The Most Common FAQs About Free Wedding Websites, Answered

Plus, how to create your own website on The Knot.
Young couple wedding planning on laptop at home
Photo: zhanghaoran / Shutterstock
sarah hanlon entertainment and celebrity editor the knot
by
Sarah Hanlon
sarah hanlon entertainment and celebrity editor the knot
Sarah Hanlon
Entertainment & Celebrity Editor
  • Sarah is the Entertainment & Celebrity Editor for The Knot, with special focuses on pop culture and celebrity wedding news.
  • Before joining The Knot Worldwide, Sarah was a contributing writer for Bravo at NBC Universal.
  • Sarah has a degree in journalism and resides in New York City.
Updated Nov 10, 2023

We know you're excited to pick your wedding attire, design your wedding vision board and test all the signature cocktail recipes for your big day. But building your wedding website is just as important, especially since it's such a useful resource for your guests. You can start right now by making a free wedding website on The Knot—but if you're wondering exactly how this all works, we're here to help. We're outlining everything you need to know about how to make a free wedding website (yes, really), including what to put on the website, how to keep yours password-protected and all the different ways you can use it for your wedding.

Do I Need to Make a Wedding Website? Why?

It's the most common wedding website FAQ: Why do I need a wedding website? We always say that setting up your website is one of the first (and most important) wedding planning tasks to complete. Your wedding website houses all of the major information guests need to know about your big day, from the location and start time to the requested dress code and details about additional wedding events, like a welcome party or after-party.

As soon as guests receive your save-the-dates in the mail, they're bound to have questions about hotel blocks, transportation and more. You'll be busy with other wedding planning to-dos (and life!), so it's important to save your time and energy as much as you can. A wedding website will make your life exponentially easier because it answers everything in one spot, without you having to respond individually to guests' questions. By including your wedding website on the invitations, you'll minimize the number of guests texting and calling at every whim, because they'll be able to find the answers on your webpage. Amazing, right?

Is The Knot's Wedding Website Tool Free?

Yes, The Knot offers a free wedding website service. You can use all of our website builder tools free of charge, but you do have the option to customize and purchase your site's domain for an added fee. If it fits in your budget, we recommend upgrading your wedding website URL with a variation of your names, wedding date or your wedding hashtag. Not only is this a cute way to personalize your wedding website, it'll be easier for guests to type your names into a search bar instead of a jumble of letters and numbers. But, generally speaking, you can create a wedding website on The Knot for no charge at all.

How Much Does The Knot Wedding Website Cost?

Creating a free wedding website on The Knot gives you full access to our totally customizable templates, but if you want to further personalize your website, you can upgrade to a unique URL. A personal wedding website domain through The Knot costs $19.99 per year. We'll handle the technical side of things, like registration and setup, and you won't have to worry about any additional fees after the initial payment.

When Should I Make My Wedding Website?

Ideally, you should make your wedding website after the important details, like the wedding date, time, venue and guest list are confirmed. Aim to have your wedding website mostly complete before you send out save-the-dates so you can include the URL in case guests have immediate questions. Instead of answering the same questions again and again, you can easily direct them to your wedding website, saving yourself time and energy (and your phone from repetitive messages from well-meaning loved ones). If you're adding a wedding registry to your website, you should wait until your registry is in good shape before making and sharing your website.

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What Should I Put On My Wedding Website?

Think of your wedding website as an FAQ page for your guests. Essentially, your website is an extension of your wedding invitations. You can provide all the basic wedding details on the website, like the wedding date, venue address, ceremony start time and order of events. Beyond the essentials, the website gives you a place to elaborate on things like hotel room block reservations or suggested accommodations, transportation to/from the wedding, and if there will be additional events surrounding the wedding (like a welcome cocktail hour or a day-after brunch). You can also share specific day-of requests on your site—for example, if you want guests to follow a certain dress code or if phones should be put away for an unplugged wedding. Finally, your wedding website is the best place to share your gift registry and RSVP details.

How Can I Customize My Wedding Website On The Knot?

If you browse The Knot's free wedding website templates, you'll find designs that match our paper wedding invitations to help you create a cohesive look from start to finish. Beyond the visual design, you can customize your free wedding website by adding fun bonus features, like a wedding day countdown, wedding party introductions, engagement photos, details about your love story, a song request widget, and helpful info for your guests, like your favorite activities, eateries and hotels in town.

How Should I Share My Wedding Website with Guests?

The best way to share your wedding website with guests is to include the URL on your save-the-dates and on an insert card with your official invitations. You can also share the link directly with guests if they reach out, or task your wedding party with distributing the URL via email or text. Avoid sharing the link publicly on your own social media pages to prevent people who aren't invited from accessing the website.

Can I Edit My Wedding Website After I Publish It?

One of the best parts of creating a free wedding website on The Knot is that you have the ability to edit it as much as you want, even after you publish it. We know we said that it's important to make your website as early as possible, but you might not have every single detail ironed out from the get-go—and that's okay. Create your website sooner rather than later when you have the basic information finalized, and you can update it as needed with other anecdotal details and extras.

Editing your wedding website also comes in handy if there are last-minute changes you have to communicate with your guests.If you've extended the reception end time, planned an after-party or decided to postpone your wedding, your wedding website is the most convenient way to share these updates with guests. (The alternative would be to contact each person directly, which would be time-consuming and tedious.) We know that details are subject to change, which is why The Knot makes it easy to update your site at any time leading up to your wedding date.

Can Guests RSVP Through My Website?

All of The Knot's free wedding websites offer an RSVP option. Traditional RSVP cards require guests to mail a physical card in order to accept or decline the wedding invitation, but The Knot's free wedding website tool has an RSVP function that allows all of the correspondence to be done virtually. You'll love how easy it is to keep your guest list organized and up-to-date, since all of the information will be collected in real time through the tool (and you'll be notified each time someone responds).

Even if you opt for online RSVPs, we still recommend sending physical RSVP cards too. Some guests, especially older relatives, may feel more comfortable using a traditional method to send in their response, so having two options will help everyone RSVP in a timely manner.

Can I Make My Wedding Website Private?

There are a lot of reasons you might want to make your wedding website private, whether it's to limit information only to those who are invited, or you want added privacy around sensitive information, like your gift registry and venue location. If you don't want the whole world to have access to your wedding website, you can easily make yours private using The Knot's tool. On your wedding website dashboard, click the pencil icon under the header titled, "Your Website." There, you can decide to block your website from appearing in search engine results and add an optional password requirement. (Just be sure to include the password on your wedding invitations so your guests can still access the site.) While this isn't a necessary step, it can give you peace of mind if you don't want your wedding details on the internet.

Does The Knot Tell You Who Viewed Your Website?

The Knot isn't able to track specifically who's visiting your website, which is why we recommend creating a password-protected wedding website and/or hiding the website from search engine results if you're concerned about keeping the details limited to a select group of people.

Do I Need a Wedding Website for My Destination Wedding?

A wedding website is important for any kind of celebration, but especially for a destination wedding. Since more logistics go into planning (and attending) a destination wedding, a custom site will be crucial to help guests plan their travels. It's helpful to include directions—and even a map—for all events, like the rehearsal dinner or welcome happy hour, wedding ceremony, reception, and any additional parties.

In addition to the details we mentioned above, your destination wedding website should also include lodging recommendations, airline and travel information, and location-specific tips, like weather or cultural norms.

How Long Does The Knot Website Last?

Once you're married, you might be wondering what to do with your website after the wedding. So does The Knot delete your wedding website? The short answer is yes, but not until a year has passed after your wedding. Before your website is deleted, you'll be notified through your user account on The Knot that the website is about to expire, regardless of whether you have a free wedding website or upgraded to a custom URL. After receiving the notification, you'll have the option to extend the website or cancel and delete it altogether.

Samantha Iacia contributed to the reporting of this article.

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