First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Secondly, as a future bride or groom, you must be panicking right now. There’s so much to do and so little time.
Luckily, I’m here to tell you about the best wedding websites you can use to plan your big day and save yourself some time and energy.
In my opinion, traditional methods are a bit outdated at this point. Nobody has time to go store to store, hand-picking everything. Not to mention the guests — you need to invite everyone, notify them about the dress code, ask them about their food preferences, RSVPs. You even need to choose the tablecloth linens which fit your wedding ceremony.
All of that is just too much trouble! Besides, it’s pointless, as there are websites nowadays that can make things much easier for you.
Here’s what the internet has to offer in 2020:
7 Best Wedding Websites for Soon-To-Be-Weds
Free Wedding Websites
1. Zola
Zola is a free platform that lets you build a registry for your wedding. For instance, you can browse the website and choose the items you’d like to have as gifts. Then, you can make your own website, which you can decorate to your liking and send it to your guests.
Say goodbye to awful presents that you don’t like — Zola will make sure you always get exactly what you want. The selection is broad and exciting, ranging from kitchen appliances and furniture to cruise tickets and camping gear.
And not just that — Zola also lets you keep track of your budget, guest list, RSVPs, gifts, and shipments. It’s quite easy to navigate the website, as it’s quite intuitive. As far as website building is concerned, that’s easy too, and you have plenty of beautiful themes to choose from.
2. Joy
Much like Zola, Joy is a free platform that helps you manage your wedding plans. You can create your own wedding website and customize it to your liking. You can send invites, create guest lists, manage RSVPs and meal preferences. In addition, Joy has an app that lets you do all that over your phone.
My favorite part of Joy is the selection of templates and themes, which look incredibly professional. They’re minimalistic and modern, and you can customize them fully. If you’re into this esthetic, you will undoubtedly like Joy’s website builder.
3. The Knot
While Joy and Zola put their focus on the communication with the guests, The Knot is all about event planning. Aside from the standard website building, guest list management and registry, this platform helps you find venues, hire planners, photographers, DJs, florists, etc.
And as if that wasn’t enough, you can also find inspiration looking through one of their galleries or get advice from experienced individuals. All in all, The Knot is definitely one of the best wedding websites out there, and it’s easy to see why. It’s everything you might need for a wedding — all in one place.
4. Zankyou
Zankyou is a website similar to The Knot. You can find venues and vendors, manage your budget, guest list, and RSVPs. Just enter your desired location and what you’re looking for, and you’ll quickly be presented with a list of available services (photographers, florists, dress shops, etc.). The best part is — you can even plan destination weddings with this website.
You can also create your own website on Zankyou. It’s mostly free, with the exception of Premium features. Those include a personalized domain, background music, visit statistics, etc. Personally, I don’t think these features are worth the money, as they’re not essential to website planning. That’s why I categorized Zankyou as a free platform despite the Premium option.
5. eWedding
With over 900,000 registered couples, eWedding is one of the best wedding websites right now. It’s packed with tools and features to make the bride’s and groom’s life a bit easier. eWedding lets you send invites, manage RSVPs, your Honeymoon and wedding budget, etc. You will even get text notifications and alerts whenever there are any changes, which I really like.
This website is not entirely free, though. Although you do get plenty of free features like basic website builder tools, standard themes and open RSVP, Premium features like custom domain name, guest seats, unlimited photos and RSVP are billed monthly. There’s also a third option, the Premium Plus, which lets you choose different extensions, gives you extra security, SEO, etc.
Wedding Websites That Require a Fee
1. Appy Couple
For those who have a slightly bigger budget and don’t mind paying for a wedding planning website, Appy Couple may be a good choice. It’s a website, as well as an app, and it lets you gather all the necessary information about your wedding in one place. You can then create your own site, customize it, and share it with your guests-to-be.
As far as the fee is concerned, it’s not subscription-based. You only have to pay a one-time fee, and that’s it — you can use Appy Couple for however long you want. You can choose between two payment options — Boutique and Luxury. Besides the price, the only difference between the two is that you get more website features and designs with the Luxury option. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth the money, so I advise you to stick with Boutique.
2. Riley and Grey
If you’re all about the esthetics and the budget is not an issue for you, Riley and Grey is undoubtedly worth checking out. Their template selection is incredible, and they pride themselves on having fantastic customer service. From my experience, that is one of the most important features of a wedding website. Having someone to help you when you come across an issue is priceless.
At Riley and Grey, you can choose the monthly plan or the yearly plan, which is awesome. If you already know that you’ll need more than a year to plan your wedding, you can save quite a lot by going with the yearly plan.
Conclusion
Long story short — these are the best wedding websites right now, and whichever one you choose, I promise you won’t go wrong. They’ll save you money, time, and effort. After all, it’s 2020, and we don’t have to waste time calling each and every guest to ask whether they prefer chicken or salmon. Everything is just a click away!
