Put on your wedding website every question a guest would otherwise text you, in the order they will ask it: when and where, how to get there and where to stay, what to wear, how to reply and by when, and where the registry is. Everything else, the story, the photos, the party, is welcome but optional. The test for each section is simple: would a guest who has only the invitation still need to ask?
The five things every guest needs
Date, time and place. The full date with the year, the ceremony start time, and the venue name with a street address that works in a map app. Guests screenshot this section more than any other; make it the first thing on the page.
Getting there and staying over. The nearest airport, the hotel block with its booking deadline and code, shuttle times if there are any, and parking. If the ceremony and reception are in different places, say how guests move between them and how long it takes.
Dress code, in plain words. 'Cocktail attire' means different things in different families. Add one line about the setting: grass, sand, a stone floor, an unheated barn in October. Guests choose shoes on that line.
RSVP, with a deadline. Say how to reply and by when, and make the deadline at least two weeks before your caterer's final count. On a Lazo site the RSVP is on the page and every reply lands in your planner with meals and plus-ones attached, so the deadline is the only thing you have to decide.
The registry. Link it; do not describe it. A short note in your own words ('your presence is the gift; if you would like to give more, we have gathered a few things for the house') does the work the invitation cannot.
The things that stop the texts
A schedule of the whole day, with times, not just the ceremony. Guests plan their afternoon around when they can leave. If there is a welcome drink the night before or a brunch the morning after, put those on the schedule too, with who is invited.
A FAQ, which is where the awkward answers go: whether children are invited, whether there is a plus-one, what happens if it rains, whether the ceremony is unplugged, whether there is a cash bar. Writing these down once saves you saying them twenty times, and guests would rather read them than ask.
Something local for people travelling in: three places to eat, one for coffee, one thing to do with a free afternoon. On a Lazo site the nearby section fills itself from the venue, with your own picks first.
The things that make it yours
How you met, in a paragraph, not a page. Guests read it; long versions get skimmed. A cover photo and a small gallery of the two of you, not the engagement shoot in full.
Your wedding party by name, if you like, with a line each. Your vendors, if they are good, because guests ask who did the flowers.
What comes after. Most wedding websites die the morning after with a countdown stuck at zero. A Lazo site flips to married mode: the countdown turns into days married, the RSVP becomes a thank-you, and a guestbook and chapters carry it on.
What to leave off
Anything a stranger should not know: your home address, the passcode to the site, the hotel room block details if the site is public. If you want the details private, add a passcode and put it on the invitation.
Gift amounts, dress-code policing, and long lists of rules. One warm line beats three stern ones.
What to actually do about it
- Ask your venue for the address guests should use, not the postal one.
- Large venues often have a guest entrance a street away from the registered address. The venue coordinator knows which one the map should point to.
- Ask the hotel for the block deadline and code in writing, then put both on the site.
- Blocks release on a fixed date and guests miss it. The website is the only place every guest will see the deadline.
- Ask your caterer for their final-count date and set the RSVP deadline two weeks before it.
- The gap is where you chase the last twelve replies. Without it, the count is a guess.
Common questions
Should the wedding website have a password?
Only if you would be uncomfortable with a stranger reading it. Most couples leave the site public and keep addresses and room-block codes off it. If you add a passcode on Lazo, the site also stays out of search engines.
How much should we write about ourselves?
One paragraph on how you met and one on the proposal is plenty. Guests are there for the logistics; the story is the reward for scrolling.
Do we need a FAQ section?
Yes, if only for children, plus-ones and the rain plan. Those three questions generate more texts than everything else combined.
The vendors this depends on
Every review on Lazo comes from a couple who proved they actually got married with that vendor, and rankings can't be bought at any price.