how to make a great wedding website

Designing a WedsiteA personal account of ideas for content & engagement

Prasad Gupteprasadgupte.com

None of the available wedding apps or templates seemed to fit my need. So I put together my own ‘wedsite’ from scratch using PHP & Bootstrap - in less than 24 hours, at $0 (I already had domain+hosting)

The landing page featured a large banner with a count-down timer and a menu, fixed at the top.Below that was a carousel, with crazy pictures from the pre-wed shoot for our story banner, quick-links and integration with our FB page.

Since we wanted to add a lot of fun, we placed a black dot – traditional symbol to ward off evil - that triggered the nimbu-mirchi dialog. It could only be closed apologetically

With Bootstrap & the HashChange plugin, we had fewer pages with links to tabified content that reduced page refreshes. The fluid layout works like a charm on all devices.

Based on our brief, Aditi’s friend delivered the perfect graphics for our ‘funky’ invitation for friends.

We used the same graphics to add a charm to our story and this was the part folks liked most.

‘The Wedding’ link was all about the big day. Invitations from both sides could be downloaded as PDF. We intentionally created a ‘Gift Registry’ page that most people fell for. Note the repeated call for RSVP.

The whole point of scheduling a Sunday and an accessible venue was to make sure everyone made it!Travel options, detailed route maps from all directions & emergency contact numbers really proved helpful.

The Guestbook brought us wonderful messages from friends & family. We also had a separate ‘Thank You’ note for everyone who made this wedding possible.

We embedded pictures from a Picasa photo-album. Considering lack-of-Flash on mobile, a direct link to the album was placed right below.

We sent out personalized invitations with unique invitation & RSVP links. Reminders were automatically sent based on the read-status; the last one just a day before - to remind & re-confirm the RSVP.

The short & simple RSVP form intelligently sent out a confirmation email to either of us.

The RSVP link in the email pre-loaded all contact info & guests could come back any time to modify the RSVP.

To further engage with all our guests on FB, we created a page with pictures & important updates (such as valet parking at the venue). It kept the wedding on everyone’s mind & contributed to a mind-blowing turnout.

Thank YouDo visit our wedsite! prasadgupte.com/wedding

Need help with your wedsite? gupteprasad@gmail.com