How to build your wedding website in an afternoon

You don't need a designer or a spare weekend. Here's the whole thing, start to finish, in about the time it takes to have a long lunch.

1. Gather your bits first

Before you touch the builder, get these in one place. It makes everything faster:

• Your names and the wedding date (or your best guess for now).
• Every event: name, date, start time, venue and address.
• A short version of your story, a paragraph or two is plenty.
• A handful of photos, ideally including a good landscape one for the top.

2. Pick a template

Browse the templates and choose the one that feels like your day. They all show the same information, so you're choosing a look, not a limit. Hit "Make it yours" to open the live editor and see your details drop straight in.

3. Fill in the details

Type your names, date and story into the panel and watch the site update as you go. Toggle sections on or off, if you're not doing a gift list, switch it off and it simply disappears. Nothing you leave blank will show.

4. Add your events and photos

Add each ceremony as its own event with its time and place. Upload your photos for the gallery. Keep the number sensible: a dozen strong shots beats fifty average ones, and the page loads faster for it.

5. Preview, then publish

Preview the whole thing on a private link first and check it on your phone, since most guests will open it there. When you're happy, publish, and share the one link. That's it. You can come back and change anything at any time.