With more than 50% of homes in the UK connected to the Internet having a website for your wedding is becoming a highly desirable addition to your wedding. Not only can wedding websites look wonderful then can help with some of the more practical aspects of wedding planning including providing vital information to your guests, organising your guest list, managing your RSVPs and thank you letters after the event.
What are wedding websites?
Quite simply they are your own personal website for your wedding. Typically they will include pages on how the happy couple met, the location of the wedding and reception, information on local hotels and more.
What can they do for you?
Apart from looking pretty one of the most useful features of good wedding websites is providing a central point of reference for all information on your wedding, reception, stag and hen dos. Some of wedding website systems can even manage the replies and keeps track of who is coming. More advanced website also include planning tools such as guest lists, table planning and budgeting.
Where do you get a wedding website?
There are plenty of companies offering systems to help you create a masterpiece and provide the clever planning tools, etc. Alternatively if you have some IT experience you can do it yourself just like any other website. May be one of your guests has some web designing experience and can help out. Even if you are able to create a website yourself the wedding website companies provide lots of great additional features and can make the task simpler to do.
How much IT knowledge do I need?
Most of the systems do not require must in the way of IT or design skills. If you can use a word processor you should be able alright. Often these systems have a step by step way of working where you simply fill in the blanks. Once you have finished you can jump around from page to page making additions and changes.
Are they ease to use?
I have tried out several systems and they varying in complexity. Most don’t require a spotty teanager to help. The results that can be acheived with the easier systems do vary and can look a bit basic. The good news is that most of the good systems will let you try them out and create a fully working website without even putting in your credit card details. So you should be able to get a good idea of what you can acheive.
How long do they last?
Typically you should have a website at least six months before wedding and about six months afterwards. Most wedding systems come as a twelve month package. However you can renew your contract and keep the site going for as long as you like. Alternatively you can have the website saved to a CD to keep it forever.
What features can I expect?
Some of the features you will find in most of the online systems.
- Pages for the wedding, reception, stag and hen dos, local hotel information, your story, etc
- Ability to add pages of your own.
- Gift registry lists with all the important details and links to online registries
- Ability to email all your guests
- Event management for hen and stag dos
- To Do lists
- Reminders
- A journal for bride and groom
- Budget Trackers
- Photo galleries
Some wedding website provide links to other services such as photo printing so your guests can order prints, mugs and other personalised gifts from your pictures.
How secure are they?
As there will be lots of personal information on your wedding website, it is important that you control who sees what. Most systems will allow you to have a password for some or all of the pages. It is worth checking that you have the level of control you feel you need.
How much to they cost?
There are lots of companies both in the UK and the US offering these services. With the dollar being so weak at the moment the US providers can provide a bargain but make sure that you can change the dates to UK date formats. Prices start as low as £50 for the year and climb up from there. However a budget of £100 for the year should be able to provide a very attractive and professional looking website with lots of features.
Which companies should you look at?
If you feel you would like a wedding website, it is worth trying a few of the free trials available. My current favourites are
www.weddingwindow.com – Has nearly a hundred beautiful designs, is a little more difficult to than some of the other systems but the results are well worth the effort. 12 month cost $79.
www.weddingtracker.co.uk – Very nice designs, with a nice step by step creation process, 2 Week Free Trial. 12 months costs £99 (includes FREE Planning Tools)
www.ewedding.com – Great looking designs costing $89 for 12 months.
If you like the idea of guest being able to order their own prints but your wedding website does not provide it take a look at www.photobox.co.uk who allow you post your photos and send your gallery to your guests. They can then order online and even create photo albums that are properly bound like a book. The service can be tried out for free by registering.
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