Well, isn’t it just amazing to live in the 21st century? Having a wedding website has changed A LOT of things about planning a wedding AND attending a wedding. 

While wedding websites are a pretty new trend, they are extremely popular. For some couples, it’s one of the first things they do after getting engaged (after they tell their family and show off the ring, of course). 

Now, if you’ve ever made a website or you haven’t spent a lot of time browsing your friend’s wedding sites, you might be wondering how in the world you build one, where to start, and what you should put on it. 

That’s why we are here. We are going to walk you step-by-step through the whole process, from where you build it to everything you should put on it. 

Are you ready to get started? 

Where to Build Your Wedding Website?

Don’t worry bride or groom, you DON’T have to be a computer programmer or web designer to build a wedding website. If you ARE a computer programmer or web designer, you’ll want to skip this part.

Surprisingly, there are a couple of factors you need to consider before starting your site. Do you want a free site or are you willing to pay for your site? There are plenty of options for free websites out there, but you probably won’t get as much function out of free. 

To help you out, we will give you a free option AND a paid option. We will look at pros and cons of each type. 

FREE OPTION: The Knot

The Knot is one of the most popular options for wedding websites. In fact, The Knot is one of the most popular places for just about anything wedding related. 

Here are a couple things we love about The Knot wedding website builder:

1. VERY easy to use. As we mentioned, you don’t have to know computer code to build a site, but The Knot makes it even easier than some of the other options out there. If you’re looking for something that can be quick and easy, this should be your choice. 

2. PRETTY themes. It should be no surprise that The Knot has gorgeous themes for your website. Their designers have done an incredible job and making their themes sleek, modern, and elegant. 

PAID OPTION (kind of): Wedding Wire

First of all, Wedding Wire DOES have a free option, but they make it really simple to purchase a custom domain for $15/year. We think it’s a pretty small fee to snag the perfect URL to put on your save the dates. 

What makes Wedding Wire so great?

REGISTRIES. Wedding Wire is a pretty big company, and they’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the wedding process. They’ve used this to streamline and their website and make it as functional and useful as possible – including registries. They’ve made it very simple to connect all of your registries to your website. This lets your guests browse your gifts at their leisure. 

YOUR OUT OF TOWNERS. If you’re anything like Mitchel and I, you’ll have guests and family coming to your wedding from ALL OVER. If that’s the case, you want to help them out as much as possible. Wedding Wire allows your guess to look at hotels close to the ceremony and book their room. Cut down on their stress (and yours). 

Building Your Wedding Website

Honestly, this is one of the fun parts. I know it can sound overwhelming when you think about all the things you’ll need to do, but I promise it’s not that hard. 

After you’ve picked WHERE you’re going to build your site, then you have to actually do it! 

Here are the things you’re going to need:

1. Your Couple Story – you should consider including the story of how y’all met, the engagement story, some of your favorite things, and maybe some fun facts. 
2. Pictures – everyone wants to see the happy couple, go ahead and pick some of your favorite photos to feature on your site (if you have an engagement session, this is the perfect place to display them). 
3. All Your Wedding Details – if you choose either of our recommended wedding websites, you’ll allow your guests to RSVP online (who needs snail mail), so make sure you have all of those deets on hand, you don’t want anyone showing up to the wrong place on the wedding day. Also include info about accommodations such as hotel blocks you have secured for your guests.
4. Wedding Party Info – a lot of couples like to include a quick info about their wedding party. You can include a fun story about each person and a picture.   

After you’ve got all this info, it’s as simple as copy and paste all of it into the site. 

First, you’ll have to pick a theme, which will be the hardest part. After you’ve done that, it’s just like making your MySpace homepage (okay, maybe we are a little old now). 

You can make your site however you want. Make sure it reflects you and you enjoy it. Even for someone who isn’t “techy”, you can have it done from start to finish in an hour. 

When you’re building the site, make sure it’s easy to read, simple to navigate, shows your guests where to RSVP, and gives them all the info they need.

Wedding Website Tips 

If you have a lot of people coming from out of town to come to your wedding, add a list of local fun things to do. Maybe you put some of your favorite restaurants, shopping spots, beaches, hiking trails, etc. Not only does this give your loved pens something to do while they are in town, but it also shows some of your personality and the things you enjoy doing. 

Keep Them Update on Health Measures

One of the best things about your wedding website is you can update your guests on the current situation of your wedding (thanks to COVID). The pandemic has completely changed how we plan weddings, go to receptions, and communicate with our guests. 

As your wedding gets closer and things change, be sure to keep your website updated with all the latest information and how you’re going to keep everyone safe and healthy.