Planning a wedding today means you're basically running a small information service for guests who live all over the place. Your wedding website is where your guests go to find out what's happening, RSVP, and figure out where they're staying. 

I’ve spent some time trying different website builders to see what actually works, and I found something surprising – one platform no one thinks of for weddings that's actually perfect for keeping guests in the loop.

Everyone's planning weddings online now, and it makes sense. Think about it – you've got guests everywhere who need to know where to go, where to stay, and what's happening when. 

Instead of texting the same information to fifty different people, you put it all in one place. Your wedding website is basically the answer to every question anyone's going to ask you.

Remember when people had to mail back those little RSVP cards? What a mess. Now, you just send a link, and everything happens automatically. The site keeps track of who's coming, what they can't eat, and whether they're bringing someone. You don't have to chase anyone down or worry about losing someone's response in a pile of mail.

And everything looks like it belongs together – your website matches your invitations and everything else. It's nice when it all feels connected instead of thrown together.

Specific sites can also send reminders to people who haven't replied yet. It confirms everything with guests as you get closer to the wedding. If something changes at the last minute, you update it once, and everyone knows.

The whole thing just runs itself while you deal with the actually fun parts of getting married. No more answering the same 'what's the hotel situation?' text 20 times a day.

Understanding which features matter most will help you choose the perfect platform for your needs. Not all wedding website builders offer the same capabilities, so prioritizing these elements ensures that you get maximum value.

The most important task your wedding website needs to do is handle RSVPs, without you having to think about it. You want a site that sends the invites, tracks who's responded, and bugs the people who haven't gotten back to you yet. 

The good ones even let you set a deadline and then take care of everything – meal choices, dietary restrictions, whether someone's bringing a date. The website handles all of it.

If you're doing multiple events like a rehearsal dinner and reception, you need to be able to sort your guests into different groups. Some people are invited to everything, some just to the ceremony. 

You should also be able to send different messages to different groups without having to keep track of them all yourself. When you've got events happening all weekend, this stuff really matters.

Your wedding website should link up with the places you've registered – Amazon, Target, Zola, or whatever department store your mom insisted on. When guests want to buy you something, they shouldn't have to leave your site and go hunting around for your registry. 

Everything should just work together, so people can find your gifts and buy them without any extra steps.

The integration should display real-time availability, so multiple guests don't accidentally purchase the same gift.

Some sites let you ask for cash for your honeymoon or fixing up your house instead of just regular gifts. The whole point is to make it easy for guests to give you what you actually want. 

Nobody should have to work hard to buy you a wedding present. You want to keep it simple for them, and you want to register for items you'll actually use.

Your wedding website should look like your wedding, not everyone else's. Most platforms give you templates to start with, and you can change the colors and fonts to match what you want. 

The good ones let you drag and drop blocks around to build your site without knowing how to code, and you still get to make it look exactly how you want.

You need different layouts for different pages, places to put photos, and ways to add whatever sections make sense for your wedding. The whole thing should match your invitations and everything else you're doing. 

Nobody wants a website that looks exactly like what 50 other couples used last month. It should feel like yours.

Most of your guests are going to look at your website on their phones. That's just how people use the internet now, so your site needs to work perfectly on a phone without you having to build a separate mobile version. 

The platform should just make everything fit on smaller screens automatically. From the buttons to the forms to the photos, everything should just work when someone pulls it up on their phone.

Sharing capabilities matter, too. Your wedding website builder should generate custom URLs that are easy to remember and type, plus provide QR codes for printed materials. Some platforms even offer text message invitations that link directly to your mobile optimized site.

Not every couple wants their wedding details searchable on Google. Quality wedding website builders offer multiple privacy levels, from password protection to unlisted URLs that only work with direct links. You should control exactly who can access your site and what information they can see.

Some platforms allow different access levels for different guest groups. Wedding party members might see additional planning documents, while regular guests only access public information. This granular control helps maintain privacy while keeping everyone informed.

After extensive testing and real-world use, these five platforms stand out for their unique strengths and capabilities.

Here's where things get interesting. While beehiiv started as an email newsletter platform, it's actually perfect for modern wedding planning. Think about it: weddings require consistent communication with guests over months, not just a static website they check once. 

beehiiv combines stunning website creation with powerful email tools that keep guests engaged throughout your journey.

Couples using beehiiv can send beautiful email updates about wedding weekend activities, travel tips, or special moments leading up to the big day. The platform's email design templates create cohesive branding across all communications. 

Your website changes as you plan your wedding. You keep adding stuff as you figure things out. After the wedding's over, it becomes the place where you put all the photos and videos. People can go back and look at them whenever they want.

The email part actually matters more than you'd think. Your updates need to show up in people's regular inbox, not get buried in spam. 

With beehiiv, you can see who's actually reading your emails and who clicked to look at your site. That way, you know who you need to text directly about their RSVP or if they've figured out their travel yet. It's pretty useful when you're trying to track down stragglers.

Zola shines when registry management is your top priority. It started as a place to register for gifts, and then they added wedding websites later. 

The gift-buying part actually works really well. It's not some awkward add-on that barely functions. People can buy your gifts right there on your site. In addition, you handle everything in one place – thank you notes, returns, all of it.

The free templates they give you look good, but you can't change them as much as you can with other sites. You get what you get. It's fine if you like their style; but if you want to make big changes, you're kind of stuck.

Zola works best for couples who want an all-in-one solution that handles both their website and registry without juggling multiple services.

Joy (formerly WithJoy) offers the most design flexibility among dedicated wedding platforms. Its template library includes truly unique layouts that don't all look identical, and the customization tools let you adjust almost every element. 

The platform particularly excels at photo galleries and storytelling features that help guests feel connected to your journey.

Joy also handles RSVPs well. It sends text reminders automatically to people who haven't responded, which is nice. If you're having multiple events, you can keep track of who's coming to what. 

It also has a messaging feature where you can talk to guests through the website. You don't have to give out your phone number or personal email to everyone. It all just goes through the site.

Minted brings its stationery expertise to wedding websites with designs created by independent artists. If you're already getting your invitations from Minted, their website designs match what you ordered. Everything looks like it goes together, which is nice. 

Minted’s style is pretty fancy and traditional. If you care about having everything match perfectly, this works really well. Some people really want their website to look exactly like their invitations, and Minted makes that easy.

The platform's limitation is functionality. While the sites look beautiful, it lacks some advanced features like detailed RSVP management or robust registry integration. 

Minted works best as a simple, elegant information hub rather than a comprehensive planning tool.

Wix offers unlimited creative control for couples who are comfortable with website building. Unlike wedding-specific platforms, Wix lets you create literally any design you can imagine. The wedding website templates provide starting points, but you're not locked into wedding-specific features or layouts.

This flexibility comes with complexity. Wix requires more setup time and technical knowledge than dedicated wedding platforms. 

But if you want to do fancier stuff, like having gated pages only certain people can see, Wix lets you do that. The wedding-specific sites can't really handle that kind of thing. With Wix, you can build basically whatever you want.

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After helping dozens of couples choose/create their website platforms, here's my recommendation: use beehiiv for creating a truly modern guest experience. 

While other platforms offer static websites that guests check once or twice, beehiiv transforms your wedding communications into an engaging journey that builds excitement over time.

You get a nice website plus email, so you're not just telling people facts about your wedding. You're actually keeping them involved the whole time. You can send them updates when you pick your venue, share your engagement photos, and show them what you're working on as you plan. 

People like getting these updates, especially if they live far away. It makes them feel like they're part of what's happening instead of just showing up on the day.

Your wedding website should do more than just share logistics. It should tell your story, build excitement, and create lasting memories. 

While traditional wedding website builders handle the basics, beehiiv elevates the entire experience through consistent, beautiful communication that keeps guests engaged from the save the date to their thank you note.