In this digital day and age, most of your friends and family probably obtain the majority of their information via their mobile phones. It's a part of their lifestyle and comfort zone, and they'll likely expect to do the same when it comes to your wedding.
This is not to say that you should replace printed stationery when it comes to your wedding Save the Dates and wedding invitations. As high-tech as I am, I still feel strongly about the formality of mailed announcement and invitation the old fashion way--stuffed inside lined envelopes, hand-addressed, and with a pretty stamp. A wedding website, however, serves as an extended invite, allowing you to add and update wedding related details long after your invitations have been mailed. Once guests know of your wedding website url from your invitations, they can conveniently access all your up-to-date wedding details through their phones and not have to worry about forgetting the venue address, maps/directions, etc. on the wedding day. The goal is to make it easy for your guests, which goes back to planning a great experience for them from beginning to end!
No sweat if you have no idea how to build a website. There are lots of companies out there who makes it easy on you to create a beautiful, custom site. To make it even better, many of them are free!
Here are a list of our favorites to recommend for our clients:
1. Square Space
3. Wedding Wire
A few tips from us as you create your wedding website:
--When choosing your "website term", your end date should be at least 2 days after your wedding. Most guests will jump online to check out your site when they first get the link, but you actually get the most traffic during the week leading up to the wedding, as that is when your guests really wrap their heads around the 411s and will refer to your site for the info. If you plan to share photos on the site following the wedding, then your end date should be extended even longer then, depending on when your photographer can have the images ready for viewing.
--Include a personal story about the two of you, and snippets about the proposal if you're comfortable sharing. Many of your guests may only know one of you, so it's nice to provide photos and stories of how the two of you met and how the relationship evolved. This helps to introduce your guests to the other partner prior to the wedding!
--Some couples use their wedding website to collect information such as RSVPs, music preferences, etc... which can all be quite helpful for the planning process!
--If you have guests traveling from out of town, it would be helpful to them to include a page of travel tips. This often includes airport codes, weather forecasts, transportation info, hotel room block details, and a list of recommended activities and restaurants.
--Include a day-of contact number, and that is often someone from our team if we're involved with the wedding. When guests are in a pinch on the wedding day, they need to know whom they can call besides you!
--Your wedding website will be a work in progress, so be sure to update it as you make decisions along the way. 2 weeks before the wedding, you should take one final look to be sure the site has all the up to date information.
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