The Dos and Don'ts of Building a Wedding Website
March 10, 2021
Gone are the days where you didn’t need a wedding website. Now more than ever a virtual hub with all of the information surrounding your ceremony is a big factor in ensuring that your event runs smoothly. From getting into the nitty gritty details to smoothing over any navigation issues, here are our biggest dos and don’ts when it comes to creating a wedding website that’s worthy of your special day.
Below—follow these tips in order to create a wedding website that’s not only informative but also amps up the excitement for your special day:
Do provide detailed information about the itinerary.
This “do” is pretty obvious but it’s worth reinforcing. Your wedding website is the place to include every last detail that your guests might need to know. From the time and location to the dress code and parking directions to even what your social media tag will be or whether or not your bar is open. Having this information clearly listed out on your wedding website will save you a lot of stressed out phone calls and text messages from your guests. Don’t be scared to get into the nitty gritty details! The more information, the more streamlined your event will be.
Don’t write a novel.
People care about your love story, but they don’t care that much. By all means, share some sweet memories from your time as a couple, but don’t go overboard with the sharing. Ultimately, your wedding website is a place for information on your wedding day and not an incredibly detailed scrapbook of everything that’s ever happened in your relationship.
This rule also applies to the amount of photos and videos you share! Don’t weigh your wedding website down with a ton of images for your guests to sift through. Pick your top 10-20 images and videos that you want to share with your loved ones and just leave it at that. If there are people in your life that want to look at every last image the photographer took on your wedding day, you can always ask your photographer to create a website that you can share with your guests that holds all of the images from your big day.
Do create a password.
Creating a password is key to ensuring that random people on the internet don’t come across your private wedding details! Thankfully, most sites nowadays offer the option to create a password-safe website so just make sure that’s available to you before you sign onto a particular service.
Don’t mention invite-only events.
While your wedding website is the place to share information about your wedding day events, it shouldn’t be the location of all of your events. There are going to be certain occasions that will have a smaller invite list, like rehearsal dinners or bridesmaid-only luncheons, that all of your wedding guests shouldn’t be privy to. Plus, this avoids confusion as well as hurt feelings over being left out from your more intimate events.
Do invoke your personality.
This isn’t a work email. While the main purpose of your wedding website is to provide information directly to your guests, it should also be a place where you and yours can express your personality and love for each other. This can mean anything from including custom illustrations to making a simple video that gets your guests excited for the big event to come!
Don’t make the navigation confusing.
You need to keep your wedding website as simple as possible so as to avoid any confusion regarding navigation. Once you have all of the information you want up on your site, we recommend having a close friend or family member browse through every page and provide you with any feedback they may have that will ensure all of your wedding guests have an easy time finding out information about your wedding day.
Do honor your theme.
You probably spent a little bit of time figuring out your color scheme and the types of motifs you want to imbue throughout your wedding day, so don’t let them go to waste on your wedding website. Choose colors that match your theme and, as we mentioned above, maybe commission someone to create a simple illustration (or create your own!) that mirrors the decor of your wedding day.
Don’t forget about your registry.
You definitely can’t include registry information on your wedding invitations, but you can include it on your wedding website. This is a major perk in creating a website specifically for your ceremony because it provides easy access to exactly what you’re asking for on your registry.
If you and yours are asking for donations to go towards a house, a honeymoon or a charitable organization, then we recommend dedicating a page that explains exactly why you’re asking for money and what it’s going to go towards. This will give your guests peace of mind and might even encourage them to donate more towards your cause of choice!
Do recommend local activities.
Recommending local activities on your wedding website shouldn’t be a missed opportunity! Dedicate a page to your favorite spots in town or locations that hold meaning to you as a couple so that your guests have an idea of what to do while you spend the morning of your big day getting ready. This is a great way to make your wedding guests feel at home in a place they might not visit very often!