You have just gotten engaged and are enjoying the "just engaged" life, but it is never to early to start thinking about your wedding website, because yes, you do need one.
Why do you need a wedding website?
The first thing to know about your wedding website, is that it is the place where you put all of your information that your guest would otherwise be asking you about. Think about that? Even if you have a small wedding, you don't really want to be repeating the same information to everyone, multiple times before your wedding day. You have enough on your plate!
How do I make a wedding website?
Your best option is using The Knot. They have a simple to use wedding website template that you can design and do some light theme customizations to match your vibe. They make it very easy to put information together and you can even collect your guests information through a custom link. Bonus tip!
If you are someone who knows their way around some code, you can bootstrap something together! Jérémy wanted to do that before seeing how easy it was on the Knot.
So what goes on a wedding website?
In the shortest explanation, any and all information regarding your wedding day. But that's not really all because there are pre wedding and post wedding details that you will want to include. So let's break it down!
The date, the place and the time
The most important bit of information that needs to go on your wedding website is the when and where. You will want to include the date of your wedding and where it will be happening. If you are having your wedding ceremony at one place and the reception at another, include this on your wedding website. If they are in the same location you can say "ceremony and reception held at (insert your venue information)". That way it really can not be misunderstood that they are happening at the same spot.
The second most important bit of information is the time. People need to know when you are hosting your wedding so that they know when to arrive. Little pro tip here, set your ceremony start time about 15-30 minutes after the time you've indicated on your website. This will allow those notorious late folks, or those who underestimated traffic, to still get there in time and you the peace of mind.
Once those three key bits of information are on your website, you can move onto the other must haves.
Accommodations
If you are having guests travel in for your wedding, it is best to provide information regarding accommodations. Most hotels will provide a block of rooms for your wedding as long as you call ahead and speak with them. This usually brings the rate of the rooms down and is a great option for your out of towners. Once you have this information regarding the hotels, you can put it on your website for your guests to easily access and know which hotel to contact for their stay.
Your wedding registry
Another important piece of information to have on your website is your registry. Even if you are only putting a few physical items on your registry, it is a great way for your guests to easily access and purchase any gifts. If you make your wedding website through The Knot, they have a wonderful way of linking to other sites like Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond and more. They also keep track of what has been bought so that you don't get multiplies of anything. Also, most websites these days, including The Knot, allow you to put cash funds together. The most common is either a general newlywed fund or a honeymoon fund. So having your registry linked to your website is a wonderful way to keep all of your family members from asking you what you would like or where they can find it.
(For more registry pro tips, check out: what to put on your wedding registry?)
A way for your guests to RSVP
Along with your wedding registry, your wedding website is the place where people can RSVP to your wedding. This is a huge advantage for you because you will be able to tally up everyone who is invited, who has received an invitation and who has RSVP'd in one way or another. Talk about efficiency!
All the fun things
Now that all the critical and must have information is on your wedding website, you can put together some nice to haves. These include photos, your story and the introduction of your bridal party!
These kind of things are great to include on your wedding website because two families are becoming one on your wedding day and leading up to your day, not everyone will know everyone. If you share the story of how you and your soon to be spouse met, people from both families can share in the memories you wrote about or read about the people who will be standing up with you while you get married. You can add little tidbits or fun facts that people can bring with them to your wedding in order to start conversation with one another. The options are limitless.
So, do you need a wedding website? Yes you do. It is the best way to share all of the information that surrounds your wedding day and is the easiest way to keep people from coming to asking one too many questions. If you don't want to be stressed, take the time to make your wedding website! It can be really fun too. I loved going down memory lane and writing up my little introductions about my friends.