Thursday, September 10, 2009

A Not-At-All-Scientific Survey of Wedding Websites

I know quite a few recently engaged couples, and it seems like more jump on the wagon every day... so I decided as a service to my recently engaged pals, I'd try to summarize the pros and cons of various wedding websites I've investigated during my planning.  Let me just disclaim at the outset that this research is mostly anecdotal, so definitely check these out yourself before you commit!  Also, know that all the sites I looked at allow you to choose from various designs, tell your story, and link to registries. And all have user-friendly software (even for the computer-challenged) and allow you to upload personal photos.  Would you do a wedding website?  Which provider would you use?

(1) Wedding Channel's Wedding Website



Pros: It's free! You can choose from about 50 website designs, and your website name is http://yournameandyourname.weddings.com, which is user-friendly for sure.

Cons: It does not appear to have mapping software, and does not appear to be flexible about allowing you to make additional pages to suit your needs (I haven't personally tried though, so don't take my word for certain). Also, this is an often-used website for couples, so your webpage may not be as unique as you'd like.

Real bride H. says: "My experience was that I put it together so half-*ssed that I left it password protected thinking at some point I would finish it and take off the password protection." "I liked that this was free, because I got bored and decided not to complete it."

Verdict: An easy, "go-to" site, with enough theme designs to choose from, good for those who want a straightforward website that won't take too much effort.


(2) Project Wedding

Pros: Its Free! Themes for pages are from big-time stylish stationary houses- and hence can be made to match your wedding invitations if you plan things properly. You can also add pages for different topics as needed, and the mapping software is good. Your website name is www.projectwedding.com/ourwedding/yournameandyourname, which is also pretty easy to work with.

Cons: They don't have a huge selection of themes to choose from, so if you don't find one that works for you, you will be stuck.

Real bride Me says: "This tools are easy to use and helped me create professional looking website for free. And I like free."

Verdict: A professional looking choice if you like the look of the themes.

(3) Wedding Window

Pros: Lots of flexibility and privacy options. You can use it to make fun games for guests, and your site can be as simple or extensive as you prefer. Your website name is www.yournameandyourname.weddingwindow.com, which, like the others, is easy for guests to remember.

Cons: You have to pay for it ($10.99 per month, or 24 months at $119, 30 months at $139, and 36 months at $159).

Real bride P. says: "I've been very happy with Wedding Window. I like that it's not searchable on any search engine, and that you can set up passwords for various aspects of your site. Plus, everything was a choice - whether you want visitors to be able to right-click on your photos, etc. And you have the flexibility to make the site as simple or fancy as you like."

Verdict: A great all-around choice for streamlined, effective pages with all the bells and whistles.

(4) Wedding Tracker (formerly Wed-O-Rama)

Pros: Create your own domain name, like www.yournameandyourname.com. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Cons: It costs $60 per year. Also, users say that sometimes it can be difficult to get your photos to fit into their designated picture areas.

Real bride L. says: "We used [Wedding Tracker] and I thought it was good. If I was a bit more techy I probably would have tried to design our own site but, in the interest of my sanity, I used [Wedding Tracker] and I thought it worked great. We were able to create our own domain name -- and I liked that because rather than having some complicated address, we just used our names. All in all, I was happy with it!"

Verdict: This is a particularly good place to go for user-friendly layouts and a unique domain name without building a website from the ground up!



(5) MomentVille

Pros: Lots of features and flexibility- you can even add music to your site, and guests can subscribe to receive updates about your wedding. And you also have the option of having your own domain name, as with Wed-O-Rama.

Cons: Some of the cooler options cost money.

Real Groom B. says: "Momentville.com was pretty cheap and it was pretty easy to get the hang of.  The only extra may have been paying for our domain name."

Verdict: I'm sold on the fact that it lets you play music!


all images on this post sourced from the referenced websites

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