagement
•    Pictures of your wedding
•    Pictures of your honeymoon
•    Pictures of your baby shower
•    Pictures of your baby
•    Pictures of your first home

7) USE RSVP FORM:
Your wedding website allows you to easily receive RSVP from your guests. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use Google Docs, add it in your wedding website, and set the form up to notify you when your guest has sent an RSVP.

Make this form sweet and short with a section for comments for your guests to send a personalised message. Here is a general idea of what fields you should include in your RSVP form:

•    Include a listing of all names of your guests
•    Will they be attending your wedding?  Add two fields “Accept with pleasure” and “Regretfully decline”
•    Contact info and email address
•    Food preference (Vegetarian, Non-vegetarian)
•    Comments

8) ADD A SPECIAL AND PERSONAL TOUCH:
 Whether you are creating your wedding website with your wedding colors or you and your partner have any favorite font, ensure that you add a sweet digital touch of your love to your wedding website to make it specially yours.

9) ADD YOUR VENDORS LIST:
 I am sure you would want to show some love to the vendors who make your wedding special and beautiful. Here is your chance to promote them and let them know how delighted you are to work with them. You can add a listing of their wedding services websites with a small description of how they supported you and why you love them.

10) DON’T FORGET TO ADD A WEDDING DATE:
 Make sure that you don’t forget to add your wedding date on your website, ideally your wedding date should come on the home page in bigger and bolder font, in addition you can add the date on additional pages, perhaps at the top area of the web page (the header) or at the bottom of each page (the footer).

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6 Benefits of Putting your Wedding on the Web With Wedding Website Design

How do you feel about creating a wedding websites? Some people find them a good outlet for narcissism, while others find them to be a helpful guide during modern digital times. Sure, 90% photos of yourself on your wedding website with an accompanying interesting story about how you met your partner is a little extreme (and totally unhelpful), building a simple site to share important event details and stories, images from your relationship is not. Personal wedding websites are one of the fastest growing trends in UK and around the world today. Call them self obsession, call them too much information or call them a complete waste of time, but there are several reasons why creating a wedding website is a really good idea for wedding planning. I know this because when I got engaged I spent a ridiculous amount of time creeping on other people's wedding pages, gathering ideas and seeing which "wedsite" (yes, that is an actual term) builders had the best customization. I also sifted through the myriad options for free and paid wedding website services.

Here are some reasons why you need a personal wedding website and what your website should include to be at maximum benefit for your guests.

1- SAVE ON INVITATION CARD COSTS:

If you are having invites printed, you know how quickly the price will rise by just adding another piece of paper to the mix. By directing everyone to your site in any engagement party, shower, or wedding correspondence, you'll save time, money, and effort on printing costs.

2- RSVP AND REGISTRY INFO:

Not only can you manage your RSVPs through your wedding website, but you can create your own unique RSVP forms that reflect your personality. We came up with some quirky answers to replace the usual "yes" and "no" answers like, "Yes! I've been looking for an excuse to ditch the kids!" or "No, it's too close to college football season." We also asked for guests' email addresses in case we needed to follow up with any last minute wedding details. Having a separate tab for your registry info is also helpful, as guests can easily find where you're registered and can click directly to those sites.

3- IT'S EASY TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR GUESTS:

Many wedding website designers offer guest book and RSVP sections. Ask guests to sign the book or enter their email addresses to be notified of site updates or changes. Then happily send one email instead of making 150 calls. Easy to stay in touch, right?

4- IT'S ECO FRIENDLY:

No matter how you use it, your site will probably save you cash on paper and stamps, not to mention the trees you've saved by using less paper and carbon emissions you've spared by not loading the mailman down with a whole lot of envelopes. Whether you prefer to go completely paperless and use your site for everything or just plan to ask for revs for a portion of your wedding-related festivities, every little bit helps.

5- SET EXPECTATIONS:

It's hard to convey every detail about your wedding to your guests on one little invite. Isn't it? And it's annoying when they call/email with questions like "where should I park?" and "what's the dress code for the event" or "Can I bring my kid?". You can easily set expectations for the wedding and add in all those little details in your wedding website that either don't fit on your invite or seem odd to list. 

6- CONNECT WITH YOUR GUESTS:

It may sound cheesy, but your guests love learning more about you as a couple. They love seeing your pictures, reading stories about how you met, and appreciate understanding your unique personalities. Your guests get more excited for the event because of the personal touch you add to your personal wedding website and this ensures they will have a better time at your wedding and increases the likelihood they will attend and have a great time at your wedding. If they are close friends and relatives, they will be more likely to keep checking your website for stories and after wedding events. 

It's also a chance for them to weigh in with comments, song suggestions or questions they have. It's truly a two-way form of communication with your guests. And, it's just plain fun!

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