Ever thought about setting up a website for your big day? With so much else to worry about, why would anyone add the extra hassle of setting up a website too?

As someone who has been recently involved in preparing for his big day, I can tell you first hand, what the pro's and con's of having a wedding website can be:

The Pro's

RSVPs

Keeping track of who is coming and who isn't can be made a lot easier with the provision of a website. Allow your guests to RSVP via your website, with our fully customisable RSVP system.

Simply supply your guests with a password, which could be something as simple as your postcode, so that they can log in to the website and state whether they are able to attend, as well as any food choices they might need to make.

Save Paper and Postage

If your guests are likely to need to travel to your venue, you might find yourself needing to print off potentially hundreds of extra pages of directions.

So why not supply things like directions and places to stay on your website and instead supply paper copies on request.

Gift Lists

Many shops provide a wedding gift list facilities, but this can be quite limiting. You could allow your guests to log in to your wedding website and choose from a list of gifts you have provided from any shop in the world. Your guest can then select the gift they intend on buying from your list, and mark it as bought.

This way, you and your spouse hopefully won't end up with 40 toasters - and is slightly more interesting than a gift voucher. Don't worry, though, you still won't be able to see what they have selected until after the wedding - unless you want to that is! This is also another good way of saving paper and therefore the environment.

Top Tip: It might be worth appointing your Best Man or Maid of Honour to provide gift ideas for those without internet access.

Song Requests?

One option we used on our own wedding website, was allowing our guests to request songs they'd love to hear on the night of the wedding. Of course, if your guests are anything like ours, you'll get a lot of silly choices too!

Photo Gallery

Why not share photos from your wedding with your guests, or perhaps allow them to share them with you?

Facebook can be a powerful tool for sharing photos - but making it secure can be an issue, especially if your pictures include children - so a password protected section on your wedding site can be a useful extra.

The Con's

No internet access

Despite our government's best efforts, some of your guests will not have access to the Internet - and others will simply refuse point blank to us it. So it is important to bear this in mind when planning the wedding - especially if using the site for RSVPs and gift lists.

A lot of people will always prefer to respond by post, but using the admin area of the site we provide, you will be able to add postal responses quickly and easily.

Cost

Like everything related to a wedding, having a good website is often expensive. If you have a friend who does websites, you may be able to get a good rate from them - they may even do it for you as a wedding gift!

If you would like us to set up a wedding website for you and your partner, prices start from just £349. This includes simple site design, set up, domain name and hosting for up to 2 years.

Extra features like an RSVP system, updatable gift lists, song requests and photo galleries are optional extras costing between £50 and £100 each.

Contact Us

If you would like to talk to me about setting up a website for your big day or a free quote, please call 07817 851856 or email: david.burton@doivedesigns.co.uk.

P.S. We recently set up a website for our own wedding - see: www.dave-and-nik.org.uk to see for yourself how useful and simple a wedding website can be.

P.P.S. We are proud to recommend Chris Cox Wedding Productions as a provider of quality wedding videos. See how he can provide you with an affordable wedding video package on his site: www.chriscoxweddings.com.