The Dos and Don’ts of Creating a Wedding Website

Creating a wedding website is a smart (and cost-effective) way to streamline all your wedding information whilst staying in touch with your guests in the run-up to your big day. By opting for one you can expect a beautifully designed, bespoke website and handy planning tool that is unique to you where you can insert and edit all sorts of important information associated with your event. However, the tricky part can be knowing what to include and what should be avoided in order to make your wedding plans efficient and easy for your guests to digest.

We’ve been creating wedding planning tools and resources for quite a while now and have compiled the dos and don’ts of creating a wedding website here to help you along the way. Keep scrolling to soak up all the info before cracking on with the fun task of designing your very own unique wedding website, ensuring it’s innovative, beautiful, and functional.

DO start early

The first “do” is to begin creating your bespoke wedding website as early as possible to avoid any last-minute stress. If you are working on a 12-month wedding timeline, we recommend building the site around 6 months before the wedding. This allows you to book your venue and figure out some of the key details before sharing everything with your guests. Quick tip! DO include the essentials such as wedding date, starting and finishing time, and venue locations. You can build on this as time goes on, just as long as your guests can figure out the most vital information as soon as they land on your wedding website.

If you're hosting a destination wedding, you might want to start a little earlier with getting everything sorted. You may be inviting fewer guests, but you're potentially asking them to travel quite a distance and book time off work, so the more notice you give them, the better. The wedding planning process is enough of a rollercoaster, so stay on the ball and get your date out early to ensure that all your favourites can make it.

Remembering that your wedding website's main function is to be informative is always good to keep in mind before you get knee-deep in the design aesthetics and find yourself agonising over all the pretty details! As we mentioned above, the essentials such as your names, the wedding date and the location would be a suitable place to start.

DO keep things simple

Not all of us are tech gurus, especially the older generations who will be special guests at your wedding, so making your website functional yet simple to navigate will really help them out. The perfect wedding website will allow guests to be able to discover all the ins and outs without having a melt down as soon as they click on your website link! A massive DO would be to make your website nice and simple to use – it will help you and your wedding party to see any updates or additional information without confusion.

Keeping your wedding website simple and easy to navigate is even more essential if you're ditching paper invitations and if your website is also acting as your wedding invitations.

DO include a schedule

Guests like to be informed about the running of your wedding day so including a schedule of the day is a great addition to any wedding website. This ensures everyone feels at ease and happy with what they can expect on the day. If you have taken the time to create a beautiful wedding website, why not make the most of it and share a few of the juicy details with your loved ones? Of course, you don’t have to divulge everything, but a brief rundown will satisfy the organised (and nosey) guests!

DO use a wedding website template

The majority of wedding website templates have been designed to be functional yet pretty to look at, so why not use one?! At Say I do, we have 50+ templates for our wedding-planning couples to choose from. Whether your vibe is classically elegant or boho luxe, we guarantee you’ll be able to find (at least!) one to fit your theme. A template will save you tons of time and leave you with the perfect starting point to insert all your big-day information.

DON’T chase people up for the RSVPs

Make your life even easier by letting your wedding website track your guests’ RSVPs (including dietaries and special requests), so you don’t have to! Most platforms will also have the ability to remind your guests to send their RSVP back if it has slipped their minds, saving you some all-important time to focus on other areas of your big day.

DON’T overcomplicate things

When it comes to wedding website tips, the less complicated your information, the less confused you will be, too! Reducing the details to the basics will help reduce distractions and give guests all the information they need in an easily digestible format. Obviously, go ahead and add some gorgeous pictures of you both, but try to stay away from 10 different colours and hard-to-read fonts.

DON’T tell people exactly what they should wear

We can’t deny that a dress code or colour scheme can be handy for guests to stay in the know, and it can look amazing when it comes to photography, but it can be super cringe if couples try to tell people exactly what they should wear. Allowing guests to wear the clothes they feel comfortable in will help everyone celebrate your special day in style and with ease!

DON'T include exclusive events

Maybe you're planning a wild hen night for the bridal party or hosting a rehearsal dinner ahead of the big day itself. Be careful not to include these individual events on your wedding website unless all of your guests are invited! It's best to organise these gatherings separately instead of broadcasting them on your wedding website and risking embarrassment by not including all guests in the festivities.

DON’T give guests the chance to ask the same questions repeatedly

Adding an FAQ section to your wedding website will quickly help reduce the repeated questions you may experience in the run-up to the wedding. This section will save you a headache and keep guests in the loop without unnecessarily bothering you or wasting anyone’s precious time. Give your out-of-town guests a few activities or sights to see in the area if they have time to explore. Answer other questions such as your decision on plus ones, children, transport and accommodation options and whether you want an unplugged ceremony - the more information you can provide, the better! You’ll thank us later!

And finally… DON’T take other people’s opinions of your wedding website to heart

Remember, this is your wedding website, which you have carefully considered and worked hard to create. It’s likely to be the first peek that your guests will have of your wedding, welcoming them on your journey. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that doesn’t mean that you should change your website or add anything you don’t want to. This is your wedding and a celebration of your love, so host it however you like!