Brides Speak: What Should You Include on Your Wedding Website?
Between choosing your dream wedding dress and choosing who will stand beside you at the alter on your wedding, you are one busy lady! That doesn't even begin to address the other things you are dealing with like the countless emails from guests and possible vendors. So, before you open the flood gates, our advice is that you set up your wedding website. Your wedding website will be a great resource for your friends and family and will save you a great deal of time and energy.
Luckily, we at Classic Wedding Designs make that easy for you, because let's be honest do you really want to be learning html coding in addition to planning your dream wedding! Our user-friendly wedding website feature provided to all of our wedding and event planning clients, makes this task so much easier. We provide our clients with an all-in-one platform that uses a simple process to help you create a wedding website that will provide all needed information to your guests and their plus ones.
Our friends Zola and Withjoy also offer free wedding websites that are easy to use and easy to design. So now that we have you covered, we spoke with several of our past brides to get their advice on the must-include items to make the most of your wedding website. Everything from registries to maps that will save you stress as your day gets closer
Try to make your wedding website match your wedding theme.
"Don't create a site, just for the sake of having a one," says one bride. Make it really feel like it's a natural extension of your day from the cursive font you use to the clever custom domain name you choose, she suggests. Luckily, Squarespace offers an extensive selection of award-winning wedding templates to cater to your event, whether you're hosting a black-tie affair or a backyard bash. Then, once you have a template selected, you can adjust banners, edit pages, and add functionality to tailor it to your guests and their questions. "It's that easy," she adds.
"Add RSVP functionality."
One new Mrs. added how helpful it was to add the RSVP option to your site. We offer this functionality on our all-in-one platform as well so that there is no heavy lifting required on your end. This way, family and friends can simply click through to the page and mark their attendance. So, no need for extra stamps or dealing with follow-ups when it comes to your guest attendance.
"Provide information on other activities in your area." If you have several guests coming in from out of town, it's a good idea to recommend options for them to fill their time over the course of the weekend. One previous client found that people appreciated a dedicated page of things to do in the area. "We included our favorite restaurants, local bars, and even places they could go to get their nails done," she says. They also encouraged their friends to use their wedding hashtag so they could showcase all of the fun via photos in their Instagram account.
"Provide a map of your local area."
There are moving pieces throughout the course of your wedding weekend. And all of these (think wedding-facilitated events, hotel check-ins, and ceremony location) require some coordination. Keep your family and friends in the know by including a map on your site or as part of your welcome festivities, pinpointing the key places they need to know, suggests another Mrs. Bonus: Squarespace allows you to geotag these spots too, so everyone will have the addresses they need to navigate from hotel to ceremony, effortlessly.
"Plan to include as much information as possible."
Include everything they'll need to know on the site (including questions that come up during wedding planning). Day of details, like what to wear, the timing of events, parking, and transportation were all "much appreciated by guests," says a newlywed, noting that several of her pals didn't even bother bringing the stationary with them because of this. Just make sure your page is mobile compatible, she adds. (Psst: All of our wedding websites on our client portal are automatically mobile-friendly, thank goodness for that!)
There you have it. Five bride-approved ways to make your wedding website more useful. Hopefully now you feel like you're in a better place to start designing your own site and have a better idea of what should be included. Don't have the time, we offer this service to our clients and as an a la cart service.
Now go put those creative skills to the test!