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What Not To Do With Your Wedding Website

Ah, wedding websites. How hard can they be? We all pretty much mastered coding back in 2006 when we were putting Gerard Way GIFs on our MySpace pages, so these should be pretty easy, no?

Okay, so maybe wedding websites don’t include coding at all. For most people, it’s mainly just like, uploading a bunch of your engagement photos to a predesigned site and throwing up some text. The actual creation of a wedding website really shouldn’t be very difficult at all, but the content is where people tend to go wrong. So very wrong. Here are a few things to avoid when setting up your wedding website.

1. Don’t Forget To Password Protect It

As someone who absolutely lives to creep wedding websites, it truly pains me to advise you to protect yours with a password. I mean, there are plenty of compelling reasons not to: you want your ex to see how hot your fiancé is, you want your college roommate who’s not invited to see how toned your arms are now, or the simple thought of having people text you because they can’t find the password makes you want to set sh*t on fire. With that being said, you might just want to take a quick sec to think about who could stumble upon your wedding website. Like, what if a serial killer finds your home address? Or worse… your fiancé’s crazy ex-girlfriend snags the event details and shows up to pull a Taylor Swift? Yeah, best to lock that sh*t up.

2. Don’t Mention Wedding Events That Not Everyone Is Invited To

This one seems like a given, but you’d probably be surprised to know that it’s something people f*ck up all the time. Having worked at a wedding invitation company, I’ve heard plenty of people say that they’re not going to include additional details cards in their wedding invitation, because they’re just going to have all of the information available on the wedding website. While this is a good way to cut the cost of your invitation suite, it’s going to be awkward AF when the after-party or farewell brunch you intended to keep exclusive becomes known to all of your guests. Avoid having to deal with your butt-hurt B-list guests and alert people of your rehearsal dinner, or other exclusive event, with a separate invitation or notice.

3. Don’t Forget Information That You Couldn’t Include On The Invitation

Are you planning on banning social media at your ceremony? Do you have an oddly specific dress code, like “Miami Beach Chic” that you’re expecting guests to follow? Throw it on the wedding website. Basically, anything that is a faux pas or just too annoying to put on your invitation can go on the wedding site. Oh, and directions cards are considered outdated, so just add a directions page on the site for the Olds who refuse to just use Waze like the rest of us.

4. Don’t Ramble

Have you ever read a super long “How We Met” page on a wedding website and felt that your time was well spent? I think the f*ck not. Sure, there are some people with really great stories, and it’s a cute bit of information to include, but like, do us all a favor and keep it short. The majority of the people who will be visiting your wedding website probably know how you met. (Unless you’re one of those tristate bridezillas who will be inviting over 300 people and genuinely don’t know some of your dad’s work friends that you were obligated to invite. But like, they’re not going to read it either.)

It can also be cute to include some information on the wedding party, but again, remember that less is more and if you don’t have anything funny to say, just make something up. I once read a site where the bride shared “fun facts” about each of the bridesmaids. The standout fact was “Nicole and I used to watch a lot of movies together at college! We liked to talk about which actors looked like people we knew in real life.” Don’t do that. The more boring you make yourself sound, the less excited everyone’s going to be for your wedding.

5. Don’t Feel Like You Can’t Update It

Despite what your eternally single cynical bridesmaid may think, your wedding is not a death sentence and not every aspect of it is totally permanent. It’s completely acceptable to put your wedding website up as soon as you’d like to (just like, not the day after you get engaged, PLEASE), and to include wording explaining that it will be updated as you go. This is actually probably the best way to go about it, because it will get your guests into the habit of checking your site periodically, and it gives any updates a better chance at being seen.

6. Don’t Assume Everyone Will Check The Website

No matter how much work you put into your wedding site, you can’t force people to read it. Although it’s a great way to convey information you can’t formally share with an invitation, you kind of just have to accept the fact that some people suck and won’t follow directions. It’s just like, the rules of being a bridezilla. Sorry!

Images: Giphy (3)

Hannah Chambers
Hannah Chambers
Hannah Chambers is one of those people whose entire personality consists of Real Housewives references, taking pictures of her dog, and drinking out of an obnoxiously large water bottle. You can find her work in Cosmopolitan, Bustle, BravoTV.com, and more. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @hanchambers