What should a wedding website include? Checklist, timeline and cost

What is a wedding website?

A wedding website is a web page of your own for your wedding. Guests open the link on their phone, find the date, venues, schedule and places to stay, and RSVP straight away. You do not have to answer the same questions from every guest, and if you change something, everyone sees the new version. In Swedish it is called a bröllopshemsida or bröllopssida. See what a finished wedding website looks like at Lysela.

What should a wedding website include?

• Date and location

  The first thing guests need, often long before anything else is decided. With the date and the town they can keep the weekend free and start thinking about travel.

• Ceremony and reception, with addresses and times

  If the ceremony and the party are in different places, each needs its own address and time. A map or directions will save you a lot of phone calls on the day.

• The order of the day

  Once guests know dinner starts at seven and the dancing runs past midnight, they can sort out babysitters, taxis and how late they will stay.

• RSVP with a deadline and dietary needs

  The kitchen will want numbers and dietary requirements a few weeks ahead. Ask about allergies in the same reply and you won't be chasing people afterwards. Questions and a timeline are in the RSVP guide.

• Dress code

  Smart casual, lounge suit or summer best mean different things to different guests. One sentence on what you have in mind is enough, plus a word on shoes if the party is on grass. Wording to copy is in the dress code guide.

• Where to stay

  Hotels near popular wedding spots fill up early on summer weekends. Suggest a couple of places and say whether you have held any rooms.

• Getting there

  If a coach runs from the ceremony to the party, or back to the hotel at the end of the night, guests need the times and whether to book a seat.

• Good to know

  The questions everyone asks, answered in one place: whether children are invited, where to park and what happens if it rains.

• Gift list

  Plenty of guests want to give something but feel awkward asking. A gift list, or a way to chip in towards the honeymoon, makes it easy for them.

• Toastmaster's contact details

  Anyone who wants to give a speech or is planning a surprise should get in touch with the toastmaster, not you. A name and a phone number will do.

When should the website be ready?

These are common rules of thumb. If you are marrying on a summer weekend or far from where most guests live, add a month or two.

1. Save the date

   Six to twelve months before the wedding, as soon as the date and town are fixed. At this stage the site only needs your names, the date and the place. Wording to copy is in the save the date guide.

2. Invitations go out and RSVPs open

   About three months before, once the venues, times and schedule are settled.

3. RSVP deadline

   Usually four to six weeks before, which leaves time to nudge anyone who hasn't replied and get the list to the kitchen.

How much does a wedding website cost?

There are broadly three ways to pay: nothing at all, a monthly fee or a one-off price. Work out the cost over the whole time the site needs to be up, from the save the date until a while after the wedding. For most couples that is a year or more.

With Lysela you pay once: SEK 795, SEK 1,795 or SEK 4,900 including VAT. All three include film behind your names, your own photos, RSVPs with dietary needs and an address of your own, and the site stays up for 12 months from purchase, with no monthly fee and no adverts. From SEK 1,795 you also get your own .se address, a seating plan, your guests' photos from the party and an English version. Your guests' details are stored in Sweden and deleted after the wedding.

How to create a wedding website with Lysela

1. 1

   Try it with your names

   Pick one of the styles and add the date, venues and schedule. You can start editing straight away, and everything comes with you when you buy.

2. 2

   Share the address with your guests

   Start as a save the date and switch on the full invitation when you are ready. The address stays the same throughout.

3. 3

   Let your guests reply

   Guests open the link on their phone and reply, allergies and all, with no app and no account. You see every answer in one place and download the list for the kitchen.

Frequently asked questions