13.1 Introduction

Printed materials may consist of invitations, place settings, menus, thank you cards and anything else that is created to give to the guests attending the wedding.

The best way to keep track of all these printed items is to organise them into three groups. These groups include materials distributed before the wedding, during the ceremony and after the wedding.

13.2 Planning the Printed Materials

The planning process for printed materials begins early.

It will begin with the theme that the couple chooses for the wedding. The colours, fonts and aesthetics established by the theme will all be reflected in the printed materials.

Whether you design the materials yourself or rely on a designer to do it for you, you will usually need to offer the couple several options to choose from.

After the couple has chosen the design, you will need to talk about printing. Printing will usually depend on the budget the couple has as well as the priority of the printed materials.

You will usually need to enlist a printer to help you get these materials printed.

As a wedding planner, it is a good idea to establish a relationship with a great printer and bring all of your clients there. This will help you secure the discounts that your clients desire and expect from your wedding planning service.

13.3 Creating a Gift List

Gift lists are exciting for couples. In days gone by, towns had specific gift registries and couples stuck to them.

Wandering up and down the high street is still a popular way to compile a gift list. But now, many couples are choosing to move their presents online. You can still create a gift list through high street stores on their online shops. Most department stores in the UK offer this option.

To diversify, there are independent wedding gift list companies that allow you to pick gifts from across the web. This means you’re more likely to get what you want in terms of gifts, but it also means you may pay a fee. Some sites operate primarily off affiliate commissions, which means fees aren’t always a factor.

However, you have other free alternatives for creating a gift list. For example, you can complete a registry on Amazon.co.uk and create a gift list that is filled with anything that you can imagine. Amazon does not ask for a fee and it is easy to use and easy to ship with.

As a wild alternative, you can suggest to the couple that they allow the guests to just choose and bring their own gifts. One of the biggest problems associated with this is that they may end up with more than one of the same things.

Some couples will also sometimes ask just for cash. Some clients may be uncomfortable with this, particularly if they are older. However, it is seen as an acceptable and practical thing to do. This is particularly true in cases when the couple has been together for a long time and has already set up a household.

If it still feels strange to ask only for cash gifts, the couple can make a note of what they will be used for. You might use the cash to pay for the wedding, pay for the honeymoon or for a down payment on the couple’s new married home.

An increasing number of couples are now choosing to use websites that allow guests to make some form of donation. These sites may be geared towards helping to pay for the wedding, or they can be used to donate to a charity. In either case, whether or not to keep the donors anonymous is at the couple’s discretion. This is a particularly popular option amongst couples who cannot afford to pay for their own honeymoon, but are quite happy to accept donations.

Of course, you can always go without the gift list. In this case, you can encourage guests to bring whatever gifts they feel are suitable or, simply no gift at all!

13.4 Setting Up a Wedding Website

You may be nervous when the couple begins asking you about a wedding website.

But there is no cause for concern!

Website building is not for geeks and maths lovers. In fact, building a website is very easy, especially if it’s a wedding website.

There are plenty of options out there when it comes to different website builders. You can use a tool that sets it all up for you and requires that you simply enter the necessary information. You can also use a more creative website builder where you have more control over how the website looks.

Whether you are looking for a specific colour or a theme, you can find it out there, and it’s fairly easy and quick to set up too. All you need to do is search for wedding website templates on Google and you will be able to browse through thousands of different possibilities.

There are many companies who are more than willing to help create a fabulous looking website for the new bride and groom. In most cases, it is pretty straightforward. Some will be more complicated and others will ask you to fill in the blanks. To make the decision, you just need to ask the couple what their preferences are. Chances are, they don’t want a flashy website with lots of features. They just want somewhere to direct the wedding guests for more information.

13.5 Free or Paid Websites?

The first choice you’ll need to make is whether or not you want to go with a free web building website or if you would rather pay for the website.

There are plenty of choices on both sides. Either way, you can have a really nice looking free website done within a few hours.

The benefit of picking a paid website is that you do have more choices of designs and other things that can be included on the webpage. Some people like to have beautiful images or creative designs on their websites. You may have fewer options for designs if you go for a free web builder.

Try a Free Service First

A good suggestion is to try a free website builder first, then see what setting up a website for you would entail. See what the options are for colours, designs and other choices of what can be added to your page. If you don’t like it, then you can always switch over to a paid website builder.

In most cases, the place that you built your free site will have an upgrade or premium option. These websites make it pretty easy to upgrade and will have already teased you with their premium content. Take a look to make sure it is worth it and then you will be able to decide whether this is a choice you want to make.

Compare Services Before You Start

Keep in mind there is more than one web builder out there so make sure to compare several of them before you start the process. This will keep you from having to build your website more than one time. Nothing could be worse than building the site, finding out you don’t like it, looking at the premium choices, and finding none of them fit with what you want.

Of course, if you have programming, design or web development skills, you may want to consider making your own wedding website. However, you may find it much simpler to finish up a webpage by using a builder that worries about all the codes and where they need to be placed so that your page will come up properly with no broken links.

Another option is to hire a professional to do the job. A web designer will be a lot more expensive. But they can custom design a page to all your needs. If this is an important option in planning the wedding, you may want to seriously consider this choice.

What do You Include on the Website?

There are things that every wedding site is going to need. This list is not exhaustive and you can feel free to add as much or as little information on the site as you like, but you do need to include several basic things for the website to be useful.

First, you will need to include information on not only the names of the clients, but also the date of the wedding, where it will be held, and at what time. You will also need to include the place and time of the reception.

You’ll also need to include directions to where the wedding is being held and where the reception will be. You should include helpful indicators, like any landmarks. This will help ensure that a person who does not know the area will be able to navigate their way to the venue. If at all possible, try to include a map. You can use a link to Google Maps or even include a hand drawn map.

You also need to include information about hotels in the local area and other places where out-of-town guests would be able to stay. Also, if you’ve reserved rooms, you will want to let this be known on your website. If there is more than one option, you may want to list the information of the hotels, including links to websites and phone numbers for reservations.

Another thing to place on your website is suggestions for what should be worn by guests attending the wedding. Not all weddings are formal; so let your guests know if some other style of clothing is allowed. This will save them from showing up to a wedding where they could have worn jeans, but choose to wear a suit instead.

People will enjoy knowing who you have chosen for the groomsmen as well as the bridesmaids. It is just a bit of extra information that could include a picture of the person, and their name. Don’t forget people will want to know where you’ve registered at so they can buy wedding presents. Include a link to the registry and it will make it easy for guests to buy something nice that you are hoping to receive.

Other things that you can include on the website are some cute or romantic stories about how the couple met each other and even the proposal story. You can even include some photos or videos of the couple on the site.

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