I'm at the point in my life where everyone is married or working their way towards that. Tom and I have been married for almost 7 years now and things have definitely changed. That's right, I got married when Pinterest was still in beta mode, but that's a story for another day.
Wedding websites when I got married were not very common, but today you can create an awesome, personalized wedding website in just one hour! GoDaddy has made it so easy for engaged couples to create a perfect wedding website without previous website-building experience! GoCentral helps couples make their wedding website quickly and then get back to planning the wedding.
When creating your wedding website, you want to make sure you include all the important things. Read on to find out five things to include on your wedding website.
1. The General Timeline
Everyone wants to know a general idea of what's happening when. Like, I see that the wedding starts at 1pm, but what time should people start arriving? I know at my wedding it was weird that some people showed up about an hour before the wedding! I kept peeking out the window and thinking “Things are not ready, go back to your car”!
You can break things down a little more on your wedding website as far as the timeline goes. People like to know when food will be served and about what time the party ends, so they can plan for meals ahead of time and possible sitters for the kids.
2. Etiquette Details
Remember on your invite where you said “dressy casual”, you can go a little more into detail with that on your wedding website. You can give some ideas for the guys to wear like “ditch the jacket” or share with the guests what colors your bridesmaids will be wearing. Sometimes it's a little awkward if a guest shows up in a dress very similar to a bridesmaid. Oops!
This is also a great place to say if kids are welcome at the ceremony or reception. Some people think it's tacky to include it on the invite, but it's also a pain to reach out to the bride/groom and ask if you can bring your kids. If you make it clear on the wedding website it's not for kids, you'll avoid those awkward conversations.
We've all seen those cutesy signs that people make for their wedding ceremonies that say something about leaving the picture taking to the photographers. I absolutely love those sentiments. You can also place that here as a heads-up so no one will be surprised and they can get their complaining over with before they even arrive!
3. Bios and “How We Met”
Ever been to a wedding and not know the other party? Maybe I'm just nosy, but I love knowing more about the couple, especially if I really only know half of the couple.
Obviously you don't have to go into crazy amounts of detail and your life story, but include some fun things: where you're from, how you met, the proposal, what you're up to, and maybe some plans for the future?
4. Registries
Old school etiquette says that you're not supposed to put your registry info on the invites or really even in the envelope. You still want to share your registry info though, right? Absolutely! Well, you'll do it here, on your wedding website.
Guests want to get people things they actually want and that's hard to do if they have no idea what you want or need. You don't need to write a giant explanation for what is or is not on your registry (no one really cares that much), but make your list and drop the links on your site.
5. RSVPs
Now you can make it even easier for your guests to RSVP to your wedding! We live in a digital world and it's super easy to just click a few things and say whether or not you'll be attending.
Seriously, save yourself some time and money and skip all those little cards, envelopes, and stamps!
GoCentral includes a contact form to collect RSVPs – even allowing guests to choose a meal option.
6. Your Wedding Hashtag or Snapchat filter
So you may not want pictures taken at the ceremony, but I'm sure you want them to do so at the reception! And you absolutely want to see them! Let your guests know which hashtag they should use when they share so you'll be able to find them all.
We live in a digital age and if you're married already, you know how fast that day flies by. Every bride (and maybe the groom too) wants to relive it through pictures and fun videos!
Personally, I don't snapchat, but I know it's a huge thing. You can create a custom snapchat filter for your special day and share it with all your guests.
7. Finer Details
A lot of guests have lots of little questions they'd like to ask, but hate to do it. You can set-up a FAQ type of thing on your wedding website that will answer those questions.
- Is there a cash bar?
- Are there hotels nearby?
- Where will I be sitting?
- What time is dinner?
- How do I get there?
- Are there any special events (like an after party or a breakfast the next morning)?
Not everyone will need or want to know these things, but it's nice to put it out there just in case for those that do!
8. Photos
Wondering what to do with all those engagement pictures you had taken? Put those beautiful pics all over your wedding website! You can use the galleries on GoCentral to share them easily with your guests.
If you have old photos of you and your soon-to-be spouse, share those too! It makes it fun and keeps your website interesting.
Remember to update your wedding website with a photo gallery of your wedding pictures after the big day! It's a great way to show off those professional photos!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Phyrra says
I always love seeing candid photos!
Jessica Holoka says
These are such great tips! I wish I had known some of these when we were preparing to get married. Especially since we had a really small wedding and reception!
ashley says
These are such great ideas! I wish I would have done this when we got married. But I know a few couples getting married soon that I can pass this along to
Kendra says
So many great ideas! I wish our website was still up.
Cris of Kiss My Tulle says
Our wedding website was fantastic for sharing details and extra information. It also limited the number of people bugging the bride (and it’s ALWAYS the bride) on the actual wedding day.