An important part of any destination wedding checklist is creating your wedding website. With Joy, you can create a customizable website that adds ease to your wedding planning process. This means offering guests a go-to space for travel tips, event details, dress code guidance, FAQs, and customizable RSVP questions, helping you gather all the information you need to plan your big day.
Your destination wedding website also supports guests in booking accommodations, learning about your wedding location, and more. As you plan your destination wedding with Joy, be sure to incorporate these 11 To Dos.
1. Utilize the booking assistant
Joy’s Booking Assistant feature helps guests find the best deals on a variety of accommodations in the vicinity of your wedding celebrations. This is especially helpful if you haven’t blocked off rooms at certain hotels, or guests would prefer to book more customized accommodations through a service like Airbnb, Booking.com, Kayak, or Hotels.com.
To add the Booking Assistant to your destination wedding website, go to the “Travel” section and click on the plus sign to add a new section. You’ll then select “Booking Assistant” from the “General” category. Next, enter the location of your wedding venue and suggested check-in and check-out dates, to serve as a fool-proof guide for guests as they book travel to your wedding.
2. Offer travel tips
To help guests enjoy your destination to the fullest, include travel tips on your wedding website. These tips can include sightseeing suggestions, insight into the local transit system, if ride share is available, local customs guests should be aware of, and anything else that can enhance their experience. Use this page to provide your favorite restaurants, bars, sights to see, and activities to help guests enjoy your wedding destination to the fullest.
3. Create a detailed FAQ page
Minimize the need for guests to reach out to you with questions by creating a detailed FAQ page. The more detailed you make your FAQs, the more time you’ll save answering guest questions! You can address topics such as the RSVP deadline, wedding dress code, if plus ones are allowed, if children can attend, what type of shoes to wear if you’re having an outdoor wedding, what type of weather to expect, where to book accommodations, and if there are travel requirements that guests should be aware of.
Joy makes creating this page easy by providing a comprehensive list of sample questions and allowing you to add your own.
4. Provide an event schedule
Ensure guests can easily figure out where they need to be, and when, by creating an event schedule on your website. Using the schedule page, you can list the dates, start and end times, and locations of your pre- and post-wedding festivities.
Using Joy, you can also customize the privacy settings of each event on your schedule page; this way, only guests invited to an event can view it on your schedule and RSVP. For a destination wedding trip filled with various events, this is a helpful way to avoid hurt feelings or awkward conversations about who is invited to each festivity.
5. Send free, digital save the dates and wedding invitations
Joy makes it easy for you to send free, digital save the dates and wedding invitations with hundreds of design options for your various wedding events. And because destination weddings typically include more events than a wedding close to home, these digital options can save you major time and money.
Whether your wedding is at the beach, in the mountains, or another location, Joy provides a variety of gorgeous designs to ensure you find one that complements your wedding aesthetic. You can fully customize the text to include standard information such as who, what, when, and where, while the back of the cards offer flexibility for additional information and linking to your Joy wedding website or registry.
6. Use custom RSVP questions
A unique feature of Joy’s RSVP system is being able to customize questions that guests answer when RSVPing to your various wedding events. Common topics include dietary preferences and restrictions, whether the guest will bring a plus one, when they’ll arrive and where they’ll stay, song requests, if they need childcare, and if they’re interested in certain group outings you might be planning. This is especially helpful for all the information you need for a destination wedding trip.
You can also tailor the privacy of each RSVP question, so that only guests invited to an event can view and respond to that question.
7. Take advantage of “plus one controls”
You can assign the number of people guests can RSVP for with Joy’s “plus one controls.” This feature is especially helpful if you’re inviting a couple but not their children, or inviting a guest but not giving them a plus one, as it can prevent awkward questions about who is invited. And when making travel plans for a destination wedding, guests will want to know exactly who is invited!
8. Track all the details with the connected Guest List
You can simplify guest list maintenance by taking advantage of Joy’s connected Guest List. Organize guest lists for each wedding event by using smart guest tags, grouping guests together with their plus one(s) or household, and designating who gets a plus one.
The guest list also makes it easy to access up-to-date head-counts of who is and isn’t attending your various wedding events and who needs a reminder to RSVP. These lists automatically update when someone submits an RSVP, which is helpful when making plans with your venues and caterers to export your latest headcount, guests’ meal selections, and other pertinent information.
9. Important phone numbers
Make sure guests can get last-minute questions answered by designating one or two point-people to field calls or texts before each wedding event. You can include their phone numbers on your “Wedding Details” page and mention that they’re the best people to contact if guests need anything before a wedding event.
10. Directions to venues
As GPS can sometimes be unreliable, it’s ideal to include written directions, a map, parking details, and any other pertinent information about each venue on your wedding website. This way, you can ensure guests have no trouble getting where they need to go. You can also add photos of the venues and, in the case of an historical event space, interesting facts about its background.
11. Create excitement for your destination wedding
You can use the design and information on your destination wedding website to get guests excited ahead of your big day. Joy offers hundreds of designs to help set the tone of your event from the get-go, helping guests feel excited to be on a pristine beach, a tropical botanical garden, the base of a snow-covered mountain, the heart of an old-growth forest, or any other location where you choose to say “I do.”
