Before I get into this week’s post I want to say congratulations to James’s sister Kirsten and her fiancé Matt! Matt popped the question on Labor Day, a few days after Kirsten’s birthday. In the span of 12 months James and both his sisters will tie the knot, a busy and exciting year!
During Hurricane Irene, James and I built our wedding web site. Wedding web sites are a great tool to inform guests of your wedding details, and thanks to sites like Wedding Window and EWedding, they are relatively easy to create. Once you determine your major wedding details – date, venue and hotel accommodations, you can get started building your site.
Ideally, you have your site up and running prior to sending out your Save the Dates so you can include the web address on them. Most of the sites offer a wide variety of templates and after a quick review you can determine which site suits your wedding style.
James and I reviewed a few of the different websites and decided to use Wedding Window. We liked their simple layouts and they offered a few other options, including a custom URL and the option to add music to our page. Most sites offer free templates and tools so even the budget conscious bride can have a great site she is proud to show off. Other sites including Wedding Window and EWedding, let you chose from different package levels offering various tools and upgrades.
Our planner suggested choosing a site and package that came with the purchase of a custom URL. Not only would the domain name be easier for people to remember, but it would also allow us to keep the web address short, which was important since we wanted to include it on our save the date. Some of the free websites like The Knot create a domain name for you, but it is often long and can be difficult for guests to remember or type. James and I settled on using our nicknames that family and friends would easily remember and through Wedding Window were able to purchase www.juiceandmb.com.
A few other factors to consider when choosing your host site are:
Is there a limit to how many photos you can include or how many sections you can have? Some of the free services only allow for a small number of photos and sub sections.
Do you want just anyone to be able to view your site? Most free services don’t have any security settings, but some sites allow you to set a password so only guests with the password can view your site.
You will also need to take time to think about what sections you want to include on your site. The most standard sections are couple’s story, wedding events, travel and accommodations. Other sections you may want to add are area attractions, music request form and wedding party.
James and I also included a guest book and encouraged family and friends to sign it. Now checking to see if we have any new entries has become a fun part of my morning routine, so take a look at our site and sign the guest book while you are there!
Your posts have been super helpful – Thanks for being so willing to share!