How to Create a Free Wedding Website
The big day is coming and there is still so much to do! Between choosing colour schemes, tasting cakes and browsing the guest list, you’ll probably want to spend your precious free time relaxing with your feet up, rather than building a website, for example.
In fact, creating your own wedding website is the perfect way to keep your guests informed, share information with everyone at once, and stay organized. It puts everything in one place, makes your life easier and is a fun way to capture your special day.
Fortunately, creating a wedding website is something you can do with your feet up at the end of the day — it’s super easy, and we’re here to guide you every step of the way. You don’t need technical skills or a lot of time, so if you’re wondering how to get started, you’re in luck — with our step-by-step guide, you’ll have your own live wedding website in no time!
Choose a Website Builder
Instead of hiring a web designer or giving you a coding headache, use a website builder to create your wedding website. This is a quick and easy way to build a website, and even better, many builders come with free plans and trials.
There are hundreds of website builders out there, making it difficult to know which one to choose. Fortunately, that’s our area of expertise — we’ve tested over 50 website builders, so we’re in a great position to recommend the best of the best!
Pick a Free subdomain or Unique Domain Name
Once you have chosen your website builder, you will need to choose a unique domain name. This is the name of your website that will appear in the web address — for example, www.wishnwed.com.
If you opt for a free plan, you will get a domain containing the address of the website creator. So you might have a website address that looks like this: www[.]stacywedsraman[.]wishnwed[.]com.
If you want a completely unique website address, you’ll need a custom domain, which costs a bit more. You can purchase your domain directly from your website builder or through a third-party registrar.
Choose and Personalize a Template
Now for the fun part: you can choose your website design for the wedding!
Website builders provide you with templates that you can modify to make them unique. This saves you time and effort, as it means you don’t have to start over, instead, just pick a template you like and then tweak it until you’re happy.
You should choose an event website template that reflects your relationship and the mood of your wedding. Guests should immediately be able to understand what to expect on your big day — for example, a relaxed, rustic wedding would fit a very different design to a classic, mellow event.
Add the Important Details
Now that your design and website look fabulous, it’s time to capture all the important details.
If you’re still in the very early stages of planning, your website can act as a “save the date”: make sure to include your names, places and dates, as well as those of your partner, and clearly indicate that more important information is included. are soon available to be shared. This way, guests know they won’t miss any important details (eg dress code or exact time of the ceremony).
If you’ve already sent out dates and invitations and have a clearer plan for your wedding, you can have more fun posting it all on your website. Add new pages, text boxes, images, cards and more to help your guests. Here are some things you can include:
Share Your Story
You can add an “About Us” page that tells the short but beautiful version of your relationship, along with your favourite photos.
Who’s Who
Some couples add a page of photos and brief introductions to bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents, siblings, and other “tabletop” figures. This can help people who come to the wedding to clarify who is who!
Finer Details
Time, date, venue, dress code, a full day (or weekend) schedule, a copy of the menu and a list of events taking place around the wedding — these are all things that will help your guests get to know them in advance.
However, only list the events you want everyone to attend — if you’re having private gatherings (like a bachelorette party or groom’s brunch), it’s best to keep them private to avoid confusion, unwanted guests, or ruffled feathers.
Add Location
Be very clear on the location of the venue, including instructions for drivers and those using public transport. Also include hotel directions or local accommodation recommendations (with links to relevant booking sites) when guests book their stay.
Another nice touch is the addition of restaurant recommendations, as well as a list of things to do in the area. It’s also a good idea to add a Google map to your site to help people find their way!
FAQs
If you’ve already asked your great-aunt Tessie question after question about this or that, capitalize on it by creating an “FAQ” section on your website. Here you can list common questions people might want to know the answer to — remember, they might be too shy to ask!
Be sure to include contact information that people can use if they have any problems or urgent questions. It doesn’t have to be your number or email address; it can be a witness, bridesmaid, relative or friend to answer questions.
Include an RSVP Form
This is entirely optional — you can still opt for the traditional method of sending invitations with RSVP coupons. In fact, this is definitely something to consider if you have a lot of elderly relatives who may be having trouble accessing your wedding website without assistance. After all, you don’t want anyone to miss out on anything!
However, putting an RSVP form into your website is a super easy way to sit back, relax, and manage your guest list, with a cup of coffee in one hand and your website at your fingertips.
Keeping track of who’s coming, who’s been cancelled, and who’s bringing a plus one can get pretty tricky pretty quickly. But automating RSVPs takes a lot of work out of you, saving you time and effort. You just need to make sure everyone treats them with the same respect and commitment as they would with a traditional wedding invitation.
If you don’t want to use online RSVPs for your big day, you can still use them for other wedding events like brunches, dinners, shopping days and parties where there’s less pressure on wedding parties. figures.
Include a Gift Registry
You shouldn’t include registration information in any invitations you send out, as it’s considered bad etiquette — so how are you supposed to show people where to buy freebies if they want them? Calling everyone would be both time-consuming and incredibly inconvenient.
Luckily, your wedding website is the perfect place to direct people to the perfect gifts. Let guests know where you signed up to receive freebies and provide additional help by including links to relevant websites.
You can accept donations instead of gifts. In this case, you can easily add a PayPal donate button for others to use. This offers a safer way to give money than putting money in an envelope to show off.
A good idea is a brief description of what the money will be used for — the honeymoon? A new house? Start a business together? Travel? Donate for a good cause? Letting people know about these details makes them feel like you truly appreciate their contribution to your life along with your partner.
Make It Part of Your Big Day
Building a wedding website isn’t just about preparing for the main event — it can be part of it, too. Get inventive about how you can use your website to interact with guests and add that extra something to your special day. Here are some ideas you can use to inspire you.
Add a Social Sharing Icons
Add the Social Media Icons to your website design to share it with your friends and family.
Share Photos and Videos
One of the most exciting aspects of post-wedding life is getting your photos back from your photographer. And it’s not just you who can’t wait to look at the photos: your guests are also eagerly waiting to browse through all the shots and relive their favourite moments.
A great way to share these memories is to upload them to your website. Create an online photo album or gallery so that no one misses anything. That way they are there for all to see and it’s much easier than making copies or sitting and looking at the photos every time someone new wants to see them. This is also a perfect opportunity to share moments that most guests haven’t seen, like the couple getting ready behind the scenes or the look of the place before everyone else arrives.
Display Mementos
Some weddings may include contests, games, activities and more to engage guests and add an interactive element to the day. Your wedding website is the perfect place to showcase all the highlights — whether it’s drawings, polaroids or quotes from the day — that you want to share and reflect on the guests.
Summary of Creating a Wedding Website
From choosing your ideal website builder to coming up with your design, this article has taken you through all the steps of creating a wedding website and hopefully made you realize that it’s not a is not as difficult as you first thought.
In fact, it’s easy — and it should make your life easier when planning and preparing for your wedding. It’s a great way to keep your guests informed without increasing your phone bills!
We’ll briefly summarize each step to help you get started with your own wedding website.
FAQs
When choosing a website builder, should I use a free plan or a paid plan?
With builders like WishNWed, you can build and publish your site without paying a single cent — a great option for couples trying to save money! However, you’ll need a paid plan if you want a more professional-looking site.
I’m no good at tech or design — should I really try to build my own wedding website?
Yup! You don’t have to be tech-savvy or a design guru to create a truly beautiful wedding website. If you don’t believe it, give it a try — start by choosing a template you love and slowly start adding your own text and images. Customize the colour scheme based on your wedding theme and before you know it, you’ll have a custom site to make your friends “wow”!
What happens to my site after I’m finished?
We know you won’t need your site for long — you can just leave it on the web or even unsubscribe if you don’t want it online anymore. Note that if you have chosen to pay for a builder or domain name, you will need to cancel any subscription or turn off automatic renewal.