Creating A Private Wedding Website: A Step-By-Step Guide

Wedding websites are a great way to keep your guests informed about your big day. However, you may not want everyone to be able to access all the details of your wedding. Making your wedding website private is a great way to protect your personal information from uninvited guests. There are several ways to do this, including password protection and hiding your website from search engines. You can also control the visibility of your website by adjusting your privacy settings. This will ensure that only your guests can access all the information they need about your wedding while keeping your personal details secure.

Password protection

Most wedding website builders, such as The Knot, WeddingWire, Minted, and Zola, offer password protection as a privacy feature. To set up password protection, you'll need to access the privacy settings of your chosen website builder. Typically, you'll find these settings by logging into your account and navigating to the website dashboard or editor. From there, look for a "Privacy" or "Password" section, where you can toggle on the password protection setting and set your desired password.

It's important to choose a password that strikes a balance between security and ease of use for your guests. Avoid overly complicated passwords that are hard to remember or type. Instead, opt for something memorable yet simple, perhaps incorporating your names, wedding year, or other details meaningful to you and your guests.

Once you've set the password, be sure to communicate it to your guests. Include the password on your wedding invitations, save-the-dates, or any other correspondence where you share your website URL. This ensures your guests have the information they need to access your site without undue hassle.

However, it's important to remember that some guests may lose or forget the password, leading to additional inquiries that you'll need to field. Additionally, if you choose to have a password, you'll need to ensure that all invited guests receive the correct password, which can be a challenge for larger guest lists.

Controlling search visibility

Hiding Your Website from Search Engines:

• Most wedding website platforms, such as The Knot and Zola, offer privacy settings that allow you to control the visibility of your site.
• In your website's settings, look for an option to hide website or make website visible. Ensure that the setting is adjusted to keep your site private.
• Additionally, you can adjust the visibility settings specifically for search engines. Look for an option under "Visibility" or "Privacy" to "Allow your site to appear in search engines" and set it to "No."
• Keep in mind that these changes may take some time to take effect. It could take up to 30 days for your website to be removed from search engine results, even after adjusting the settings.

Using a Password:

• Adding a password to your wedding website is another effective way to control access and visibility.
• Password protection ensures that only individuals with the password can access your website, even if they find the URL.
• Include the password on your wedding invitations, save-the-dates, or other communication with your guests.
• Choose a password that is accessible for guests but not too easy to guess. You can use a combination of your wedding date and your last name.
• Be prepared to field inquiries from guests who may forget or lose the password.

Communicating the Website URL:

• When your website is private or password-protected, it's important to communicate the URL directly to your guests.
• Include the URL on your save-the-dates, invitations, or send it via email or text.
• Avoid sharing the link publicly on social media to prevent uninvited individuals from accessing it.

By following these steps, you can effectively control the search visibility of your wedding website, ensuring that only your invited guests have access to the information you choose to share.

Pages to include

The pages you choose to include on your wedding website will depend on the size, scale, and duration of your wedding. Here are some pages to consider:

Home

The homepage is where guests will be directed to first. It often includes a photo of the couple and essential details about the ceremony and reception, such as the date, time, and location.

Our Story

This section is all about the couple's love story and can be accompanied by photos. You can include how you met, fell in love, and got engaged. It's a great way to add a personal touch to your website, especially if there will be guests attending who don't know you very well.

Schedule

If the itinerary isn't included on the homepage or if you have multiple events, a separate "Schedule" page can be helpful. Here, you can break down the timing and locations for each part of your wedding, such as the ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, and after-party.

Travel and Accommodations

This page is especially useful if you have guests travelling in from out of town. Include information on nearby airports or train stations, parking details, and links to hotel recommendations or a hotel block. You can also suggest restaurants and local attractions for guests to visit while they're in town.

Registry

The wedding website is the easiest way for guests to access your wedding gift registry. Include a link to your online registry, whether it's for traditional gifts or a honeymoon fund.

RSVP

Include an RSVP tab where guests can confirm their attendance, share their meal preferences, and disclose any dietary restrictions. You can also ask about plus-ones or children here.

Wedding Party (Optional)

You may choose to include a page that introduces your bridal party, parents, and MC. This way, guests will have some familiar faces to look out for on the day.

Website builders

Wix

Wix is a versatile and highly customisable website builder with a wide range of design templates. It offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, mobile optimisation, and wedding RSVP management. Wix also has a free plan, but it includes ads and doesn't offer a custom URL. For a more professional website, you can opt for a premium plan.

Squarespace

Squarespace is known for its sleek and aesthetically pleasing template designs. It offers a user-friendly interface, a drag-and-drop editor, and integrated blogging. Squarespace may have a slight learning curve for beginners due to the variety of customisation options available.

The Knot

The Knot is a prominent wedding marketplace that offers a robust website builder with an array of templates and customisation options. It stands out for its advanced guest list management tools, which help with obtaining addresses and tracking RSVPs for multiple events. However, the interface can be ad-heavy and challenging to navigate.

Zola

Zola is an excellent option for couples looking for an integrated platform that combines a website builder, universal wedding registry, guest list management, and wedding invitations. It offers stylish and mobile-responsive templates, a guest invitation tracker, and a comprehensive vendor directory. Zola primarily caters to the American market, which may limit its usefulness for international users.

Hostinger Website Builder

Hostinger is a cost-effective and user-friendly website builder with AI-driven features. It includes an AI website builder, an AI writer for content creation, and a drag-and-drop editor. Hostinger offers a range of wedding-specific templates with built-in RSVP forms, guest galleries, and wedding countdown timers. Their premium plan starts at $1.95/month and includes a free custom domain name.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a versatile blogging platform that can also be used for creating wedding websites. It offers a range of pre-made wedding website themes and professional design services. WordPress has a steeper learning curve and managing theme and plugin updates can be challenging for busy couples.

WedSites

WedSites provides a platform for building a wedding website and accessing integrated planning tools. It stands out for its cohesive design suite, with matching digital save-the-date and invitation e-cards. However, creating a highly customised site with WedSites' built-in tools can be difficult, and the websites are hosted on shared servers, which may result in slower performance.

Joy

Joy brings a unique and interactive perspective to wedding website design, focusing on enhancing the guest experience. It offers features such as FAQs, hotel and flight booking, and personalised schedules. Joy also includes a mobile app that syncs with the website, providing real-time updates for couples and guests. Customisation options are limited, and coding knowledge is required for certain design changes.

Privacy settings

Privacy is a concern for many couples creating a wedding website, especially if it can be found online via a search engine. Wedding crashing can happen, even during a pandemic, and some couples may have exes or gossipy neighbours they'd rather didn't have access to their wedding details. Others may work in a field where privacy is essential.

There are several ways to make your wedding website private:

• Password protection: This is a simple way to ensure only those with the password can access your wedding details. You can include the password on your save-the-date, wedding invitation, gift registry, or anywhere else you send your guests the link to your website. You can also communicate the password via text or email. It's best to use a password that's accessible to guests but not easy to guess. For example, you could use your wedding date plus your last name.
• Hide your website: On the 'Manage Website' page, you can usually click a button that says 'Make Website Visible'. However, if you want to keep your site private, make sure that it is set to 'Hide Website' so that no one can visit the page.
• Control search visibility: You can control whether your wedding website shows up in a Google search or even a Zola search from your account settings under 'Privacy'. You can then change your private wedding website settings by selecting your desired result. It can take up to 30 days for these changes to take effect.

If you're still building your website, you can make it private until you're ready to launch. In the settings section, you can add password protection or make the site unviewable.

It's worth noting that if you make your wedding website private and require a password, you may end up fielding phone calls, texts, and emails from guests who have lost or forgotten the password.

Frequently asked questions