Wedding Website Checklist: 15 Things to Include (2026)
Short answer: Every wedding website needs the same 15 things: your names and date, your story, the schedule, venue details with a map, an RSVP form, contact info, a photo gallery, a countdown timer, registry info, an FAQ, travel and accommodation details, dress code, your plus-one policy, song requests, and photo-sharing instructions. Skip any of them, and your phone becomes the wedding website — fielding the same questions from 150 guests one text at a time.
That last sentence is the real reason this checklist exists. A wedding website isn't decoration; it's a question-deflection machine. Every detail you publish is a dozen conversations you don't have to have. Work through all 15 below, and by the time invitations go out, your site will have answered everything.
The Essentials — without these, it's not a wedding website
1. Your names and the wedding date
The headline of the whole site. Full names (not just "Emma & James" if half your guests know three Emmas), the exact date with the day of the week, and ideally the year. This is also what Google shows if anyone searches for your wedding — make it unmistakable. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Home page hero section.
2. Your story
How you met, the proposal, the version your friends tell at dinner parties. This is the page guests actually read for pleasure — it turns a logistics site into your site, and it gives distant relatives something to talk about besides the seating chart. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the dedicated Story page with timeline layout.
3. The schedule of events
Ceremony time, cocktail hour, reception, send-off — with times, not just a date. If events are at different locations, say so explicitly next to each one. Vague schedules are the number-one source of "wait, what time do we need to be where?" texts. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Wedding Details page.
4. Venue details + an embedded map
The venue name, the full street address, and an embedded map guests can tap to open directions. "The Rosewood Barn" means nothing to out-of-town guests without an address attached. A map embed takes thirty seconds and prevents the most stressful kind of wedding-day call: the lost guest. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Wedding Details page with map section.
5. An RSVP form
The single most functional part of your site. Name, attending/declining, number of seats, meal choice, dietary needs, and a reply deadline — the full breakdown of building one free is in our RSVP guide. Without it, you're back to reply cards and spreadsheets built by hand. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the dedicated RSVP page with validation-ready form.
6. Contact info
A phone number or email for questions — ideally a wedding-specific address or the number of someone who isn't you (a wedding party member makes a great point person). Guests will have edge-case questions no FAQ covers; give them somewhere to ask that isn't your personal cell at midnight. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Contact page.
The Experience — these turn a page into an event
7. Photo gallery
Engagement photos, a few favorites through the years, maybe shots of the venue. Galleries do quiet heavy lifting: they make the site feel alive, they give guests faces to recognize on the day, and they're the section people revisit most. Keep it curated — twenty great photos beat two hundred unfiltered ones. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Gallery page with lightbox.
8. A countdown timer
Days, hours, minutes until the ceremony. It's pure anticipation engineering — and it's the element guests screenshot and share most. If you're sending save-the-dates, the countdown on your site is their natural next click. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Home page countdown section.
9. Registry information
Where you're registered, with direct links. Put it on the website — never on the paper invitation itself (etiquette still frowns on that). One clearly labeled page saves every guest from the awkward "are they registered anywhere?" group-chat detective work. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Bridal Party/Registry page.
10. An FAQ section
"Can I bring my kids?" "Is there parking?" "What's the rain plan?" "Is the ceremony indoors?" Write down every question you've already been asked twice, and answer it once, publicly. A good FAQ is the highest-ROI section on the entire site — ten minutes of writing that prevents weeks of repeat questions. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: FAQ-ready section on the Wedding Details page.
11. Travel & accommodation details
For any wedding with out-of-town guests: nearest airport, hotel block name and booking code, check-in/check-out dates, and how to get from the hotel to the venue. If you've reserved a room block, say when it expires — that deadline is the one guests actually miss. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Wedding Details page travel section.
The Polish — small details, enormous relief
12. Dress code
Spell it out in plain words, not just "cocktail attire." Tell guests what that means for your venue: "Cocktail attire — the ceremony is on grass, so block heels over stilettos." One concrete sentence eliminates more anxiety than any other line on your site. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Wedding Details page.
13. Your plus-one policy
State it directly: "We have reserved [1/2] seat(s) in your honor." Couples avoid this because it feels awkward; guests are grateful for clarity because guessing is worse. Put it near the RSVP form where the decision actually happens. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: alongside the RSVP page.
14. Song requests
A simple "What song will get you on the dance floor?" field on the RSVP form. It costs you nothing, guests love being asked, and your DJ gets a crowd-sourced playlist instead of guessing. It also gives hesitant guests a reason to RSVP early. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: add the field to the RSVP form.
15. Photo-sharing instructions
Tell guests how to share their photos with you: a shared album link, a hashtag, or an app name. If you don't specify, you'll spend the month after the wedding chasing photos across five group chats. Decide the method now, publish it on the site, and mention it again at the reception. ✓ Prebuilt in Everly: the Gallery page and Blog updates section.
Every item above, prebuilt in one free template
Here's the part that turns this checklist from a to-do list into a download: Everly — a free 8-page wedding website template — was built around exactly this structure. Its pages map one-to-one to the checklist:
| Checklist items | Everly page |
|---|---|
| Names/date, countdown | Home |
| Your story | Story |
| Schedule, venue + map, FAQ, travel, dress code | Wedding Details |
| RSVP form, plus-one policy, song requests | RSVP |
| Photo gallery, photo sharing | Gallery |
| Registry info | Bridal Party/Registry |
| Contact info | Contact |
| Updates & announcements | Blog |
Instead of building 15 sections from scratch, you download Everly, replace the placeholder text with your details, and every item on this checklist is already designed, styled, and mobile-ready. Prefer a single-page site? EternalLove and TwoHearts cover the essentials in one scroll, and Elegant Wedding offers the same completeness in a minimalist style. See the full comparison in our free wedding website templates roundup.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really need all 15 items?
The six Essentials are non-negotiable — without them, guests can't attend your wedding. The rest scale with your guest count: a 30-person local wedding can skip the travel section, but a 150-person wedding with out-of-town guests will regret skipping any of them. When in doubt, include it; an extra section costs you nothing.
What if we're having a very small or elopement-style wedding?
Use the same checklist, just shorter answers. Small weddings benefit more from a website, proportionally — with fewer guests, each person's experience matters more, and a polished site sets the tone. A one-page template like TwoHearts is ideal here.
Should the website replace paper invitations?
It can, but it doesn't have to. The most common setup is paper invitations for formality plus the website for everything the paper can't hold: RSVP, maps, FAQs, updates. Print the website URL or a QR code on the invitation and let the site do the heavy lifting.
When should our wedding website go live?
When you send save-the-dates — that's the moment guests first need a date, a place, and a way to plan travel. Everything else (registry, final schedule, FAQ) can be added over the following months. A site that's live early with 8 items beats a "perfect" site that launches two weeks before the wedding.
Can we add or change things after the site is live?
Yes — and you should. Couples routinely add the registry later, update the FAQ as new questions arrive, and post announcements ("shuttle times confirmed!"). With your own template files, updating is just editing text and re-uploading — no platform approval needed.
Is a wedding website still worth it in 2026?
More than ever. Guests expect one — and every item on this checklist is a question you'd otherwise answer individually, dozens of times. The website is the only wedding-planning task that gets easier the more guests you have.
The bottom line
A wedding website with all 15 items doesn't just inform your guests — it protects your time, your sanity, and your phone battery in the final month before the wedding. Work the checklist top to bottom, publish early, and update as plans firm up.
And you don't have to build it from nothing: download Everly free, fill in your details, and check off all 15 in an afternoon.