These days, just sending out wedding invitations isn’t enough to satiate your wedding guests. Chances are, your friends and family are expecting to receive news and updates about your wedding on a regular basis, so building a wedding website is practically a necessity. There are a lot of things that can be achieved by building a wedding website including offering updates, scheduling events, and even allowing your guests to RSVP digitally. Or, perhaps you just want to maintain a wedding blog. However, since most people aren’t web designers, the concept of building your wedding website may seem a little daunting. Fortunately, it isn’t as difficult as you think if you know where to look for guidance.
Self-Hosted Wedding Websites
Though it is usually a bit more complex, there are a lot of advantages to hosting your own wedding website. First off, you can choose your own domain name, plus you don’t have to expose your wedding guests to advertisements that are usually found on wedding websites that are hosted for free. To do this, you’ll want to sign up for a hosting account through one of the hundreds of reputable companies out there. Most of them will have a template system that allows you to build your wedding website the way you like it and manage it from any device that is connected to the internet.
Using a Service
There are many companies out there that offer free wedding websites for engaged couples. This type of service is great if you are on a tight budget or just want someone else to handle all the technical aspects of hosting your wedding website. The downside is that these “Free” hosted sites are typically ad supported so your friends, family, and other wedding guest will be forced to look at advertisements every time they visit your wedding website for news and updates.
Info to Add
Once you’ve decided how you’re going host your website, you’ll need to add information that your guests will find useful. This usually includes things like your wedding date, location, and other important information, but you’ll also want to provide updates to keep your guests engaged in the planning process. This is usually done best by keeping an updated blog section on your wedding website where you can share pictures, stories, and other fun info as you get closer to your big day.
Announcing Your Website
Once you have your wedding website built, filled with information, and ready to be updated regularly, you’ll need to announce it to your guests. One of the fastest and easiest ways to do this is to share a link to it on your favorite social media platforms because chances are most of your wedding guests will already be following you. Not only will this get the word out quickly, it is also one of the farthest-reaching platforms you have at your disposal.
Additionally, you should consider putting the web address to your wedding website in your physical wedding invitations that you mail out. Many people avoid technology and weddings, so this is really important. This is good practice because you are likely sending them out anyway, but it will also give the website more exposure to people like your grandparents that may not use social media much as your younger friends and family.
Overall, having your own wedding website can be a great way to make the time leading up to your wedding more interactive for your friends and family. There are plenty of great sites that can help you along the way. Rather than needing to call each person individually when an update happens, they view the information in real-time which can be invaluable if there is a scheduling change or a new event is setup. Regardless of where you host your wedding website and how you choose to use it, good luck and have fun with it!
