To consider a wedding 'website'?

[ObiJuanKenobi]

We are planning our wedding for next winter and have been recommended by a friend that I should set up a wedding website where people can RSVP online instead of having to send back RSVP cards, you can also add details like parking, menus, accommodation codes..

I think you just put on the invite 'please RSVP at blablabla.com by X date'

I know you lovely vipers can be fairly opinionated on wedding etiquette (grabby poems, MIL in white..etc) so would like your thoughts on this! I'm not sure it's necessary but happy to be told otherwise.

I think they're great. Lots of my friends have used the aregettingmarried.com or whatever it is sites.

Makes it handy to RSVP plus they've all put lots of accommodation suggestions with links, which is handy.

One of the really handy things is the "lift share" option - we drove a fellow guest down to a wedding in Newcastle once and have also got lifts from a couple of fellow guests who it turned out lived 2 streets away from us but we didn't know!

I think putting the website in a paper invitation, plus phone numbers / emails for any clarifications is good. And make sure that any very elderly family/friends are catered for separately. My parents are in their 60s and would definitely be able to manage one of the standard websites but my granny in her 80s might struggle a little.

We had one and got a few funny comments off people who thought it was weird. Tbh I do cringe a bit looking back at it and wish I hadn't bothered, but that may be due to said comments (and having relatives who are not great at tact!)

My sister used one of these sites years ago. Then the wedding was cancelled but it seemed to be impossible to get the pages taken down. It was awful.

I did one as I hate cheesy begging poems. We just said for other info and giftlist details please go to www.blahdeblah

My goddaughter used one. It is excellent, little story about their romance. A map of the venue and all the details. Public transport and hotel links. Because many people will be from abroad links to things to do on other days.

And links to the wedding list.

It's handy to have everything in one web site..

They used www.weddingwindow.com/

All the weddings I've been to on the last 5-6 years have had a website, it's fab.

Ooooo I'm very excited about this now. Thank you all, so much

A friend had one and it was super helpful. Her wedding was in a couple of venues with a bus though so was kinda needed.

I considered one for mine but in the end found I was able to email or Facebook details quicker as our wedding was so small. If we had the one we originally wanted (cut down for cost and time) then website it would have been.

I think it's a great idea . And don't worry about the older generation - most of them are fully tech savvy.

The only trouble with these (for guests) is, after our initial RSVP'ing online, once it's nearer the time, I'm buggered if I can remember what the websites are called! So then I have to search through emails anyway.

Also a family member had one but they also had a Facebook page which was used a LOT and is still going nearly a year on. That seems to work really well.

I did a website, but I also sent out postcard style invites with the weblink and our telephone and address details to RSVP in case people weren’t online or didn’t want to use it. It worked really well (and I really enjoyed building it) - I used Wix

As long as it's a website and not a Facebook page! Friend set up a facebook page and posts on it constantly, with random unnecessary updates, everyone gets a notifcation everytime and does our nut in.

I got an invite with a link to a wedding website and it made me cringe but that was mainly because it was like 'find our gift list here!'

In principle it’s a great idea.

My niece did this, and it led to chaos. She’s not very tech savvy, but didn’t want to pay for someone to do it. So she did it herself, and then then they sent out paper invitations with a note of the website.

She hadn’t tested it properly, so it didn’t work. First problem was replies to the invitations. She tried to fix it but couldn’t, so she set up a second website where you could RSVP, and put a link to the second website on the first website.

The RSVPs then worked technically, but not in practice. People were confused. Cue deluge of texts/WhatsApp/Facebook messages to her, her fiancé and his mother, depending on your relationship with the families.

Also, there were no clicky links to the church, reception venue, local accommodation or maps. Would have been dead easy to do, but no. Wasn’t helped by there being two hotels with very similar names, one of which was the reception venue.

The moral of this story is make sure you know what you’re doing and, if you don’t, find someone who does!

I hope you have a lovely wedding. 😘

We did this - it worked really well (save for a few really elderly guests!)

I hate being sent a paper invite with a paper rsvp card - it means you have to hunt round for an envelope, then go and buy stamps (which cost a small fortune these days), then find a postbox!

Agreed, it's a great idea

We also included links to hotels and discount deals etc for accommodation

My cousin and her husband actually used an app when they got engaged. It's called Appy Couple. (Not a misspell; that's what the app is called.)

We did one and it was really handy. Older guests were close family so they mostly just sent cards anyway or we rang round to ask if they were coming.

In principle they are great. In practice it isn't always the case.

I did ours in Wordpress, but not for RSVPs as we had a wedding specific email account for RSVPs and queries. The website was a handy way of putting all the information in one place - most people had to travel due to the scattered nature of family and friends, so we thought guides for transport and hotels in an unfamiliar city would be useful. It also meant that anyone who forgot their invite stil had the times, and we made it clear when the food would be served!

I admit to there being a gift list link (no poem, clear statement on it not being expected) but because I built it there was none of the sickly “our story” stuff, or couply photos. Actually, several of my relatives would have had no clue what DH looked like til they saw him at the front of the church!

Friends literally sent out a business card sized card with the Web address on and a very short covering note, worked perfectly.
Night even of had a qpr code thing.

Just print copies and post to anyone you know isn't computer literate or has access to a computer

There are loads of free ones, like gettingmarried.co.uk. I think it's a great idea.

My Bro and SIL did this and it worked really well, but they also send paper cards to some relatives who weren’t tech savvy enough to use the website