Creating A Wedding Website With Wordpress: A Step-By-Step Guide

Creating a wedding website is a great way to keep your guests informed about your big day and share photos and memories during and after the event. WordPress is a popular platform for building wedding websites as it offers unlimited customisation features, free or low-cost tools, and is easy to use even for beginners. In this article, we will outline the steps to create a wedding website using WordPress.

Choosing a domain name

• Keep it simple and memorable: Opt for a concise, clear, and creative domain name that is easy to remember, pronounce, and spell. Avoid long or confusing names, special characters, and numbers, which can be tricky when spoken aloud.
• Incorporate keywords: Using keywords related to weddings in your domain name can help communicate your website's purpose to visitors and search engines. For example, you could use words like "wedding," "nuptials," or "marriage."
• Consider a .com extension: While there are various domain extensions available, .com is the most established and widely recognised. It is also the most memorable and easiest to remember for users.
• Make it unique and brandable: Choose a domain name that helps you stand out and creates a lasting impression. Avoid trademarked names or names that are too similar to existing websites in your niche.
• Act quickly: Thousands of domain names are registered daily, so if you find a name you like, don't hesitate. Domain names are relatively inexpensive, so it's worth securing your preferred name rather than risking it being taken by someone else.
• Use domain name generators: If you need help finding available domain names, try using domain name generators like DomainWheel or Nameboy. These tools can provide clever and unique domain name ideas based on your chosen keywords.

Selecting a platform

Firstly, WordPress is easy to use, even for beginners. Its user-friendly interface allows anyone to create a beautiful and functional website without any coding knowledge. This accessibility makes it a popular choice for couples who want to showcase their wedding details online.

Secondly, WordPress offers a vast selection of themes and templates, providing endless customization options to match your wedding's colour scheme and style. From romantic and elegant designs to bold and modern layouts, you can find a theme that reflects your unique taste. Additionally, WordPress offers free and paid options, making it an affordable choice.

Furthermore, WordPress integrates seamlessly with various plugins, enhancing the functionality of your wedding website. You can easily add RSVP forms, wish lists, gift registries, and even a countdown timer to your site. These features not only make your website more interactive but also facilitate the collection of RSVPs and guest information.

Another advantage of using WordPress is the convenience of pre-installation. Many hosting companies will pre-install WordPress during the sign-up process, saving you time and effort. This means you can quickly log in to your dashboard and start building your dream wedding website right away.

Lastly, WordPress is a reliable and secure platform, ensuring your website loads quickly and your guests' sensitive information remains protected.

Overall, WordPress is an excellent choice for creating a wedding website that is both visually appealing and highly functional, allowing you to share your special day with your loved ones in a seamless and memorable way.

Signing up for hosting

Step 2: Get a hosting service

Now, it’s time to get a hosting service for your website. Hosting is where your website is stored and made available to the world. It costs a little money but is well worth the investment.

Some popular hosting service providers include SiteGround, Cloudways, Kinsta, and Hostinger.

Where to get hosting

We recommend you get hosting from Cloudways. Why? Because you can get the Astra Pro for free for the first year. In addition, their hosting service is super-fast and includes lots of great features.

How to sign up for hosting

When you follow the prompts to sign up for your hosting account, you’ll need to choose a domain name. This will depend on what’s available, but choose a name that will be easy for you (and friends and family) to remember. A name such as jackandjillswedding.com or theclarkewedding.com would be perfect.

Installing WordPress

Once your host and domain are sorted, you can go ahead and install WordPress. With Bluehost (and many other shared hosting providers), this is a simple one-click process.

Locate the “One-Click Installs” section when you log into your Bluehost account and select the WordPress option. Then choose the domain name you selected for your wedding website. Next, you should see a prompt to add a site title (like “Jack & Jill’s Wedding, or whatever you want to call your event), create an admin username (use your name to make it easy), an admin password (write this down – you’ll need it to log into your WordPress website), and your email address. Then just check the box to agree to the terms and install WordPress.

Logging into your site

Now that your site is ready, you can log in to start creating your actual website! Just go to your domain name but add /wp-admin to the end of the URL. This will direct you to your WordPress login screen. Use the admin username and the password you created when setting up your hosting account to log in. This should take you to your WordPress dashboard where you’ll install a theme, plugins, and add all of your posts and pages about your upcoming nuptials.

Installing a wedding theme

Now that you've chosen a host for your wedding website and installed WordPress, it's time to select and install your wedding theme.

WordPress offers thousands of themes, including free options from WordPress.org and premium designs from websites like Themeforest.

If you're looking for a free theme, navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and select Appearance > Add New. From there, you can search for "wedding themes" and install the theme of your choice.

If you've purchased a premium theme, you'll first need to download the installable WordPress theme files from your account on the marketplace website. Then, go to your WordPress dashboard and select Appearance > Themes > Add New. Click the "Upload Theme" button at the top of the screen and select the installable theme file you downloaded earlier.

Once your theme is installed, click to activate it, and you're ready to start adding content and customising your website.

• Astra: One of the most popular WordPress themes, Astra offers a sophisticated and elegant wedding invitation option with eye-catching parallax effects and an RSVP form.
• Rishi Theme Wedding: A free, visually attractive and highly customisable theme that features a timeline of your relationship and a section to introduce your wedding party.
• Flash: A popular theme that offers a wedding starter site, including an RSVP form, a slider to introduce your wedding party, and an upcoming events section.
• Catch Wedding: A free, minimalist theme with an attractive, eye-catching design. It's translation-ready and supports RTL languages and WPML for easy multilingual website creation.
• Wedding Pack: A premium theme with a classical style, including a countdown timer, RSVP module, image slider, timeline feature, and guestbook.
• Wedding Bride: A free, clean, and simple single-page wedding theme that's quick and easy to set up.

Remember to consider your specific needs and style preferences when choosing a theme, and ensure that it offers the customisation options and features you require.

Creating an RSVP form

Step 1: Install a Plugin

You can use plugins such as WPForms or JetFormBuilder to create your RSVP form. These plugins offer a range of form templates that you can customise to suit your needs. WPForms, for example, has over 2000 form templates and a drag-and-drop builder.

Step 2: Create Your RSVP Form

Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the relevant plugin section. Here, you can select a template and customise it by adding or removing fields. Common fields include the guest's name, their response (yes, no, maybe), and any additional comments or messages. You can also add payment fields to your RSVP form if you wish to collect a booking fee or donation.

Step 3: Set Up Form Notifications and Confirmations

Customise the email notifications that are sent after each successful submission. You can change the recipient email address, subject line, and message. You can also set up a new email notification for attendees, using Smart Tags to send the confirmation to their email address.

Additionally, it is good practice to display a confirmation message on the screen immediately after form submission. You can edit this confirmation message to suit your event and include a simple thank you message.

Step 4: (Optional) Limit the Number of RSVPs

If you have limited space at your venue, you may want to limit the number of RSVPs you receive. You can use an addon such as Form Locker to automatically close the form when you reach your maximum number of entries and prevent duplicate entries.

Step 5: Add Your RSVP Form to Your Website

Now that your form is ready, you can add it to your website. You can embed it on a new page or use a popup method. Don't forget to check what the form looks like on the frontend and play around with the form to make sure everything works correctly.

Step 6: Share Your RSVP Form

Once your form is published and functioning correctly, you can share the link on social media or via email so your guests can discover it and RSVP to your wedding.

By following these steps, you will be able to create a customised and functional RSVP form for your wedding website, making it easy for your guests to respond to your invitation and for you to keep track of your guest list.

Frequently asked questions