Website Bliss

Creating a wedding a website can be a really helpful tool to offer your guests. And it can also be helpful for you as the bride. Instead of answering endless questions about room blocks, registries, what to do while visiting, etc., you can put it all on your website and just refer people to it when questions come up.

Credit: TheKnot.com

There are lots of free wedding websites vendors out there that have really cool designs. And also some great pay-for options as well. In my opinion, if there is something you can get for free while planning a wedding, take it! Because that won’t happen often, or ever again in the planning process!

Credit: ProjectWedding.com

We ended up going with a MyWedding.com because they offer websites designed by a very popular stationery designer. So I was able to use a website design that was the same design of a wedding invitation I had my eye on, but was likely out of my price range. So I was able to get the best of both worlds and incorporate a design I really liked into my wedding, but for free!

Credit: MyWedding.com

One helpful suggestion I was given by a bride and groom was buy a domain name that is easy for guests to remember and then redirect it to the web address given to you by the wedding website vendor. So instead of having a wedding website address like www.yourweddingsite.com/jeananderikwedding.noonewillrememberthis/, you can have something like www.JeanandErik.com. I would actually recommend purchasing both variations of the domain name – www.JeanandErik.com and www.ErikandJean.com – in case people forget the order. This was a very easy task (I am not a programmer!), so I would highly recommend spending the $20 and 15 minutes it takes to do this. I once asked a bride what her wedding website address was and she couldn’t remember – the address was just too long! So buying a simpler, easy to remember domain name will help your guests AND you!

Credit: Google.com/weddings/

Did you do a wedding website? Was it helpful?

The Wedding Website + RSVPing

After searching the web through all of the pre-made wedding website builders, and even building a site on Weddingwire.com (which is my pick for a premade site builder), I just wasn't satisfied. I really wanted our wedding branding to be more seamless than what the pre-built sites allowed. I am decently knowledgeable about how to build a basic website, so I decided that rather than being sad that the colors on our site and the flower-y images don't really match our theme, I decided to purchase JBandTaylor.com and create a site on my own.

I think in today's world a wedding site is essential, it allows guests to easily book accommodations, find your registry, check last minute details and it gives you yet another place to tell your story. My site is very basic (and some pages aren't even unlocked yet...I don't want to give everything away right off the bat). But I hope that it gives my guests the information they need in an easily accessible way.

The one thing I am still debating about our site is RSVPs. Should I do them all online, or should I send an RSVP card in the invitation with the option to RSVP online? The main reason that I like sending the paper RSVP card is because of this:

Oh how I love open-ended response cards. I would LOVE to have a book of these!

What do you think? RSVP online, in print or both? How do I get people to send back adorable messages like the ones above?

{Sponsored Post} Wedding Websites by Purpinka Designs

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that Ian and I had a wedding website. Well, we did. Ian is a developer turned designer, so he knows how to do everything....and believe me, I take advantage of that just a little bit! He designed our invitations (no photos of those :( they were pretty badass though. I'll have to pull out the camera and snap some pics!) and I wasn't a fan of the traditional RSVP card. Having to pay double postage plus all stationary costs, I just wasn't feeling it.

I don't see anything wrong with a wedding site as the only way to RSVP. People tend to lose the card and might not send it back in time or could lose the invite and therefore all the info about the wedding. The website had links to hotels, our registry, and a little RSVP form. Between e-mail and Facebook, it is way too easy to share the link to people that may have forgotten about it.

All this jabber is to inform you that I loved having a site, and it saved us a little bit of money too, which is always appreciated during the wedding process. This is where Purpinka Designs comes in! This is a wedding website design company that is here to help you with your design needs. Unlike other wedding website companies, they are there to actually talk to and help get everything on the site running smoothly.

They have a selection of designed themes, including photo and video galleries:

But the best part, the RSVP tool they have on their site to make your life just a little bit easier. You are able to log and see a lot of information including the RSVP's, their meal selections, etc. Believe me, an online resource where everything is in one place, that is an incredibly useful tool for anyone planning a wedding.

Want a little something for free? Download their free e-book "11 Ideas You Never Thought of to Show Case Your Wedding Photos"  (hint: it’s NOT the same boring photo albums, shirts, and mugs stuff)! If you want to enter the giveaway, go ahead and do that as well!

And if you are a wedding vendor looking for more information about Purpinka Designs, they are currently working on an affiliates program (watch the video for more info too). So be sure to contact them to find out how you can all work together and make it a win-win for everyone!