There are a lot of things you need to do during the wedding planning process to prepare for your big day; for example, you need to choose a wedding venue, narrow down your guest list, and find the perfect wedding vendors.

But one important task you'll want to knock off your wedding planning checklist as soon as possible? Creating your wedding website.

A wedding website is a great way to share details about your upcoming nuptials with your loved ones. But what, exactly, is a wedding website—and as a couple, how do you know what to put on wedding website?

Let's take a look at all things wedding websites (include wedding website ideas!) to help you pull together a website to celebrate your big day:

What Is a Wedding Website?

A wedding website is a special webpage created just for your wedding day. It’s a one-stop shop used to help you communicate crucial wedding details with your friends and family (only those who are wedding guest, of course!), such as venue details, the weekend itinerary, the dress code, where you’re registered, travel and accommodation information, as well as photos. For some couples, it acts as a website invitation wedding—and is also how guests RSVP to the event.

Basically, you can think of it as an online help desk for your wedding day, helping you stay organized and push out important information to your guests.

The good news is that you don’t need a fancy website builder to create a wedding website of your dreams (or just one that matches your wedding stationery). Use Zola to build a free wedding website that easily keeps all of your information, recommendations and ideas, photo albums, wedding hashtag, online RSVP form, and more in one place.

Here’s how to do it—plus, what to include on a wedding website.

The Goals of Wedding Websites are to:

1. Communicate with wedding guests and share important details that aren’t included in the invitation suite.
2. Provide more background info about you and your partner.
3. Share travel recommendations with your guests.
4. Collect RSVPs from invited guests. (Optional)
5. Reiterate any information included on the invitation.

The 5 Ws of Wedding Websites

WHO Should See Your Wedding Website?

Typically, most couples make their wedding website public (so a guest who has misplaced their invitation can find it easily with a quick Google search), but if you choose to opt for a private website, your website should be shared with all of your wedding guests.

WHAT Should You Include on Wedding Website?

What you include on your wedding website is ultimately up to you and how personalized you want your site to be, but it’s best practice to include the following:

• The location, date, and time of each wedding event (rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, wedding ceremony, wedding reception, farewell brunch)
• The suggested attire for each event
• Details about the wedding party (for example, the names of the bridesmaids, groomsmen, maid of honor, and/or best man)
• Recommendations for nearby hotels, restaurants, and sightseeing
• Where you are registered (including a link to your registry)
• Personal stories about you as a couple (how you met, your love story, or how you got engaged)
• RSVP information
• Photos from different points of your relationship
• Engagement photos
• Travel information and transportation information (shuttle schedules, directions to the venue, reserved hotel blocks, parking, and, if you're hosting a destination wedding, flight and airline information)
• Any other need-to-know details about the event (for example, letting guests know you're hosting a child-free event or sharing details about handicap accessibility)
• FAQs

WHEN Should You Make/Share a Wedding Website?

You should begin creating your wedding website as soon as you set your wedding date and have booked your wedding venue. Publish it and make it live the same time you send save the dates (roughly 6-8 months before the wedding day) so guests can read more about the event and begin making travel plans.

WHERE Should You Share Your Wedding Website?

You should share your wedding website with your guests via your save the dates (or even your invitations) so they can easily go online to learn more details (and RSVP if you’ve opted to collect replies online).

But, what about sharing on social media? We recommend that you do not post your wedding website on your social media accounts. It creates confusion about who is actually invited and can lead to some uncomfortable conversations with uninvited individuals as a result.

WHY Should You Make a Wedding Website?

Save the dates and invitations are limited in terms of space and what’s acceptable to include on them, which puts a cap on what you can communicate to guests through snail mail. Having a wedding site online is great because it gives guests a place to go if they have questions, rather than bombarding you with texts, calls, and emails. And they make life easier for your guests, too, while making travel plans or in case they lose the wedding invitation.

How to Make a Wedding Website

Instructions for how to make a wedding website will be different for everyone, depending on which platform you choose for your wedding website (or whether you decide to build one from the ground up on your own). Regardless of which method you choose, creating a wedding website is done by following these steps:

1. Choose a site or platform. Might we suggest the Zola wedding website tool?
2. Pick a design or template or theme (or create your own).
3. Select a domain (like www.zola.com/wedding/meghanandharry or www.marklewed.com)
4. Add your event details.
5. Personalize it.
6. Include a link to your registry, or if using Zola, have your registry automatically integrate to your website pages.
7. Set up your online wedding RSVP form (if using).
8. Proofread everything and test the links.
9. Publish it!
10. Share the website link with guests (via your save the dates and/or invitations).

Where to Make a Wedding Website

Clearly, we’re a bit biased, but the short answer is to make your wedding website on Zola. Thankfully, there’s a lot of evidence to back up our claim:

• They’re totally free!
• 100+ designs and templates
• Can be made private (via password protection) or public
• Match your website to your Zola Save the Dates and Invitations
• Integrates seamlessly with Zola’s Registry, Guest List Manager, and a full suite of tools
• Collect RSVPs online
• Customize and change your template at any time
• Option to purchase a custom domain for a small fee
• Designs that look great across all devices
• Google maps integration

Tips For Creating The Best Wedding Website

Looking for some more wedding website advice? Here are a few tips to help you make the most out of your wedding website:

1. Make the look and feel of your wedding website match the look and feel of your wedding. Chances are, you have a very specific wedding style—so why not match your website to that style? Look for ways to tie the look and feel of your website to the look and feel of your website—for example, by matching color schemes or using the same fonts on your website that you plan to use on your wedding programs and wedding place cards.
2. Keep things short and to the point. Your wedding website is a great place to share information—but your guests don't want to have to read a novel in order to get the information they need. When writing your website, keep things short, concise, and to the point. Ideally, your guests should be able to easily navigate your website and quickly scan the text to find what they're looking for.
3. Include recommendations for fun activities for your guests. If you have guests traveling from out of town for your big day, you should include recommendations for fun things to do in the area. That way, your guests not only get to have a great time at your wedding, they also get to have a great time exploring the area.
4. Share your wedding hashtag on your wedding website. If you have a wedding hashtag, share it on your wedding website so your guests know what hashtag to use before they attend the event.

Cherish The Memories

Your wedding website is super helpful in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding. But it's also a great way to share all the amazing memories from your big day with your guests after the wedding.

Some elements you'll want to consider adding to your wedding website after you say your I do's include:

• A photo gallery of professional wedding photos and photos from social media
• Videos from your wedding ceremony and reception
• A personalized message thanking your guests for attending

Now that you know all the benefits of creating a beautiful wedding website, and where to do so, what are you waiting for? Start designing your free wedding website on Zola today!