If you're planning to send your wedding invitations digitally, you may be wondering whether you also need a wedding website.
The answer is: not necessarily.
Digital wedding invitations can be as simple as an image or PDF, or they can include animation, music and video. At Motion Stamp, we create animated wedding invitations that are sent to your guests as video, with the option to add a matching single-page wedding website.
We call this an invitation webpage.
Our single-page wedding websites are custom-made specifically to feature your animated video invitation. Rather than adding your video as an extra piece of content to a traditional wedding website, the invitation is the centrepiece of the page, with your wedding details, RSVP and useful links designed around it.
This is a little different from most traditional wedding websites, where a video invitation isn't usually the main focus. Our invitation webpage is designed to bring the video invitation and practical guest information together in one place.
For many weddings, that's all you need.
Do I Need a Full Wedding Website?
It really comes down to how much you want your wedding website to do.
If you'd love somewhere to share your story, introduce your wedding party, add photo galleries and provide detailed travel information, then a traditional wedding website can be a wonderful addition.
But if you're thinking, “I really just want somewhere for everyone to RSVP and find the event details,” you probably don't need all of that.
A simple single-page wedding website can host your digital invitation and give your guests easy access to the practical details they need.
This is particularly useful with a video wedding invitation because a standard video file can't contain clickable links. Your guests can watch your invitation, but they can't tap the video to RSVP, open Google Maps, book accommodation or visit your gift registry.
That's where an invitation webpage becomes genuinely useful.
What Should a Simple Wedding Website Include?
The aim isn't to include everything you could possibly tell your guests. It's to make the information they actually need easy to find.
A standard Motion Stamp invitation webpage includes:
- Your animated wedding invitation
- Your names
- Wedding date and time
- Venue and location details
- A clickable Google Maps link
- RSVP information and due date
- A button linking directly to your online RSVP
Your webpage is also custom-designed to match your invitation, using the same colours, fonts and graphics.
If you've chosen a pink floral invitation, for example, those same florals and design elements will carry through to your webpage. It should feel like a natural extension of your invitation rather than a separate page you've sent your guests afterwards.
Most importantly, your animated invitation remains the feature of the page. The practical information sits around it rather than the video being added as an afterthought.
Why Put This Information on A Webpage Instead of In the Invitation?
Your wedding invitation should absolutely contain the important details. The difference is what happens when your guests need those details again later.
Your invitation creates that lovely first impression. But three weeks later, when your guest is trying to remember the dress code or find the venue while sitting in the car, they probably don't want to scroll backwards and forwards through a video looking for the information.
With a webpage, they simply reopen the link.
Need the venue? Tap Google Maps.
Haven't RSVPed yet? Tap the RSVP button.
Need the accommodation booking link? It's right there.
Your webpage gives guests somewhere practical to return to after they've enjoyed the invitation itself.
What Else Can I Include on My Wedding Webpage?
This is where a single-page website can become surprisingly useful.
Along with the essential wedding information, you can include things such as:
- Dress code
- Gift registry links
- Honeymoon funds
- Wishing well information
- Bank account details for monetary gifts
- Accommodation recommendations
- Group accommodation booking links
- Destination wedding discounts
- Additional venues and Google Maps links
- A link to an existing wedding website
- Other information that's useful for your particular celebration
Rather than asking your guests to copy a long web address from your invitation or search for something themselves, these can simply be provided as clickable links.
How Do Online Wedding RSVPs Work?
Every Motion Stamp invitation webpage can link directly to an online RSVP.
We provide matching Google Forms RSVP templates that you can copy into your own Google account. Once you've made a copy, the form belongs to you and you have control over the questions and responses.
For a simple wedding, your RSVP might only need to ask:
- Will you be attending?
- How many guests will be attending?
And that's perfectly fine.
But your RSVP can also do considerably more.
You might want to ask about dietary requirements, allergies or meal selections. If your celebration runs over several days, you can also find out exactly which events each guest plans to attend.
For example, you might have welcome drinks on Friday, the wedding on Saturday and a recovery brunch on Sunday, with different guests attending different parts of the celebration. Your RSVP can collect all of this information in one place.
Our templates include a range of pre-made questions and question types to give you ideas, and you can keep, remove or change them to suit your wedding.
What Happens to My RSVP Responses?
Google Forms automatically collates the information your guests submit.
Under the Responses section, you can see who's attending, who can't make it, guest numbers, dietary requirements, meal selections and responses to the other questions you've chosen to ask.
This can be particularly helpful when you're working out final numbers or giving your caterer an accurate count of how many people have selected each meal.
We've chosen Google Forms because it's flexible, familiar and easy to use.
Most importantly, the form belongs to you rather than Motion Stamp.
Once you've finished setting it up, simply send the form's URL to us and we'll connect it to the RSVP button on your webpage.
Can I Change My RSVP After Sending My Invitations?
Yes, and this is one of the advantages of owning the form yourself.
If you suddenly realise you forgot to ask about allergies, need to change a meal option or want to add another question, you can simply edit your Google Form.
The RSVP button on your webpage still points to the same form, so your guests will automatically see the updated version.
There's no need to resend your invitation or ask Motion Stamp to update your RSVP every time you make a change.
What About Destination Weddings or Multiple Venues?
This is where having one central place for your wedding information can really help.
For a destination wedding, you may have arranged a discounted accommodation rate or group booking for your guests. We can include a link that takes them directly to the appropriate hotel or resort booking page.
If your wedding takes place across several locations, we can also include individual Google Maps links with clear information for each venue.
You might have a ceremony in one location, a reception somewhere else and another event the following morning. Rather than expecting guests to keep track of several addresses, everything can be kept together on the webpage.
What If I Already Have a Wedding Website Like Zola or The Knot?
That's no problem at all.
We've created invitation webpages for many couples who already have a full wedding website.
You don't need to choose one or the other.
Your Motion Stamp webpage can be the home for your animated invitation and essential wedding information, with a button or link taking guests through to your existing wedding website for everything else.
If you've already spent time creating accommodation pages, travel advice, photo galleries and your story, there's absolutely no reason to recreate it all.
The two can work together.
Is A Single Page Wedding Website Enough?
For many couples, yes.
A Motion Stamp invitation webpage isn't intended to be a smaller version of a traditional wedding website. It's a custom page built around your animated invitation.
The video is the feature, not an add-on.
We don't provide multiple pages, photo galleries, detailed “How We Met” stories or profiles and photographs of your wedding party. If those things are important to you, a full wedding website is probably the better option.
But if what you really need is somewhere for your guests to watch your invitation, RSVP, find directions and access a handful of useful links, a single page may be all you need.
You don't necessarily need a ten-page wedding website. You need somewhere your guests can easily find the information they're looking for.
How Is a Motion Stamp Invitation Webpage Created?
The webpage is an optional addition when ordering a Motion Stamp animated wedding invitation.
If you choose one, we create your video invitation and matching webpage together and send both to you as a first draft.
You can check all the wording and details and add information you may not have thought of when you originally placed your order.
One round of revisions is included for both your invitation and webpage.
Once everything is approved, your webpage receives its own personalised URL, usually including your names.
The page is hosted on the Motion Stamp domain, so there's no need to purchase, register or manage your own domain name. For a webpage designed specifically around your wedding invitation, this keeps things simple without the extra cost or administration of managing a separate domain.
How Do I Send a Wedding Invitation Webpage?
Once your webpage is ready, sharing it is very simple.
Copy your personalised URL and send it to your guests through:
- iMessage
- Messenger
- SMS
- Other messaging services that support web links
You don't need different links for different devices or different guests.
Each Motion Stamp webpage also includes its own webpage title, description and matching link preview image, sometimes called an Open Graph or OG image.
If you've chosen a floral invitation, for example, your link preview might feature the same flowers. When supported by the messaging app, this gives your guests a preview of the invitation before they've even opened it.
Link previews are controlled by the individual messaging platform, device and privacy settings, so they won't necessarily appear in every situation. This doesn't affect the invitation itself, and your guest can still open the webpage normally.
Can I Send the Webpage by Email?
Absolutely.
The simplest option is to paste your invitation webpage URL directly into your email.
For something a little more polished, you could write a line such as “You're invited to our wedding” and make those words a clickable link to your invitation.
Motion Stamp doesn't create or send these emails on your behalf, but this can usually be set up quite easily within your preferred email service.
So, Do You Need a Wedding Website?
Not every couple does.
If you'd love somewhere to share photographs, tell your story, introduce your wedding party and provide extensive travel information, then a traditional wedding website can be a wonderful addition to your plans.
If what you really need is somewhere for your guests to watch your digital invitation, RSVP, get directions and access a few important links, a simple single-page wedding website may give you everything you need.
That's the idea behind a Motion Stamp invitation webpage. It's custom-made around your animated invitation, allowing the video to remain the centrepiece while keeping all the practical details your guests need close at hand.
Your invitation creates the experience. Your webpage keeps everything your guests need easy to find.
If you're looking for a simple way to combine a beautiful animated invitation with practical wedding details, a Motion Stamp invitation webpage gives your guests both in one place.
