WordPress Wedding Website: Step-by-Step Guide

Initially, designing wedding websites for our clients required extensive research to determine optimal methods, assess various themes, and select suitable plugins.

Fortunately, you can design your own wedding website without high costs or difficulty. WordPress enables you to create a beautiful platform for announcing your story, and managing RSVPs. You can handle this yourself, no coding is required.

This guide will provide the same steps we take when building wedding websites. These sites are visually appealing and simplify wedding arrangements.

Regardless of your experience with WordPress, this guide explains how to create a wedding website your guests will enjoy.

Why Build a Wedding Website with WordPress?

Planning your wedding can be exciting. However, managing all the specifics and keeping everyone informed is often difficult, especially with larger guest lists.

A wedding website acts as a central location where guests can findeverythingthey need, including dates, addresses, parking details, itineraries, and maps.

Consider avoiding panicked calls or last-minute texts from lost guests.

Moreover, the site handles tasks such as RSVPs, meal selections, digital guestbook entries, and post-wedding photo sharing.

You might now ask yourself: given the time and stress a wedding website can save, why aren’t they universally adopted?

Often, guides overcomplicate the process. They resort to technical language and highlight costly resources, which overwhelms couples and makes them prefer traditional, albeit stressful, methods.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! We aim to make creating wedding websites straightforward for every couple. In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a website that is:

• Easy to Learn: No tech skills are needed! We’ll simplify the process into manageable steps. Simply proceed from Step 1 to Step 2, 3, 4, and so on, and you’ll quickly have a well-designed wedding website.
• A Breeze to Set Up: We’ll emphasize tools that are easy to install and manage, allowing you to quickly launch your site and resume planning the enjoyable aspects of your wedding.
• Budget-Friendly: Weddings are expensive, we get it! We’ll share cost-saving tips and exclusive discounts.
• Essentially Self-Maintaining: We’ll direct you to platforms that are user-friendly and nearly autonomous. After all, who wants to spend excessive time on technical details when planning a wedding?

Now, let’s explore the steps to create your wedding website:

Step 1: Choose Your Wedding Website Builder

Start by selecting the appropriate tool. Given the numerous wedding choices already, we suggest WordPress for its ease.

While various website builders exist, WordPress offers a user-friendly, dependable, and cost-effective choice.

Consider your budget. Weddings can become expensive, so saving money is essential. WordPress is open-source and free, freeing up funds for your dream honeymoon!

‘Free’ doesn’t equal ‘limited.’ WordPress offers powerful features through a perfect approach for wedding websites.

WordPress offers plugins, software add-ons to extend your site’s features. The WordPress.org library alone has over 59,000 free plugins! Many are tailored for weddings, including event calendars, maps, and guest list management tools.

Let’s discuss the technical side: Choose the correct WordPress software type.

WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform. WordPress.org, or self-hosted WordPress, is recommended for total control over your wedding website.

For a deeper dive into why we consistently recommend WordPress, please see our complete WordPress review.

Step 2: Website Hosting Setup

Before building your wedding website, you’ll need a few prerequisites.

First, select a domain name as unique as your love story. This is your website’s address, where guests find wedding details.

You’ll also require a web hosting plan, your website’s online home. Since wedding planning is stressful, choose a reliable provider with excellent support for fewer technical issues and more peace of mind.

To make your life easier, we’ve hand-picked some of the best WordPress hosting for your wedding website. 

Domain names usually cost around $14.99 annually, while hosting plans begin at $7.99 each month. This can be a significant expense, especially when you’re trying to manage wedding costs.

Fortunately, Bluehost is offering CanadaCreate readers a significant discount on web hosting, along with a complimentary domain name. To begin, simply click the button below and get started for as low as $1.99 monthly.

If you prefer, you can also visit the Bluehost website directly in a new browser tab.

Then, click the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.

This takes you to the pricing page, where you can choose a hosting plan.

We advise selecting either the ‘Basic’ or ‘Choice Plus’ plan. These options provide all the necessary tools for building a stunning wedding website.

After choosing a plan, go ahead and click ‘Continue.’

Next, it’s time to choose a domain name for your wedding website. 

A memorable domain name is crucial so guests easily find your wedding information. Your domain should be simple to pronounce, spell, and remember, and should also relate to your wedding. Consider including your names or the venue for a personalized touch.

Need some inspiration? Then check out our guide on how to choose the best domain name.

After choosing a domain name, go ahead and click the ‘Next’ button.

Bluehost will then request your account details, like your name and email. You’ll also have the option to add extra features.

We usually advise against purchasing add-ons immediately to minimize initial expenses. These can always be acquired later should your wedding website require them.

With that done, enter your billing details to finalize the purchase.

Shortly after, you will receive an email containing instructions for accessing your web hosting control panel. This dashboard lets you manage your site, configure email alerts, and request WordPress support.

Step 3: Install WordPress on Your Web Hosting

When you register with Bluehost through our link, WordPress will be automatically installed on your domain name.

Allow a brief loading period, and then select the ‘Edit site’ button, which will direct you to the setup process for your new website.

A prompt will then appear, asking whether you wish to migrate an existing WordPress site or begin a fresh installation.

Since we’re creating a new wedding website, click the ‘Start Setup’ button.

The setup assistant will then request essential details, like the nature of the website, blog, or online marketplace you intend to create.

Select the category that most accurately represents your site and proceed by clicking ‘Continue Setup.’

After completing the entire Bluehost WordPress setup wizard, select ‘Complete Setup.’

Bluehost will now take you to the WordPress admin area.

Alternatively, you can access the WordPress dashboard by navigating toyoursite.com/wp-admin/ directly in your web browser.

If you have a different WordPress host (for example, SiteGround, Hostinger, HostGator, or WP Engine), consult our comprehensive guide on WordPress installation across various top providers.

With the setup complete, you can proceed to construct your wedding website.

Step 4: Select a WordPress Theme

Since your wedding website offers friends and family their initial impression of your special day, it should be impactful.

WordPress installs with a default theme, which isn’t ideal for a wedding site.

When selecting a wedding website theme, aesthetics matter most. It needs to mirror your event’s atmosphere, be it classic, modern, rustic, or bohemian.

Opt for a theme that reflects your personalities as a couple.

Consider showcasing photos and videos. Your website is ideal for presenting your love story and building excitement. Plus, it helps establish your wedding’s overall feel.

If you are planning an adventurous celebration, use photos and visuals that reflect that energy.

Are you envisioning a romantic, rustic wedding? Share nature shots from your recent travels.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Guests shouldn’t struggle with small text or navigation on their phones.

We’ve compiled a list of top themes suitable for wedding websites to assist you.

And don’t worry if you’re not tech-savvy – installing a theme is super easy! Just follow our step-by-step guide, and your website will look gorgeous in minutes.

Once you’ve got your theme, you can customize it to your heart’s content.

Just head over to Appearance » Customize in the WordPress dashboard. This will launch the theme customizer, where you can fine-tune the theme settings and see your changes in the live preview.

Are you using one of the newer full-site editing themes? Then you’ll need to go to Appearance » Editor instead.

This launches the full site editor, where you can add, remove, and edit the blocks in your WordPress theme. It’s super intuitive. 

Another option is using a website and landing page builder plugin like SeedProd.

SeedProd is a drag-and-drop page builder that’s super popular and easy to use. We’ve used it to build many of our partner websites, including the Duplicator, WPForms, and WP Charitable websites – even the SeedProd site was designed using SeedProd!

With SeedProd, you can create stunning landing pages, homepages, and even entire websites.

It also comes with ready-made templates designed specifically for wedding websites.

This template is perfect for sharing all the important details about your big day. Just swap out the placeholder text and images with your own content, and you’re good to go.

Alternatively, SeedProd has an AI builder that can create a custom website in just a few seconds. For details on how to use it, just see our guide on how to make a WordPress website using AI.

Step 5: Build a Personalized Home Page

WordPress offers two primary content formats: posts and pages. Blog posts are generally used for articles, which may not suit your wedding website’s needs.

Furthermore, your wedding website acts as a digital greeting for your guests. By default, WordPress shows a blog post feed on the homepage. This might not be the ideal introduction for your wedding guests.

We suggest designing a custom home page that showcases key details regarding your wedding.

After designing your homepage, designate it as your website’s entry point.

Navigate to Settings » Reading.

Here, scroll to ‘Your homepage settings’ and select ‘A static page.’

Then, in the ‘Homepage’ menu, choose the page you previously made.

Click ‘Save Changes’ at the page bottom. Now, visitors will see your custom homepage when they access your website.

Step 6: Integrate Membership Options

Before proceeding, consider a membership plugin like MemberPress to simplify site management.

Consider a membership plugin that allows guests to register on your site. This helps manage RSVPs, meal preferences, and other necessary guest information.

MemberPress enables control over content visibility for each guest. Show different information to ceremony/reception attendees versus reception-only invitees, minimizing confusion.

Making your entire website private ensures only registered guests access wedding details. This is ideal for sharing sensitive data like guest lists, registries, or the wedding day timeline.

If you plan to share wedding or honeymoon photos, MemberPress facilitates a private gallery solely for your guests. Configure it now, then upload photos post-wedding, ensuring privacy.

MemberPress stands out as our preferred membership plugin; it’s a comprehensive solution for unlimited memberships and content restriction across pages, posts, categories, and files.

Interested in further details? Read our thorough MemberPress review, or begin immediately with our tutorial on building a WordPress membership site.

Step 7: Include Additional Pages

As mentioned, a wedding website is useful for sharing all of the important information related to your wedding.

Want to communicate the date and time? No problem. The venue’s address and directions? Simple. Attire guidance, maps, FAQs – your wedding website manages it all. This results in fewer inquiries and more relaxation for you.

Prior to adding all of this content, consider organization.

For a user-friendly website, guests should locate information rapidly. This means segmenting information across distinct pages.

To create a new page, navigate toPages » Add New Page.

This action launches the WordPress editor; here, input a title, body text, and a featured image.

To publish a page, click the ‘Publish’ button.

For expanded layout control, explore our custom page guide for WordPress. It contains advice for designing memorable pages.

Step 8: Add a Google Map 

Ensure guests reach your wedding easily. Providing the location is vital, but just listing the address isn’t always optimal.

Integrating a Google Map on your website provides guests with a familiar tool to plan their journey.

Guests can utilize the map for directions, parking, hotels, and other specifics. This is particularly useful for out-of-town attendees unfamiliar with the locale.

You have the option of embedding Google Maps into your website either by utilizing a plugin specifically designed for maps or by incorporating a code snippet. Consult our guide on incorporating Google Maps in WordPress; it details both approaches, allowing you to select the one most appropriate for your requirements.

A Google Map can greatly simplify navigation for your guests, particularly if the ceremony, reception, and lodging are situated at various locations. This eliminates the need for last-minute calls from attendees who have become lost, thereby minimizing stress for both them and you.

Step 9: Add an RSVP Form

Gaining clarity on your guest attendance is critical; it shapes seating arrangements, catering choices, and party favor quantities.

Traditionally, RSVPs involved postal mail or phone confirmations. But with the demands of wedding planning, tracking responses manually can be challenging. And interpreting handwritten RSVP cards adds another layer of difficulty.

A wedding website truly proves its value here. Guests can easily RSVP online with a few clicks using a digital form. This avoids the need to pursue responses or contend with unclear handwriting.

A digital RSVP setup streamlines organization. Quickly review who responded, who hasn’t, and plus-one confirmations. This transforms wedding planning.

Various form builder options exist, but we favor WPForms. We utilize it across CanadaCreate and partner sites for everything from contact forms to surveys. It is dependable, user-friendly, and feature-rich.

The best part? WPForms comes with pre-built RSVP templates, including a Party Invitation RSVP Form, Wedding Invitation RSVP Form, and Wedding Guest List Form. All these templates are easy to customize, so you can update them to match your wedding style.

As guests fill out your form, WPForms will neatly organize all the information and display it right in your WordPress dashboard. No more spreadsheets or messy notes. For step-by-step instructions, please see our guide on how to create an RSVP form in WordPress.

But WPForms isn’t just for RSVPs. You can use it to create all sorts of forms for your wedding website.

Need guests to choose their meal options well in advance? Make a form for that! Want to collect information about dietary restrictions or allergies? WPForms can do that too!

You can even get creative and let guests request their favorite songs for the DJ, or leave sweet messages in your virtual guestbook.

With WPForms, you can make your wedding website even more interactive and helpful for your guests.

Want to learn more? Just check out our in-depth WPForms review.

Step 10: Add a Schedule

Are you planning a jam-packed wedding? Between the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the reception, and maybe even a farewell brunch, it’s easy for guests to lose track.

The last thing you want is for someone to miss the cake-cutting or those heartfelt speeches because they didn’t know the schedule.

To keep everyone organized and informed, consider creating a detailed schedule using a calendar plugin like Sugar Calendar.

With Sugar Calendar, you can add all the important details for each event, including the start and end times, location, and even a brief description.

This is especially helpful if your wedding is spread across multiple venues or different rooms within the same location, like a large hotel.

You can even share events happening around the wedding. Got a fun pre-wedding get-together planned? Add it to the calendar!

It’s like having a central hub where everyone can see exactly what’s happening and when, from the weeks leading up to the big day, right through to the post-wedding celebrations. No more missed connections or confused guests.

Plus, it also offers an RSVP addon so guests can let you know if they’ll be attending each event.

Wondering whether Sugar Calendar is right for your wedding website? Simply read our detailed Sugar Calendar review for more information, or learn how to create a simple event calendar in WordPress.

Step 11: Add a Countdown Timer

Want to add a bit of fun and anticipation to your wedding website?

Imagine a live countdown right on your homepage, ticking away the days, hours, and minutes until your special day. It’s a fantastic way to build excitement among your guests and make them feel like they’re part of the celebration.

Plus, it can gently remind your guests to finalize any last-minute arrangements, like booking transport or a hotel.

Did you use SeedProd to create an engaging custom homepage? Then you’re in luck! SeedProd has a dedicated Countdown block that you can simply drag and drop onto your design. 

For detailed, step-by-step instructions, please see our guide on how to add a countdown timer widget in WordPress.

Not using SeedProd, but love the idea of a live wedding countdown? Don’t worry! We have a guide to the best countdown plugins instead, so you can still get the same effect.

Step 12: Create a Wedding Website Navigation Menu

Now you’ve added some content, let’s add a navigation menu. A well-organized menu will help your guests find the information they need, whether it’s directions to the venue, your gift registry, or the schedule of events.

Don’t worry – adding menus and even sub-menus in WordPress is surprisingly straightforward.

For a comprehensive, step-by-step guide, check out our detailed post on how to add a navigation menu.

Step 13: Share Your Wedding Website URL

Now your wedding website is looking fantastic, it’s time to make sure that your guests know where to find it. 

The simplest and most effective way to share your website’s URL? Just add it to your wedding invitations! That way, your guests immediately have access to all the important details and updates.

You could even use a scannable QR code that leads directly to your website. For details, see our guide on how to generate QR codes.

Plus, many people cherish wedding invitations as keepsakes, so your website address will always be readily available as the big day approaches.

If you’ve already mailed out your invitations, don’t panic! You can simply send an enclosure card that contains your website address, so everyone has the URL.

Step 14: Upload Your Wedding Photos

Let’s skip forward a bit: your wedding day is over, but your website can still play an important role. If you hired a professional photographer, then your website is the perfect place to share those cherished memories with your guests.

However, displaying lots of photos – dozens, hundreds, or even thousands – can slow down your site, so your guests can’t even enjoy your photos properly. 

That’s why we recommend using a gallery plugin that’s optimized for performance. Envira Gallery stands out as the best image gallery plugin because it lets you upload countless photos, create unlimited sliders, and organize your wedding photos into themed albums. 

Plus, you can add ‘Download’ and ‘Print’ buttons to your galleries.

This lets your guests save and print their favorite photos, preserving those special moments without needing to contact you directly. It’s a fantastic way to share your wedding memories with loved ones.

Want to learn more? Check out our detailed Envira Gallery review, where we download this popular plugin and really put it through its paces. 

Ready to dive in? Our guide on how to create a responsive image gallery has step-by-step instructions to help you get started. 

Bonus Tips: How to Build a Wedding Website for a Client

Wedding websites are getting more and more popular, but not every couple has the time or know-how to build one themselves. We regularly hear from freelancers and WordPress agencies who have been asked to build these sites for their clients. 

In that case, all the information we’ve shared in this guide is still relevant. However, there are ways to elevate your services and create truly memorable wedding websites for your customers.

Here are our suggestions:

• Create a custom WordPress theme. Every wedding is unique, and a bespoke theme tailored to the couple’s style will make their site truly stand out. Imagine your client’s delight at having a completely one-of-a-kind wedding website.
• Build an interactive timeline. Why not create a visual journey of the couple’s relationship, complete with photos and captions? Post-wedding, you can even build a timeline of the big day itself, so guests can relive every moment.
• Interactive venue tour. You can use virtual reality or 360-degree technology to create an interactive tour of the wedding or reception venue. This lets guests explore the space before the big day, and it’s a great way to build excitement! 
• Create a blog section. A blog gives the couple a place to share updates, photos, and stories about their engagement, the planning process, and anything else that’s on their mind. Since you’re handling the website’s design and build, your clients will have more time to dedicate to this fun, personal aspect. To make things even easier, you might offer a service where the couple simply sends you their raw blog text, and you handle the formatting and uploading.
• Add important security features. Don’t assume that hackers and bots only target big businesses – every website and blog is a potential target. You’ll want to do everything you can to protect it. That means installing security plugins, following best practices, and creating regular backups.
• Optimize the site for performance. Even the couple’s nearest and dearest will get frustrated if their wedding website is slow to load. With that said, it’s important to install caching plugins, set up a CDN service, keep the software up-to-date, and follow other WordPress performance best practices.

We hope this guide has helped you learn how to build a wedding website in WordPress. Next up, you might want to see our top pick of the best RSVP plugins or check out our guide on how to create a photo gallery with albums.

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