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Picture it: It’s the day before your wedding. You’re getting ready for your rehearsal dinner, excited to soon marry the love of your life. Your phone pings with a text from Uncle Joey: “What’s the wedding venue’s address?”
The last thing you want to deal with the day before your wedding is guests coming to you with questions about the timing of the day, the dress code, what time they can check into their hotel room, and all those other details they should have known by now. Meet your hero, the wedding website!
A question we get a lot from couples is “do I really need a wedding website?” While it’s completely optional, there is SO much value in a wedding website, for both you and your guests. Learn more below about what exactly it is, how to set one up, what to include on yours, and more.
Do I Need a Wedding Website?
We encourage all our couples to set up a wedding website! It will serve as a central location for your guests to find important information about your wedding weekend (read: hopefully, they’ll look to the wedding website for answers to their questions rather than bothering you, your partners, or your VIPs!).
It’s totally free to set one up through sites like The Knot or Zola. And because so many couples set up wedding websites through these companies, they’ve made it super straightforward and easy, so don’t worry if you’ve never created a website before. They offer templates and customizable website designs so that you can match your website to the style of your wedding.
What Should I Include on My Wedding Website?
Some essential information that you’ll want to include on your wedding website:
Date, time, and location(s) of your wedding ceremony and reception
Accommodations for guests, whether you’ve booked a hotel room block at a hotel and have a custom booking link or are just recommending certain hotels in the area
If you’re providing transportation to the ceremony and/or from the reception and what the schedule is
If you aren’t providing guest transportation (or just want to be extra thorough, you can include notes about public transportation or encouraging rideshares. Parking information for the venue is also helpful if applicable.
Links to your gift registry/registries
The dress code and any other related notes (for instance, if your wedding is outside, make a note of this so guests can dress appropriately)
If applicable, any COVID related information
Some optional bits that can be included on your wedding website as you see fit:
The story of how you and your partner met and got engaged
A wedding party page detailing who the members of your wedding party are and how you know them
Information for other wedding weekend events that all guests are invited to (i.e. don’t post your rehearsal dinner information on the public website, or you’ll likely get a few guests who weren’t actually invited)
RSVP form if you’re collecting these electronically
An FAQs page (this could answer questions to the above pieces of information or be additional items you want to address like “can I bring a date?”)
Your wedding hashtag and/or where guests can share photos of the day
Should I Track RSVPs Through My Wedding Website?
Unfortunately, there’s not really a simple yes or no to this question, as there are pros and cons to both types of RSVP tracking. Some things to consider!
With online RSVPs, you of course have the ease of tracking everything electronically. If guests are replying to your invite online, the website or system you’re using will automatically track responses, and you can typically download these into an easy, manageable spreadsheet. With an online RSVP form, you also have the space to ask your guests more questions related to your wedding. For instance, you can ask if they plan to book a room in your hotel block or utilize the guest transportation so you have more accurate numbers in advance for these vendors; what songs are sure to get them on the dance floor; or their best piece of marriage advice. With a physical RSVP card, you likely won’t have enough space for extras like this.
On the flip side of all this, there are some downsides to online RSVPs and benefits of doing mail-in responses. In the past, we’ve found that on-time response rates tend to be lower with online RSVPs compared to mail-ins. This means that you’ll have more work on the back end once your RSVP date rolls around to contact those that haven’t RSVP’d. With a mail-in RSVP, the guest can immediately fill out the response card when they open the invite, and then just have to drop it in a mailbox.
Online RSVPs may also be confusing for elderly guests or those that aren’t comfortable with technology. Because of that, mail-in RSVPs may be a better option in this case in order to make the process easier and more familiar for those guests.
Creating a wedding website is a simple and straightforward way to ensure your guests have all the info they need so that you can focus on what matters in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding day. Give yourself that peace of mind by creating yours today!
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