Travel Technology - Looking to design web page for wedding

I need some expert advice. I am getting married in November and am looking to design and host a web page for up to date information and to RSVP for two seperate parties.

I checked Yahoo and the domain that I am considering is available for about $12 a month. Is this high? They are offering me up to 10,000 hits a month, 200 email addresses, etc. Here is the link http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/hostingfeatures.php

Finally, what is the best way to design a web page? I have limited experience in HTML codes, but would like something a little jazzed up. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

I need some expert advice. I am getting married in November and am looking to design and host a web page for up to date information and to RSVP for two seperate parties.

I checked Yahoo and the domain that I am considering is available for about $12 a month. Is this high? They are offering me up to 10,000 hits a month, 200 email addresses, etc. Here is the link http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/hostingfeatures.php

Finally, what is the best way to design a web page? I have limited experience in HTML codes, but would like something a little jazzed up. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Anything close to around $10/month is fair and the hosting should be pretty reliable with Yahoo. There are also loads of domain registration/hosting options at webhostingtalk.com.

As for site design, if you're up for to a bit of a challenge, you could try elance.com, scriptlance.com, rentacoder.com and others. Plenty of people out there can do this work cheaply, but it depends how involved you want to get in the process...

Check out 1and1.com, I'm pretty sure their web page design templates include wedding templates. Plus they are really cheap AND come with free domain names.

I need some expert advice. I am getting married in November and am looking to design and host a web page for up to date information and to RSVP for two seperate parties.

I checked Yahoo and the domain that I am considering is available for about $12 a month. Is this high? They are offering me up to 10,000 hits a month, 200 email addresses, etc. Here is the link http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/hostingfeatures.php

$12/month??? Yeesh. YGPM

>Finally, what is the best way to design a web page?

I can't help you with the html, but here are some things to include:

- General details: Date & Time of reception, Date & Time of wedding
- Links to google maps showing location of wedding, location of reception etc.
- Links to local hotel options that are $, $$, $$$ and $$$$
- Links to tourist attractions for out-of-towners
- Link(s) to gift registry
- FAQ. General questions might include: What to do between wedding and reception (if applicable); If kids are welcome at wedding and/or Reception; Distance between events, Info on parking, info on customs and traditions (i.e. communion rules if it's a Catholic Wedding Mass), whether it's an open bar or cash bar etc etc etc etc

Have a great day!

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada
(Married last October)

Things you'd need to buy/rent/steal:
1. A domain name
2. A wedding-themed cascading style sheet (CSS) template that handles fonts, spacings, layouts, border images, background images. Google is your friend.
3. Digital photos (you and the lovely MrsFIUAL to be), can be resized for fast loading
4. 4-5 organized pages of content (the CSS will handle the physical layout, you just worry about what goes into which slot)

Questions to consider:
5. What are you going to do with the site after the wedding? Dispose, archive, transform into a section of TheFightingIlliniUALFamily.org?
6. Will you want to add/edit content (e.g. news, photos) over time before the wedding? If so, once/twice, or weekly?

Unless you're, I dunno, Angelina Jolie or the Prince of Wales or something, your wedding website is not going to require a lot of resources. Most couples I know do just fine with the basic site that comes with your weddingchannel.com or theknot.com account, and others are plenty happy setting their up as a blog account on Typepad or Blogger or some similar free service. They're easy to edit and have plenty of built-in themes.

If the situation is going to require fiualandmizaaeternalweddedbliss.com , the 1and1.com beginner plan ($2.99/mo) is more than adequate (5GB disk space-- most wedding websites I've seen use 2MB at the most, or 0.04% of that!).

As far as content, gglave and ElmhurstNick have your basics covered. If you're ambitious, you could post names and/or photos of the wedding party, short biographies, the story of how you met, and/or why you chose the time/place for the wedding. The bride's friends especially will love that stuff. Also, if you have a member (or members) of your wedding party coordinating shared transportation and lodging for different circles, this would be the place to let all the guests know.

Tons of awesome information! Once I consult with the general, err, fiance, I'll make sure to keep you all up to date regarding the site's design. Thanks again.

Absolutly everybody is going to go to theknot.com to see if you have a page there, where you are registered, etc. You may as well just put something up there. It's easy, everybody expects there to be a wedding page there, and knows how to manage it.

I would then get a domain like mikeandanna.com or whatever works for you for $9 a year and forward it to your page there, and tell everybody you at tomandsally.com or whatever it is.

Way easier then setting it up from scratch, and it's the first place people look for wedding details.

When you're all done with the wedding, check out www.blurb.com to make a really cool keepsake.

p.s. Congratulations! :D

Template Monster wedding templates (http://www.templatemonster.com/category.php?type=0&tid=+-+Any+-&search_words=+-+Any+-&from_=&to=&cat=75&style=0&author=0&x=47&y=9) .

Ya'll all know I cannot do things the easy way...

Ok, go on e-bay.com and get a $40 old PC. Then find a copy of Office 2000.
Its free for download from Microsoft but they are pushing SharePoint 2003 which only runs on windows server. The 2000 version runs on XP also.

On the Office 2000 CD is a package called SharePoint. It doesnt install by default, but its a slick web portal server that you can install on top of windows XP with the SQL desktop engine... Its really easy to create a 'portal' style site with sections for registry, directions, dates, photo albums, etc.

Another (open source) alternative (that can be loaded into a hosting server) included PHPnuke...mixed reviews...but it does work.

We did our wedding site on SharePoint 2003 and I ran it out of my house. Then again I have a pretty big upstream connection, so it wasnt a problem. Also, its not like you are going to get a TON of traffic.

Finally, if I was going to do it today:
I'd get a wordpress blog for the site. Then get a flickr account for the photos. Wordpress can handle everything you want to do in terms of posting news, registry links etc. If you dont like their templates (and free hosting) then download their Linux software (for free) and load it on a hosting plan (I like www.registerfly.com for domains and hosting) and find your own wedding CSS theme.

good luck and congrats!!!!

>Then find a copy of Office 2000. Its free for download from Microsoft

Huh? Office 2000 is free? URL please.

>I ran it out of my house.

Most ISP terms-of-service contracts prohibit this. Of course with a little bit of traffic they probably won't know / care, but by the letter-of-the law this isn't allowed. A bigger issue with running it out of your house is getting a static IP, so the IP address you give to your family and friends stays constant. I just hosted my wedding page at the webspace my ISP provided. It was more than adequate.

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver

Ya'll all know I cannot do things the easy way...

Ok, go on e-bay.com and get a $40 old PC. Then find a copy of Office 2000.
Its free for download from Microsoft but they are pushing SharePoint 2003 which only runs on windows server. The 2000 version runs on XP also.

On the Office 2000 CD is a package called SharePoint. It doesnt install by default, but its a slick web portal server that you can install on top of windows XP with the SQL desktop engine... Its really easy to create a 'portal' style site with sections for registry, directions, dates, photo albums, etc.

Another (open source) alternative (that can be loaded into a hosting server) included PHPnuke...mixed reviews...but it does work.

We did our wedding site on SharePoint 2003 and I ran it out of my house. Then again I have a pretty big upstream connection, so it wasnt a problem. Also, its not like you are going to get a TON of traffic.

Finally, if I was going to do it today:
I'd get a wordpress blog for the site. Then get a flickr account for the photos. Wordpress can handle everything you want to do in terms of posting news, registry links etc. If you dont like their templates (and free hosting) then download their Linux software (for free) and load it on a hosting plan (I like www.registerfly.com for domains and hosting) and find your own wedding CSS theme.

good luck and congrats!!!!


Whoa... back up a little there...

1) Office 2000 is FREE? Where? When? Links please!

2) Sharepoint is part of Office 2000? Since when? Links please!

3) $40 PC's that'll run XP and Sharepoint server? Links please!

Absolutly everybody is going to go to theknot.com to see if you have a page there, where you are registered, etc. You may as well just put something up there. It's easy, everybody expects there to be a wedding page there, and knows how to manage it.Interesting... I just checked 3 couples and they're at www.weddingchannel.com and not theknot.com. SO... to increase the chance of getting a gift put something on both! :)

Whoa... back up a little there...

1) Office 2000 is FREE? Where? When? Links please!

Me too, please :)

Whoa... back up a little there...

1) Office 2000 is FREE? Where? When? Links please!

2) Sharepoint is part of Office 2000? Since when? Links please!

3) $40 PC's that'll run XP and Sharepoint server? Links please!

No, sharepoint is free for download...maybe i mis-typed

Sharepoint is part of office 2000 pro at least...check any CD...its an MSI called office web tools or something. Google is your friend

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-HP-XM600-HIGH-END-WORKSTATION-COMPUTER-SERVER_W0QQitemZ8824795267QQihZ005QQcategoryZ51119 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Darn, $6 over + shipping (was $46 at time of posting)... I'm not saying I'd want to use it for anything besides serving web pages...but over most home connections the bottle neck is going to be bandwidth anyway.

I need some expert advice. I am getting married in November and am looking to design and host a web page for up to date information and to RSVP for two seperate parties.

I checked Yahoo and the domain that I am considering is available for about $12 a month. Is this high? They are offering me up to 10,000 hits a month, 200 email addresses, etc. Here is the link http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/hostingfeatures.php

Finally, what is the best way to design a web page? I have limited experience in HTML codes, but would like something a little jazzed up. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Take a look at www.wedquarters.com - they have many templates and RSVP, guest book functions, etc. $25 per year - and you can pay a little more for the unique domain name. It is completely idiot proof....I have already tested it for you.

My biggest concern was having a destination wedding, and living overseas...how do I coordinate RSVP's? My reply cards point to the website where you can have a password if you wish for guests, and also get additional information from them such as; meal choice, etc.

Congratulations!

For Mac users, iWeb has one template designed for weddings and several others not specifically wedding-oriented that would work well. iWeb integrates nicely with .Mac. It's super-easy to add the content, and updates happen with one click.

General information, photos, movies, and a blog can be set up there. There's not a good web form for RSVPs yet. It would be possible to point people to theknot.com for that, I suppose. There are some custom templates and add-ons for iWeb out there to add some of this sort of thing. I used a utility called iComment to add a guest list to mine.

I have recent experience with this option and would be happy to pass along the domain if requested via PM. I created the site in a couple of hours without looking at a single HTML tag.

I set up a domain through godaddy.com to point to the .Mac site. I know gdaddy gets a lot of bad press, but it's working great for me. I have another domain registered at register.com, and it is not as easy to customize and wants to charge me for things that are free at godaddy. I much prefer godaddy.

What is it this spring with engagements this year? There are a lot of us all of a sudden, it seems.

I did a fairly simple website for our wedding last september. I used adobe goLive for the layout and html. hostin was through ixwebhosting.com and included email accounts that we used for people to rsvp. one thing to be aware of; some of your guests may not be computer savvy, so its probably a good idea to include rsvp cards and return envelopes with the invitations. check it out if you want to see another example-
www.brianandbeckywedding.com

wedquarters sounds perfect!