Brides looking to stay on top of their wedding plans are flocking to the internet in search of helpful wedding resources, planning tips and ideas. And they're not being disappointed. Wedding product and service providers are delivering powerful and informative websites that specifically cater to today's tech-savvy bridal demographic.

The latest trend the online wedding scene has experienced is the surge in popularity of personal wedding websites. Busy couples are recognizing the positive attributes of a personal wedding website, which enable them to:

• Talk about themselves: To better acquaint themselves with guests and family members, brides and grooms often post stories of how they met or got engaged, personal bios, future plans and bridal party introductions.
• Communicate effectively: Couples may tactfully and effectively convey important details such as gift registry information, travel accommodations, maps, directions and schedules of events. As well, they can use their personal wedding website to politely inform their guests of necessary, but potentially sensitive material such as adult only notices and dress code guidelines.
• Collect accurate RSVPs: With a personal wedding website, brides and grooms can always stay informed of the most recent guest responses and RSVP totals, along with meal choices, summaries and all corresponding details. Some wedding website providers offer couples a secure, private administrative center where they may log in to view this information at any time and, if necessary, make changes to their personal wedding website.
• Share fun extras: Brides and Grooms also have the opportunity to share favorite photos, display countdowns and decorate their personal wedding website in custom colors, themes and styles.

Brides and grooms interested in obtaining a personal wedding website of their own have several options available to them.

First, couples can hire a custom web designer for a one of a kind wedding website. This option often allows Brides and Grooms to match their exact wedding styles and colors. However, custom wedding websites may have a high price tag, ranging from a few hundred dollars well into the thousands.

Second, a handful of the larger wedding portal and resource sites allow couples to build a single wedding webpage for free. A free wedding webpage usually serves to inform guests of gift registries and some even allow the inclusion of a photo. Though they do present a no-cost alternative, free sites come at a price in that they are limited in functionality, are usually difficult for wedding guests to locate and have advertising throughout.

The third, and perhaps most popular approach is to use a template-based wedding website provider. Couples are given a choice of features and designs that have been integrated into a user-friendly system. Brides and grooms can then add their own content mainly by completing forms and uploading digital images. This option is reasonably priced and usually costs between $5 and $15 per month. Template-based wedding websites can offer the best of both worlds by providing quality, instant access and affordability.

The rise in popularity of personal wedding websites is likely to continue as more and more brides and grooms are seeing just how hard a personal wedding website can work for their benefit. Personal wedding websites conveniently harness the flexible nature of the internet to provide an affordable and dependable online service, and are a sure way to make every couple's Big Day better.

About the Author
Michael Benson is President and cofounder of WedQuarters.com, a leading wedding website provider. WedQuarters offers complete personal wedding websites, enhanced with online and toll free wedding RSVP services.