In today’s digital age, it’s highly likely you have heard all about the latest wedding trend: the wedding website!
These days, smart and savvy brides are turning to online tools like wedding websites to assist with the overwhelming process of planning a wedding.
But with so much to organise already in the lead up to your big day, you might be wondering if a wedding website will just be another task on your already lengthy to-do list. Are wedding websites really worth the time and effort?
The truth is, the benefits of a wedding website might just save you a whole lot of stress in the long run. From streamlining your planning process to tracking your RSVP’s, there are so many reasons why wedding websites are fast becoming an essential tool for many brides.
So if you’re finding it difficult to stay organised when it comes to planning your wedding, you might just want to consider a wedding website to keep you feeling in control!
Wedding Websites Explained
Never heard of the much-hyped wedding website? It’s essentially an online website dedicated to your wedding, that conveys information and enables communication between you and your guests.
A wedding website is a digital tool that includes all of the important details related to the wedding that your guests need to know about. Each wedding website is totally unique as they are customised to reflect you and your partner.
Wedding websites are usually based on a template that you can personalise according to your requirements and preferences. It can be accessed from all internet devices, from your desktop to your mobile phone.
So now you know exactly what a wedding website is, but are you convinced you need one yet? Let’s take a look at 8 reasons why we truly believe they should be non-negotiable for every bride!
1. Stay Organised
There’s no denying the fact that wedding planning is seriously hard work. Feeling disorganised and distracted while trying to pull together a huge event is not a productive combination for anybody.
From setting your wedding budget to creating your guest list and all of the back and forth communication with your suppliers. It can start to feel a little overwhelming trying to keep track of everything you need to do.
Here’s where a wedding website can be an absolute godsend to keep you feeling sane and your processes streamlined. Sure, wedding websites look beautiful, but what they are really designed for is organisation!
Some of the basic organisational features you’ll find on a wedding website include:
- The ability to sending out your save-the-dates and invitations digitally
- Tracking your RSVP’s online to confirm your guest numbers
- Accessing important information from your guests like dietary requirements prior to the big day
- Countdowns to the big day
Just to name a few! Some wedding website platforms go one step further with budget calculators and automated workflows.
A wedding website can save you precious hours that you would otherwise be spending on posting invitations or following up RSVPs. Are you feeling the weight being lifted off your shoulders yet?!
2. Convey Additional Information
Have you already started drafting up your wedding invitations and found yourself completely overwhelmed by trying to cram so much information into one piece of paper? Enter: the wedding website!
Wedding websites give you the ability to include much more additional (and necessary) information for your guests than a piece of paper would be able to hold.
Think about those long-winded details like specific directions to your venue location, or helpful suggestions for local accommodation. You can get into as much detail as you like – there are no word limits when it comes to a wedding website!
If you’re planning a destination wedding, this is especially helpful as your guests will be relying on you heavily for flight and accommodation tips, restaurant suggestions, and things to do around the local area. A wedding website allows you to provide them with direct links to all of this information and more. You might want to include a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section to cover all of these necessary details and put guests at ease.
As well as the logistical pieces of information, you can also outline some expectations for the day that you may not feel are appropriate to include in your initial invitation. For example, if you’re planning a child-free wedding, this can be mentioned subtly in the wedding website rather than on your initial invitation.
The same applies for gift registries and wishing wells. It can be an awkward subject to broach, but a wedding website allows you to make a note of what has been organised without seeming rude or pushy. On the flipside, if you’ve decided you don’t want presents or monetary gifts, you can outline this on your wedding website to give your guests the heads up!
3. Set the Tone for the Day
A personalised wedding website can be an amazing way to set the tone for the big day! Give your guests some insight into your relationship, and start building the excitement for an incredible wedding.
Your wedding website is kind of like a sneak peek into the day itself. You can customise your wedding website to reflect the look and feel of the big day to give your guests a glimpse of what to expect. Most wedding websites will have a selection of different templates to choose from in a range of designs and colours, so pick the one that ties in best to your wedding vision.
Establishing a connection to your guests is another unique benefit of the wedding website. As a bride, there may be some people on the guest list that you only know briefly through your partner, and vice versa. Giving some insight into who you are and the relationship between you and your partner can help you form a better connection with those guests that you may not know on a personal level.
Keep it simple with a brief story of how you both met, the adventures you’ve shared, and who you are as a couple. You might even want to introduce your bridal party with some fun anecdotes. Don’t forget to include some photos of you and your partner too! Make it unique and totally personal, just like your relationship.
4. Easily Communicate Last-Minute Changes
Picture this: it’s a couple of days out from the wedding, and the weather forecast is predicting unstoppable rain. You need to implement your Plan B wet weather plan, which might mean a different venue location or updated instructions for access and parking. But how are you going to ensure the message gets out to all of your guests on time?
Instead of getting the word out through a hundred different phone calls and text messages, wedding websites allow you to communicate last minute updates quickly and efficiently.
From wet weather plans to timing changes, you can rest assured that your guests will be able to stay in the loop at all times. It’s important to be prepared for unexpected hitches, and a wedding website should be an essential part of your backup plan!
5. Always Accessible
Think of your wedding website as a digital portal, with all of your wedding information easily accessible from the one place. No matter where in the world you are, your wedding website is only a few clicks away!
Relying on notepad scribbles or spreadsheets to track your guest list and RSVP’s can leave you in a tricky situation if anything was to get lost or misplaced. A wedding website gives you peace of mind knowing that all of your crucial details are safe, secure and easy to find at all times.
If you have guests travelling from overseas, this is especially useful to communicate information about the wedding to them. Trying to tee-up time for a phone call or Skype conversation with different time zones is never easy, so outlining all of your details in an easily accessible online location saves you from this logistical nightmare.
A wedding website also allows you to quickly check the status of your guest numbers online. If your caterer or planner needs to know where your numbers are sitting, the information is right there at your fingertips.
6. Budget Friendly
Let’s face it, weddings are expensive! As a bride, you’ll quickly discover that every little detail adds up and it can feel impossible to keep everything under budget.
When it comes to your wedding invitations, you could be looking at anywhere between $350 – $750 for around 80 invitations, depending on the extent of your design. This doesn’t include the additional extras like RSVP cards and postage costs. Probably a little more than you were expecting, right?
A wedding website is a perfect solution to minimise these costs. Having your guests RSVP online are much more cost effective and easier than having them mailed back to you.
If you’re looking to save a few extra dollars for your big day, having your guests RSVP through your wedding website could be a great place to start.
As a bonus tip for couples who want to create a beautiful invitation, a trend we’re seeing couples embrance nowadays is sending digital Save the Dates to save some money there to have more budget to splurge on the official invitation!
7. Eco-friendly
Are you trying to reduce the carbon footprint of your wedding? For the environmentally conscious bride, a wedding website is a great way to achieve this.
Think about how much paper is involved in just in the initial invitation suite. Not only do you have the invitations themselves, but also the envelope and the RSVP card. It’s a lot of paper when you consider it will most likely get thrown into the bin after the event!
A wedding website is an eco-friendly option to eliminate this wasted paper and reduce the carbon footprint of your day. You could even continue the paperless theme throughout the entire wedding. The environment will love you for it!
8. An Everlasting Memento
After the big day has been and gone, your bouquet has wilted and the confetti has been swept from the floor – your wedding website is there to stay forever.
While the main purpose of a wedding website is to assist with the lead up to your day, it can also be a beautiful memento to reflect on afterwards.
There might also be things you want to share with your guests following the wedding like your professional photos or a heartfelt thank-you message. A wedding website allows you (and your guests!) to relive all of these special memories for years to come.
Get Started with Your Wedding Website
Wedding planning doesn’t have to feel so overwhelming when you have the right resources at hand! A wedding website is our number one recommendation to streamline the wedding planning process while creating something truly beautiful that lasts forever.
So throw out the bulky journal and embrace this digital trend that will not only save you hours of time but even a few dollars along the way. It’s the online wedding planner you never knew you needed but won’t be able to live without.
Ready to get started? Check out our beautiful wedding website templates!
