Build your own wed-site

Questions come thick and fast when you're planning a wedding, and it's not always easy to keep your partner in the loop, let alone hundreds of guests.

When Adam Stephens got engaged, he realised that not only was the internet going to be vital for planning the wedding, but it would also be useful to have a website dedicated to the big day.

"Your wedding is essentially the biggest party you'll throw in your entire life so your guests should know everything about it," says Adam, who already uses Twitter and Facebook to keep in touch with friends.

Not only can a website keep everyone up to date, it can also make a soon-to-be-wedded couple's life far easier, says Adam.

"A website offers you a versatility and scope that traditional communication just can't.

"It can deal with everything from your RSVPs to showcasing all the photos of your day... and everything in between."

A wedding website is a one-stop shop for the guests before and after the event.

"Although many people now have their wedding photos or videography appearing somewhere online, your own wedding website means everything is in one location. Every possible piece of information about the big day is on display.

"A website also means that none of the photos or comments made before and after the day, get lost.

"People can upload their photos and videos to the site, or we can incorporate pictures from photo-sharing sites such as Flickr and videos from Youtube. We can also include feeds from Facebook and Twitter."

Adam says he looked around for a company that could a build a site for him, without success.

"There was nothing suitable out there," says the 27-year-old, who last year married his girlfriend of six years, Joanna.

"Although there are people that offer wedding websites, they are often poorly designed, template-driven and very pastiche."

As a result, Adam built his own and now he and his team are offering their services to the general public, at www.invite-you.co.uk.

"As every year the internet becomes a more integral part of daily life, I feel that the target market is growing. Ever since Facebook and Twitter, people are more open to the idea of promoting and showcasing themselves online," he says.

n It's all about communication

Whenever a wedding invitation arrives in the post, details are inevitably missed off.

As Adam explains, a website can be updated instantly and used to send emails to guests with changes and updates to your schedule.

And you don't have to be tech-savvy in order to use one.

"Our clients range from graphic designers to investment bankers," he says.

"Our team does the hard work, and then we talk our customers through how to use it."

As head of design, Adam works closely with each couple to create a website tailored to their needs.

"We offer unique animations, for example, one client wanted an Indiana Jones-style map with animated locations showing the various destinations that the bride and groom to be had lived in as they grew up," he laughs.

"The final result should be as individual as the couple themselves."

n Build your wedding story

It might be a cliche, but weddings with a personal touch are often the most romantic. Nothing says love like a bride and groom who made their own gifts for the guests, or designed the cake.

A wedding website gives wedded couples-to-be an opportunity to build their own wedding story and showcase their love, says Adam.

The web designer called his own site "The Adam and Jo Show". With areas dedicated to everything from 'the crew' (with pictures and biographies of the wedding couple, bestmen, bridegrooms etc), to details about the hen night and stag do, it gave a real sense of the couple themselves.

"We really threw ourselves into it," says Adam. "And the guests said that the website really brought the day to life."

"All too often you'll turn up at a wedding, and no one's done anything to make you feel involved, other than sending you an invite.

"This way, even those people who didn't come on the hen night or stag do, had a sense of who was involved, what was happening and how much fun they were going to have.

"We got a lot of compliments. Guests were genuinely appreciative of trouble we'd gone to. A lot of them said, 'Well, this is one we won't forget!'"

The couple and guests also enjoyed the fact that they could go in and edit parts of the site, making the whole process really interactive.

n Do it yourself

If you're a web enthusiast or attempting a wedding on a budget, you don't have to use bespoke wedding website services like Adam's.

There are many free-to-use tools available on the web. An easy way of starting, if you're not ready to build a site from scratch, is to use a template. Visit www.weddingwindow.com and find instructions on building a 'wed-site'.

Or you could even join a site which has done the work for you. Try www.weddingpath.co.uk, for a hassle-free online presence.

But budding web designers looking to create bespoke site should visit www.wordpress.com.

This website will host your site, and offer couples, keen on web design, plenty of free tools to help them through the process.