How to choose a wedding website: 10 things to check before you pick one
Free registry sites, website builders or an all-in-one planner with personal invitations? What actually matters when you pick a wedding website: RSVP that fits your wedding, privacy, design, the tools behind it, what is really free and what happens after the wedding.
A wedding website is where guests go for everything that doesn't fit on the invitation: the schedule, the hotel block, the dress code, the registry and the RSVP. There are dozens of options, most of them look lovely in the demo, and the differences only show up when 120 guests start replying. Here is what to check before you choose.
In short
- Pick the site around your RSVP: it's the part you and your guests use most.
- Personal invitations (a link or QR code per household) beat one public page for privacy and for tracking who replied.
- Test it on your phone. That's where guests will open it.
- Check what is really free, and what happens to the site and your data after the wedding.
- The fewer places your guest list lives, the fewer mistakes you make.
The three kinds of wedding websites
| Registry and marketplace sites | General website builders | All-in-one planners with personal invitations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | The Knot, Zola, Joy and others | Squarespace, Wix and others | only.wedding and others |
| Price | Usually free; the company earns from registries, stationery and vendor listings | A monthly or yearly plan, especially for your own domain | A free tier, paid plans for bigger weddings |
| Strengths | Registry built in, quick setup, large template galleries | Complete design freedom | A personal link and QR code per household, RSVP tied to the guest list, seating and printables |
| Check carefully | How RSVP and guest data are handled, and what the free plan includes | RSVP and guest lists usually need forms or add-ons that you set up yourself | The limits of the free tier |
Features change often. Compare current plans on each provider's own website before deciding.
10 things to check
1. An RSVP that fits your wedding
Can guests reply for each person by name? Choose a meal per person? Add kids, allergies and dietary needs? Tell you which nights they need a hotel room, or whether they need a ride? Whatever you will need on the day should be in the RSVP, so you never have to text 60 people for one missing detail. See Online wedding RSVP for the questions worth asking.
2. Personal invitations or one public page
With one public page, anyone with the link can RSVP and you match replies to your list by hand. With personal invitations, every household opens its own page, the reply is tied to the right invitation, and you see who hasn't answered by name. It also solves the plus-one question: the page shows exactly who is invited.
3. Privacy
Your site will hold your date, your venue and your guests' names. Look for private links or a password, a choice about appearing in search engines, and a clear statement of where the data is stored and who can see it. Personal details such as a guest's table or a private note should be visible only to that guest.
4. A design that works on a phone
Most guests will open your site on their phone, often from a QR code on the invitation. Open the demo on your own phone: is the text readable, are buttons easy to tap, does the RSVP work with one thumb?
5. A design you love
Templates, your own colors, fonts and photos, and a look that matches your paper invitations. Some sites add an opening moment, such as an envelope with a wax seal that opens on the screen, which makes a digital invitation feel like an event.
6. The essentials guests look for
The schedule (ideally one tap to add it to their calendar), the address with a map, travel and hotel information, the dress code, an FAQ (kids, parking, weather plan) and the registry.
7. The tools behind the site
If the RSVPs land in one place, the seating chart lives in a spreadsheet and the budget in a notes app, you will retype the same names several times. A site connected to your guest list, seating chart, budget, checklist and printables saves hours and prevents the classic mistake: a place card for someone who declined.
8. Languages
Marrying across countries or families? Check whether guests can read their invitation in their own language.
9. The real cost
What is free, and up to how many guests? Which features cost extra? Can you cancel any time, and what happens to the site when you do? A free site is great as long as you know where the limits are before you have sent 100 invitations.
10. Your data, after the wedding
Can you export the guest list (for thank-you notes and holiday cards)? Does the site stay online so guests can find the photos? Can you delete everything when you're done?
Questions to ask before you commit
- Can I see a guest's view of the site, not just the editor?
- What exactly does a guest have to do to RSVP? Any account, password or app?
- Can guests update their reply? Until when?
- Where is the data stored, and is it shared with anyone or used for advertising?
- What happens to the site after the wedding, and after I stop paying?
Where only.wedding fits
only.wedding is an all-in-one planner built around personal invitations. Every household gets its own link, QR code and a code they can type at only.wedding/code; guests need no account or app. The RSVP covers names, kids, meal choices, dietary notes, hotel nights and rides, and it flows straight into your guest list, seating chart, budget, checklist and printables. Your wedding page has templates, your own colors and photos, and opening animations such as a wax-sealed envelope or a theater curtain. Guests can read their page in English, Czech, German or French. The page is private by default, so only people with an invitation link see it, and your data is stored in the EU under GDPR.
What it isn't: a registry store. You add gifts from any shop you like, and guests reserve them so nothing is bought twice. The Free plan unlocks every feature for weddings of up to 10 invitations; bigger weddings choose a plan by the number of invitations and can cancel any time (pricing). After the subscription ends, the site keeps running on the Free plan. For setting one up, see How to make a free wedding website.