How To Build a Custom Wedding Website

Building a Wedding Website With Help From Bliss & Bone

Your wedding website is a valuable source of information for your wedding party and the invited guests to this gala occasion. By building a wedding website that incorporates all the most important elements and integrates your own personal style, you can make a real impression on those closest to you and your partner. This can make your special day even more memorable for you and the ones you love.

Building a personalized wedding website can sometimes be intimidating for couples who are unfamiliar with the principles of web design. At Bliss & Bone, we work to make it easy to create unique wedding websites that stand out from the crowd and that reflect the special love between you and your partner. We can provide you with the tools and the knowledge you need to create an engaging and unique wedding website for your upcoming ceremony and reception.

This guide will provide practical tips and strategies to help you build your own wedding website and why you need a customizable wedding website to celebrate and prepare for your big day. We will discuss the various parts of custom wedding websites and will provide you with wedding website examples that can inspire your own personalized wedding website design.

Why You Need a Custom Wedding Website

From a traditional standpoint, wedding websites epitomize the idea of "something new" for you and your partner. Building a wedding website can provide much-needed information to your guests and your wedding party while serving as an ongoing reminder of your upcoming events. Here are some of the key reasons to consider customizable wedding websites for your upcoming ceremony, reception and other wedding-related activities:

• Added flexibility: Your website can be adjusted and updated as you receive new information from venues and vendors. This can provide your guests with the most up-to-date information on your wedding plans as they evolve.
• Increased options for personalization: Opting for custom wedding websites rather than free website providers can allow you to enjoy a greater range of personalization options when building a wedding website. At Bliss & Bone, for instance, we allow many more customization options to create a wedding website that is uniquely your own.
• Faster communications: Because the information included on wedding websites can be instantly accessed by guests and members of your wedding party, personalized wedding websites are often the fastest way to spread the word about changes to your wedding plans or activities you wish to add to your itinerary.
• Detailed information on events and planning: Whether you decide on traditional print invitations or online wedding invitations, your Save-the-Date cards and wedding invites are usually not the right place for detailed information on hotels, travel arrangements and other critical information your guests may need to know. Your wedding website, however, is the perfect place to provide all of this information along with some frequently asked questions to keep everyone in the loop about your upcoming wedding plans.
• The ability to share your story with guests: Photos, text and videos of you and your partner could be the highlight of your unique wedding website. By sharing a little of yourselves on your custom wedding website, you can make the most positive impact on those who visit your website.
• Easy access to your gift registry: A wedding registry is a list of gifts chosen by the happy couple to help them begin their new life together. Your custom wedding website is the perfect residence for this list and can provide you with up-to-date information on gifts purchased and items you may need to buy to set up housekeeping successfully after your wedding and honeymoon.
• Rapid response times for RSVPs: One of the most practical features for most customizable wedding websites is the ability of guests to respond immediately to email Save-the-Date cards and wedding invitations. You can monitor responses and keep a running tally on the number of guests you expect. This can help you to plan more efficiently for catering and other elements of your wedding reception.
• Solid security: The information you store on your wedding website is available to guests in a safe and secure online environment. The security features included in paid custom wedding websites are well worth the small additional cost of these sites over those available for free.
• Tiered levels of access: You can also set up custom wedding websites with varying access levels for you and your partner, the members of your wedding party and for others on your guest list. This can allow you to make sure that the right information goes out to those who need it while streamlining your website for everyone else.

Taking the time to create a wedding website and to customize it to suit your needs can help you to communicate more effectively with your wedding party and your guests. Personalized wedding websites can also allow you and your partner to share your story through images, videos and text.

The Basics of Custom Wedding Websites

Your custom wedding website will include some basic features that will ensure that it is functional and beautiful. Some of the basic parts of a customized wedding website include the following:

• Basic event information, including times, locations, expected attire and catering information 
• Local accommodations and travel arrangements to help guests navigate the area more successfully
• Images, backgrounds and graphics that include custom wedding logos and other customized elements of your wedding design
• A personal touch for your website, which might include photos of you and your partner, a short description of how you met or a story about your relationship that is important to you both
• A reliable online platform that delivers strong security and dependable uptime to ensure that you and your guests can access information when you need it most

Finding the best ways to build a wedding website can allow you to present the best possible image to guests planning to attend your wedding. Custom wedding websites are an outstanding way to create engagement and excitement among your invited wedding guests.

How Much Does a Custom Wedding Website Cost?

In general, customized wedding website providers charge only a minimal annual fee that allows you to build a wedding website and to keep it in operation throughout the lead-up to your wedding. The average customized wedding website costs between $60 and $100 per year. Since the cost of an average wedding is estimated at about $30,000, a customizable wedding website is only a very small drop in the proverbial bucket for most couples.

While some wedding website providers may allow you to build a wedding website for free, most experts recommend against choosing these low-cost options. Avoiding free one-size-fits-all wedding website providers in favor of customizable wedding websites can help your site to stand out from the crowd. Even in tough economic conditions when the costs of many wedding essentials are rising, customized wedding websites continue to be a real bargain that can fit just about any budget or financial situation.

Some add-on services may increase the cost of your website or its features. For instance, live-streaming your ceremony for those who cannot attend in person may require added fees to be paid to a provider before this feature can be added to your personalized wedding website.

Why Choose a Custom Wedding Website?

The customizable wedding websites available through Bliss & Bone offers some real benefits for you and your partner. Choosing to build your own wedding website through our platform can provide you with added information and improved communication throughout the lead-up to your ceremony and reception. Some of the most important benefits of custom wedding websites include the following:

• The ability to customize every element of your website, including background images, fonts, pages and layouts
• Digital RSVPs and responses that can be compiled into an easy-to-read report on head counts
• The ability to match your wedding website's look and feel to your wedding décor or wedding invitations
• Uploading capabilities for photos, images, monograms and logos
• Truly unique wedding websites that you and your partner will be proud to present to guests and family members

These features of customizable wedding websites are not available on most of the free wedding website options. By choosing to create a wedding website with Bliss & Bone, you can access our wedding website examples for inspiration. This can allow you to create a wedding website that reflects your own special story and the joyous celebration planned for your wedding day.

Elements to Include in Your Unique Wedding Website

Personalized wedding websites typically include a few common features, including the following functions and capabilities:

• Automated RSVP collection and management
• Security features that include privacy controls, password access and email logins
• The ability to select and, in some cases, upload backgrounds for pages
• Custom URLs that make it easier to find a couple's wedding website
• A selection of fonts and images to personalize a custom wedding website

Bliss & Bone offers some exclusive additional services, most of which cannot be found in other wedding website providers:

• The ability to add, delete and move pages to suit your ongoing needs
• Support for many foreign languages to provide added access for all your family members and friends
• Match the look and design of your printed or digital wedding invitations and other stationery easily and seamlessly
• An extensive image gallery packed with gorgeous pictures to help you create a wedding website that perfectly suits your taste

At Bliss & Bone, we can help you to create mobile-friendly websites that look great on mobile phones, tablets and on laptop or desktop computers. We make it easy to create a wedding website that is ideally suited to your upcoming ceremony, reception and other activities.

Custom Wedding Website Examples

At Bliss & Bone, we have collected an exceptional array of wedding website examples that can help you to fine-tune your own unique wedding site. Some of our most popular themes include the following options:

• Websites that incorporate tropical foliage to create a lush and luxurious look
• Floral-themed websites to create a beautiful and memorable look and feel for your wedding website
• Combined website themes that incorporate elements of tropical foliage and beach weddings
• Edgy and modern designs to create a unique architectural look for your wedding website, and you can find coordinating invitation options too
• Stark and sublime mountain scenes that can showcase other elements of your website
• Pastel or neutral wedding website themes to create an elegant look

At Bliss & Bone, we can provide the right tools to help you create a wedding website that is in tune with your personal aesthetics and that delivers the right information for your guests.

Customized Wedding Websites Step by Step

At Bliss & Bone, we make it easy to create a custom wedding website with step-by-step instructions and guidance for you and your partner:

• Choose a custom URL: In many cases, a custom URL can make it easier for guests to find a couple's wedding website and to remember its online location during the lead-up to the wedding.
• Select a website provider: The right online provider for customized wedding websites can ensure that you have the options needed to build a wedding website you and your partner will love.
• Decide on themes and designs: Building a wedding website is often simpler than you think. Bliss & Bone offers an array of easy-to-use tools to create a wedding website that is truly your own.
• Iron out the details: Your custom wedding website can serve as the primary source of information on venue locations, times and expected attire. Make sure all this information is complete and accurate before uploading it to your custom wedding website.
• Design your unique wedding website: Once the text and basic information is in place, you can add graphics, images and other elements to build a wedding website for your upcoming nuptials. The designs used to create a wedding website should be streamlined and elegant. In general, many of the strategies used by businesses can be applied to custom wedding websites to generate visual interest and to promote easy reading.
• Add a personal touch: Including photos of yourself and your partner is an excellent option for sharing your story with others. For couples who are worried about "how to write our story for wedding website visitors," a picture can often take the place of words for these online venues.
• Test your website: Once your website is in place, it is time to test its functionality. If you have set up tiered access for your personalized wedding websites, you will want to log in on each of the tiers to see what information is available to each guest and member of your wedding party. Any tweaks necessary when building a wedding website should be performed before the site goes live.
• Link your wedding invitations: By linking your invitations and RSVPs to your wedding website, you can manage counts for your ceremony and reception much more efficiently.
• Go live: Once your website is complete, it is time to allow guests to visit this online tool for managing your wedding preparations. Personalized wedding websites are an ideal way to provide ongoing information for guests and members of your wedding party.
• Update information: The information on customized wedding websites can be updated continuously to provide the most accurate information for your guests. Be sure to let your guests know to check your website for the latest information on venues, times and events.

Telling Your Own Unique Love Story

Many couples have questions about sharing their personal information on personalized wedding websites. These questions often boil down to the statement, "We are not sure how to write our story for wedding website guests." At Bliss & Bone, our customized wedding websites make it easy to upload pictures, poems and images that mean a lot to you and your partner. This can make it easier to tell your story in the online environment.

Providing the Right Information for Your Guests

Personalized wedding websites are an outstanding way to deliver information about your ceremony, your reception and many other aspects that go into creating the perfect wedding day. Custom URLs can help guests find a couple's wedding website more easily. Guests can also search by first and last names on some wedding website providers to find the right website or on search engines for a broader range of results.

Photographs and videos of the venue and the surrounding areas can also be valuable resources for guests to your wedding. Including information on local attractions and on travel arrangements can provide practical assistance for those unfamiliar with the area.

Personalized wedding websites can be configured to allow full access to you and your partner, partial access to your wedding party and close family members and limited access to all other guests. This can confine the information on your website to those who have a real need to know while streamlining the experience for all other visitors to your unique wedding websites.

When Should You Start Building Your Custom Wedding Website?

Most experts recommend that you build a wedding website before sending out save-the-date announcements to provide an avenue for responses and to ensure that your guests can access the latest information. In general, you should build a wedding website at least six to nine months before the big day. Building unique wedding websites can also help you to create excitement among those participating in the wedding party and among your invited attendees.

Bliss & Bone Can Help

At Bliss & Bone, we make it easy to build a wedding website that reflects the special love you and your partner share. Our interface can make it easy to update details on weekend events, travel and accommodations, local attractions and your wedding registry. Additionally, your unique wedding website can feature a photo gallery and a section for frequently asked questions, which can provide real assistance in dealing with all the details leading up to your wedding day.

To learn more about the services we offer and how we can help you with building the perfect wedding website, visit Bliss & Bone online today. We look forward to the chance to help you make your wedding truly memorable for you and your guests.