Wedding Etiquette Forum

What's the deal with wedding websites?

My fiance and I are inviting quite a few OOT guests to our wedding.  I guess you could call it a "destination wedding," though it is within driving distance for everybody (mini-destination?).  Due to this, we were going to include hotel accommodations and driving directions inserts into our invitations.  I'm starting to think that the invitations are getting bulky (let alone, expensive!), and I was wondering what the general opinion was on "wedding websites."  I could just include a link on my invitations, and have all of that other information on the website.  Seems very efficient.  I just have never really known anyone who has used them, and I'm afraid that I'll be thought of as "uppity" or self-important if I make one.  Is this just me?  Has anyone else dealt with this or have opinions/experience?  Thanks!!

Re: What's the deal with wedding websites?

  • You can have a wedding website with that information, problem is that a lot of people will not look at them.  I would include an insert in your invitations.  If you only have one insert they shouldn't be that bulky.  Are you including other inserts besides the RSVP card and envelope?

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    June 1, 2013 - finally making it official!

  • I would be include the RSVP card and envelope, an insert for hotel rooms that we have blocked off for guests, and an insert for directions to the venue.  On the RSVP card I would include room for meal choice.  This doesn't seem like too much? Clearly, I've never done this before!  I just remember being overwhelmed when I opened the invitation to my cousin's wedding and a million little papers with information came falling out.  Haha!
  • Personally, I wouldn't bother with directions in an invite - it's not 1950, people can google or GPS that stuff. We just did RSVP card, and a small card with timing (FRIDAY: welcome cocktails at 8 p.m.; Saturday 6:30 ceremony, 8 p.m. dinner, etc ). At the bottom of that small card was our wedding website. no one had any problems booking hotels or finding our registry.
  • My wedding is in a popular travel destination in a very busy time of year, so I went ahead and blocked off a ton of rooms at various hotels just to make sure guests were able to find accommodations.  These rooms come at discounted rates because of the wedding block, so I did want to include some sort of insert to make sure guests got this information.  The only reason I was going to include a directions card is because there is a toll bridge on the way to our venue, and I didn't want anyone surprised by it.  Do you think this is still necessary?
  • Skip the directions card. Most people have been over a toll bridge and if they look up the directions is should show it. Even if it doesn't I don't think it's a huge deal.

    After 6 years and 2 boys, finally tying the knot on October 27th, 2013!

  • We have a wedding website. I linked to in on STDs and on the wedding invitation. I have never heard the perception that it's uppity or self-important. I think as long as you aren't AWing albums (that's what FB is for) and all kinds of unnecessary fluff, you're fine and it maintains a functional purpose.

    Ours is strictly to give people the information they need: times, locations, directions, room blocks, and other key stuff. 
    *********************************************************************************

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  • We didn't do directions either.  We did block off hotel rooms and we passed that info along word of mouth to OOT guests.  If you chose to do an insert, you could probably put the hotel info and the directions on the same paper

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    June 1, 2013 - finally making it official!

  • Sounds like most people think it's OK to just skip the directions card.  Maybe I'll do that.  Then I'll only have the RSVP card and envelope and an accommodations card as my inserts.  That should be OK.
  • We didn't do directions. In the age of technology, people manage to find places every day without the aid of someone providing them directions. We did have a wedding website for other info, though. 


    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • We did a website (free one through TK). So it allowed us to keep keep invite simple and just included invite, rsvp card & envelope & I made business cards with our website address on it saying "for hotel information, directions and more wedding info, check out our website at....."

    I filled out the sections available, I loved the messages I got from the Guest Book section. I got feedback that people enjoyed reading about how we met and the proposal. It was the perfect way to provide hotel info, directions, and things to do in the area (for OOT).

    I say take advantage of the free website you can design through TK and safe the paper and postage.

  • I think using the free website TK gives you is great. I personaly always go to the website to learn more about the couple (even couples I know well I always learn something new).

    I had the invite, reply postcard and a "details" insert.

    On the details insert I listed the address of the place with quick directions (from the nearest highway), time and exact location of the ceremony and reception (Ceremony on the deck and reception in Wachusett Room - since there is several locations it could be) and the last little paragraph was "for more information on directions, hotel accommodations, etc, etc (I can't remember what exactly I put!!!) and more please go to ourwedding.com"

    Hope that helps!

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    Anniversary
  • We included directions on our insert simply because the wedding is at my future in-laws' home, and it's a bit tricky to find. I wanted to include notes about landmarks like "turn left at the big yellow house." We the inserts ourselves, so I was also able to include the hotel info and a few notes about the Quaker ceremony, all on the same piece of letter-weight paper.
  • I think if people are traveling they will definitely check out the website - they'll need hotel info, etc. as well.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • We didn't do a wedding website or include a directions insert and everyone still managaed to book hotels, get to church and to the reception without any issues. Just include the addresses and everyone will be fine.
  • All we put in our invitations was a postcard RSVP and the actual invite with the wedding website on the very bottom. Putting your wedding website on the invitation can be a no-no for a formal affair,but our wedding was very casual, as were the invites, so I didn't mind.

    Even though our venue was kind of hard to find since it was lakeside and tucked away, everyone still was able to find it simply using the address on the invitation and/or directions routed from our website.
  • I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am in the process of making our wedding website and had a thought - is it acceptable to put registry information on a wedding website? I know it should not go on a wedding invite but it's ok for a shower invite. What about a website? Thanks!
  • Those direction cards are rarely useful. However, not everyone uses a computer. I think it depends on your guests. I'm sure if they wanted directions, though, they could just call you. Hopefully not on the day of, though lol.
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  • I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am in the process of making our wedding website and had a thought - is it acceptable to put registry information on a wedding website? I know it should not go on a wedding invite but it's ok for a shower invite. What about a website? Thanks!
    Yes, it's perfectly fine to put it on your website.
  • You can put it on your website.  That said, is there anyone among your guests who is not tech-savvy enough to use a computer or a GPS?  For those guests, I would provide it on an insert in your invitation.
  • Even with the insert cards, I would still make a wedding website to let guests know about the hotel blocks, which can expire early.  If you send invitations 6-8 weeks in advance (which you should), guests may not have much time to get into the blocks.  You can just email out a "save the date" with the link to the OOT guests (or everyone, if you are certain on your guest list)--no need to do a fancy save the date if you don't want to.  
  • It's more than fine to put the hotel info, driving directions, etc. on a wedding website. We had an additional card to go with our invitations and RSVP cards that said "For information on hotel accommodations, the venue, driving directions, and more, please visit our wedding website at www.allispainandfiance.com."

    We had a section on local restaurants with our own personal recommendations as well as on things to do in the area for guests who came in from out of town early. A lot of our guests loved it - I had at least 10 different ones come up to me and thank me for recommending such-and-such as the food was great, etc. etc.

    However, if you go this route (using the wedding website) be prepared that you will have some guests who may contact you (or in my case, my mom, since it was a couple relatives on her side) and will proceed to ask a lot of questions that would have been answered had they looked at the website (What hotels has been blocked? Where are you registered?). Granted, we had people calling us the week of our wedding to ask where we were registered and even what time the wedding was, so you'll probably be dealing with some of these questions no matter what you do.
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  • OjitosVerdesOjitosVerdes member
    250 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited June 2013
    Jen4948 said:
    You can put it on your website.  That said, is there anyone among your guests who is not tech-savvy enough to use a computer or a GPS?  For those guests, I would provide it on an insert in your invitation.
    Jen - are you referring to registry information or hotel info? If you're talking about registry info, it's never ok to include it in the invite. It is seen as very gift grabby and rude, and that info should be spread by word of mouth to those who aren't computer savvy. If that's not what you were referring to, then ignore me and carry on. 

    ETS - never mind. It seems you are referring to directions - it was hard to tell due to the order of the responses. 

    That said - as a general PSA - just say no to those stupid little cards they give you when you register. Our consultant tried to dump a bunch in our registry bag and we put the kibosh on that pretty quick. 
  • @boppie321 - over half of our guest list is from out of town, so we decided to do a website for their convenience. There is a little counter at the bottom, and quite a few people have been looking at it, even though we're about 5 months out. 

    We know that a handful of our family members aren't tech savvy, and our hotel blocks close before the invites will go out (ridiculous - I know), so we also included an insert with hotel info in all the invites that had a truncated description of what was on the website. We skipped directions, even on the website, because as others have mentioned people are pretty good at navigating these days. 
  • Jen4948 said:
    You can put it on your website.  That said, is there anyone among your guests who is not tech-savvy enough to use a computer or a GPS?  For those guests, I would provide it on an insert in your invitation.
    Jen - are you referring to registry information or hotel info? If you're talking about registry info, it's never ok to include it in the invite. It is seen as very gift grabby and rude, and that info should be spread by word of mouth to those who aren't computer savvy. If that's not what you were referring to, then ignore me and carry on. 

    ETS - never mind. It seems you are referring to directions - it was hard to tell due to the order of the responses. 

    That said - as a general PSA - just say no to those stupid little cards they give you when you register. Our consultant tried to dump a bunch in our registry bag and we put the kibosh on that pretty quick. 
    I've never advised putting registry info in invitations at all-on an insert or anywhere else.  And I once said in another thread that the appropriate place for those cards is in the trash.
  • kipnuskipnus member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    We went very minimalist with our invitations--just one piece of card stock with our names, date, time, location, a phone number for RSVPs, and our wedding website url. We used our website for RSVPs, introductions to the BP (we skipped programs), and provided registry info, maps, hotel info, and lists of good restaurants and fun attractions in the city. Most of our guests were OOT, as were we.
  • I had both a directions and hotel insert, because our venue's address comes up wrong on a lot of GPS systems. I didn't feel it made the envelopes too bulky at all (and a 66 cent stamp was more than enough).
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    140 invited -- 118 are ready to party! -- 27 can't make it

  • I did both a double-sided 'Details' insert and a wedding website.  I made a really simple map on GIS (powerpoint works too) showing the blocked hotel to the ceremony location and exported it a photo, then used that instead of an engagement photo on the back of the enclosure...which saved me from buying a separate item. I kept the map really simple ... there was enough space to show the major highway from the hotel to the ceremony, and I summarized driving directions in text on the right of the map.  The website gives detailed airport info and codes, links to google maps from each airport, and a link to the hotel block for booking online.

    My card read:

    Details

    *venue*  |  *venue address* |  *venue city*

    A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hampton Inn in *city*.  Rooms are available through *date*.  Mention the *Bride-Groom* wedding to receive the special rate:  *hotel phone number*.

    For additional information, please visit our wedding website:  www.NAMES.WEBSITE.com

    *BRIDE*:  *CELL #*  |  *GROOM*:  *CELL #*

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