#WeddingWednesday: Creating a Wedding Website
Getting all of your wedding details out to your friends and family in a timely fashion is not simple. Now, couples have the ability to share every little thing about their wedding with ease. How so you ask? By creating a wedding website. Your wedding website tells your love story. You and your fiancé should share how you met and fell in love. This will give your guests the back story to the celebratory occasion.
Should you have a wedding website? If you’re going to have a small wedding (40 people or less), if your guests are local, or if your guests are not fans of technology then it isn’t necessary. If the wedding is a destination wedding for many in attendance or if your guests are tech savvy then a website is a great tool to use.
Don’t create your website until after you have chosen a venue. The venue will give you a better idea of the look that you want. This will help when designing the website. You should not wait long after choosing the venue to create the website. You will want to include the URL on save-the-dates if you are sending them. For this reason the website will need to be set up early enough.
Where and when you will get married is the most important piece of your wedding website. If your guests happen to lose the invitation they will still be able to see all of the wedding details. Include the places where you have created a wedding registry so that your friends and family will know where to look when buying your gifts. Put the links to your registry on your website so that your guests can get there with ease. A guest book should also be on your wedding website so that friends and family can comment their congratulations and on how awesome your engagement photos came out. Also, who’s who in the bridal party should be included. Everyone will want to know who the bride and groom are especially close to.
There is no need to include every single detail about the event on the wedding invitation. Include your link on enclosure cards so that guests can head to the website for any relevant information. Your website should include directions to the venue, the dress code for each event, hotel and babysitting information, etc.
Use the same colors and fonts that will appear on your stationery and signage. You want to maintain cohesion throughout the wedding and your wedding website is no exception. Most of the wedding website services have a variety of templates and color schemes for you to choose from. You created your palette for a reason so make sure that you use it to keep your wedding yours.
Don’t get too personal with the website. You do not need to create a whole Harry Potter sized biography about yourselves. Everyone will know how much you love each other. You’re getting married and are expressing it in the most romantic way possible. By holding back you will be able to highlight certain details that will resonate even more with your guests.
The cost of a wedding website can range from free to a few hundred dollars. Here is a list of wedding websites with their cost and descriptions:
WeddingWoo provides couples with the ability to create a completely customized wedding website . All of the templates can be made into a full-page background photo. The website also helps couples to create their own wedding hashtag. All of the tagged Instagram photos are automatically displayed on the wedding website. There is a password protection option available. The price of this wedding website is free for a 7-day trial and afterwards couples can choose a 1-year plan for $39 or a 2-year plan for $59.
Appy Couple has a mobile app which syncs to your website in real time. It includes push messaging, photo sharing, wedding countdown clock, travel details, etc. Your guests will be able to take photos with the app at any of your wedding-related events. The photos will be uploaded to the gallery page so that everyone can see them. The website is partnered with FineStationery, Wedding Paper Divas and Minted. These partnerships allow you to match your website to your stationary. Have information that you only want to reach some of your wedding party? Appy Couple allows you to decide what you want each person can and cannot see. You will no longer have to find a different way to communicate so that nobody feels left out! This app costs $28 to create both the app and website. The app is free for your guests to download.
Riley & Grey provides couples with simply stunning designs inspired by various themes and custom domains. It is both tablet and mobile friendly. The website includes the ability for guests to RSVP, a guest address book, and live-person site support. There are three options for payment. You can pay $35 a month, $240 a year, or if your wedding is more than a year away you can set up your website for a fee of $35 which will be put towards your account for when you decide to make the website public.
Wedding Jojo has two different options for users. The free “Taster” option has limited features. These features include limited file storage, a Wedding Jojo domain, limited photo storage, and limited theme options. The “Full Slice” option offers access to all themes, unlimited photo storage, a free custom domain, your own blog, a free planning kit, password protection, unlimited support, RSVP management, is completely customizable and so much more. The “Full Slice” is $14.99 per month. Martha Stewart Weddings designed many of the templates.
TheKnot.com has over 100 designs to choose from and can be used on both a desktop and a mobile device. You can get The Knot Wedding Guestbook App to manage your wedding website on the go. Also, you can have your guests upload photos from any wedding events to capture every special moment. The website provides you with a guest management tool which allows you to collect RSVPs and meal preferences. You can manage your guest lists in one convenient place.
There is also an all-in-one registry where you can register at all of your favorite stores and share all of the items in one simple list. It will be easier on your guests and they will be happier about it as well. The Knot will donate to a charity of your choice with each registry gift purchase. Some templates are inspired by invitations that are available at Minted, Paperless Post and Wedding Paper Divas. The first page of the website is public but you can choose a password to protect other pages. TheKnot.com is free to use but there are upgrade options available for $19.99.
Wedding Window includes access to free themes with limited customization. You can have thirteen website pages. There is 50 MB of photo and content storage available. You can use music from Spotify or Soundcloud for the website. Also, there are free library images available. All of this comes free for one year. If you would like to upgrade your account to get even more options it costs $14.95 per month and $79 per year. The premium account includes access to all themes with full customization. You can have up to 60 website pages, access to third party apps, 20 GB of photo storage and 10 GB of content storage, and custom images on every page of your website.
Other add-ons include a custom domain for $19.95 a year, a keepsake download for $35, additional hosting for $79 per year, extra storage space for $14.95 per every 5 GB, and hidden copyright for $14.95. Wedding Window is partnered with Simply to Impress giving couples the option to purchase customizable paper products to match the website theme.
Google+ allows you to create their own wedding community where you can interact with guests and vendors. You can also have video hangouts for up to 10 people, event posting details and RSVP collection, and photo sharing. The website allows you to post links to important wedding information such as the venue location, hotels local to the venue and the registry websites. Google+ is free to use and you can make your information as public or private as you want.
Nearlyweds has a variety of templates based on stationery by Wedding Paper Divas, MerryMint Designs and Royal Steamline. You can have an unlimited amount of photos, a blog, a bridal party page and unlimited site pages. Other features include online RSVP, password protection, and the ability to import your registry and manage your guests. The price for this website is $14.99 per month or $99 a year for the first year and $25 for each year after.
WeddingWire has over 400 templates for your wedding website. You can use a custom photo backdrop. It includes free wedding website widgets. WeddingWire uses the WedSocial app so that you can capture all of your guests’ photos during your wedding events. The layout is also tablet and mobile friendly. The website is free to use.
eWedding is a mobile friendly, tablet friendly and desktop friendly wedding website. There is a “freemium” option which is free to use. It includes the ability to receive RSVPs via text and share your relationship timeline. There is also a premium version which is just $7 a month. This version includes a custom domain name and sms texting which alerts you when you have activity regarding guest RSVPs and comments. Premium also includes an RSVP manager which allows you to organize, edit and view your RSVP’s from any device and access to premium wedding website themes. You can create a password for the website as a whole, specific pages and RSVPs.
Weduary allows you to integrate your Facebook profile and those of your guests. Everyone will have the ability to get to know each other before the wedding. This website allows you to manage RSVPs and create a custom domain. You can use Google Maps to tell your guests the location of venues. A photo importer is available to share photos from Facebook or your computer. There are notifications available to keep up with RSVPs and stories guests write about you. The website is free to use. You can also purchase a premium theme for $20 or a custom domain for $15 a year.
There are a wide variety of wedding websites with a number of different features that you can use. You can either budget the website in or create a free one depending on what you would like. Everything will be in one place making it easier for both your guests and you.
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