Introduction: How to Create a Wedding Planning Website Using Wix.com

Building a website has never been easier after following these steps. Wix.com is a professional website generator that anyone can use to create a FREE website. They have hundreds of templates you can use. You can also search for the type of website you want to build and quickly get started. Through these steps we are showing you how to create a wedding planning website, however, these steps can be followed for almost any template on the website. Wix.com can be a little confusing to understand at first, but  follow these steps and building your very own website can be much simpler.

Step 1: Create Wix Account

1.  Sign up for a wix account.
          - Click Login/Sign up in right hand corner OR the Purple 'Start now' button in the middle of the
            page. 
2. Select 'I'm a new user' button. 
3. Fill out all required information.
4. Click 'blue' Sign Up button.

Next
5. Select a category. 
          - To get to wedding planning website templates: Select Business & Services, then check
            Weddings & Events.
6. Click 'GO'.
7. Templates will then come up.

This account is FREE for all users and they will not ask for any type of payment information upon signing up.
Caution: there are hundreds of free website templates to use, but there are a few that you have to pay for. I would not recommend paying for a website template. There are tons of good ones to choose from and you can always change layouts, colors, etc. of existing ones to meet your style later.

Step 2: Pick Website Template

You can choose any template you would like, however, we are showing you how to make a wedding planner website. 

1: Type in "wedding planner" in yellow highlighted search engine
2: Scroll through templates
           -We chose the pink Jack and Ann website to model in these instructions.
3: Click the blue 'view' button to see an example of the website
4: Once you find a template you like, click the blue 'edit' button. 

Step 3: Understanding How to Navigate Your Website

Once you have chosen your website you must then start the editing process.

What you can do with left panel:

Picture 1:

Pages
          - Adding or deleting pages
          - Create subpages
          - Reorder pages

Design
          - Change background, colors, or fonts

+ Add
          - Choose elements you would like to add to your site
          - i.e.: text, apps, images, social media, buttons, menus

Settings
          - Change your site settings 
          - i.e.: Change the site address, search google for answers, manage social media, add statistics

App Market
          - Add media markets to your website

Picture #2:

To navigate through pages:
            - Click on the pull down button that says (page:) 
            - Select the page you want to go to so you can edit it.

Step 4: Create Your Website Pages

To change the names of the pages:
         1. Select 'Pages' on left tool bar
         2. Select blue icon at the right of the page names
         3. This will bring up 'settings and SEO'
         4. You can change the name of any page on this bar

To create and personalize your website pages you will need to edit the text within each page.

To edit text:
         1: Click on text in desired page
         2: Blue task panel will pop up giving you text options
         3: Click edit text
         4: Write desired text
Hint: In 'edit text' you can also change your font and text size (Shown in photo 5)
Hint: To delete a text box click the little trash can icon located at the bottom right of the task panel (Shown in photo 2)

Website pages that you will need for a wedding website and content: (These could differ depending on the type of website you are creating)

Home page
This page is the first page that viewers see when they come onto your website. It should have a great capturing photo that draws users in. Then it should have:
           - The Name of your company
           - The Location of Company
           - A Capturing picture
           - Your Mission Statement (or a quote)
           - A Copy right at bottom
             
About Us
This page is where potential clients or viewers will get to know you as a company. This helps them get to know you before even meeting you and can be considered the first impression. It should contain:
            - Your business story (How your business started)
            - A little about yourself as a person (If applicable)
            - Pictures of all people in the business (This helps clients visualize who they will be working
              with)

Gallery
For wedding planners, showing photos of past events is so important. This allows potential clients to get to know what style of wedding they like to put on. Clients love to be able to view past weddings you have done. It lets them get ideas for their wedding as well. In the gallery you should include:
            - Photos of past events (Photo #3)
            - Descriptions of photos (In Photo #4)

Pricing
Having pricing on your website is very important. This allows potential clients to have an idea of what your services will cost before getting in touch with you. If you do not add pricing clients could fall in love with your services, then it be too expensive for them to pay for. This could upset potential clients. On the pricing page you should include:
          - Lists of wedding planning pricing
          - Any pricing packages you offer
                         - Detailed description of all packages and services. I.e. What's included. 

Past events
The Past events page is similar to the Gallery page, but instead of a few pictures from each wedding, you should have all of the pictures from a few past weddings so that potential clients can see what their wedding could look like. You can also include at the bottom of the page:
          -Testimony from clients that have used you

Contact Page
This is the page where clients can get in touch with you. It should have:
          - All forms of contact; email, fax, and phone

Caution: This is a good time to save your work!

Step 5: Adding Images

Once your text is edited to your liking it is time to change the images to match the text on each page. 

To Add Images
           1: Click + 'Add' on the left tool bar.
           2: Click 'image' (image box will appear)
           3. Choices will appear and Click 'image' again
           4. A Sample Image will appear
           5: Right click sample image
           6: Click Change Image
           7. New box will pop up
           8. Click Orange 'Upload Image'
           9. Select Images from your computer you would like to add
           10: Click 'open' to put them into your wix file
           11. Select blue 'change image'

Step 6: Adding Images to the Gallery

To add images to the gallery:
           1. Right click an image in the gallery
           2. Click 'organize images'
           3. A pop up will come up asking if you want to change the images
           4. Click 'Add Images' to add your own images to the gallery
           5. Follow same steps as before to add images
           6. After adding your images an 'organize images' screen will pop up. (pictured)
           7. Title your photos and add a description
           8. Click 'ok'
           9. After adding all the images you want you can arrange them with the arrows above the
               images

Hint: You can edit your images in the image settings!

Step 7: Save and Preview

Once you have put all of the information you would like on your website follow these steps:

1: Save your work one last time
2: When you are completely done editing- click publish
3: Insert your site name
Caution: This will be what you use to search your website, so make sure you know what you want it to be.
4: (Pictured) Slide red buttons to green to set privacy (optional)
5: Click 'blue' OK button
6: You are now published to Wix!