Wedding Website Must-Haves Checklist: 13 Items Every Indian Wedding Site Needs (2026)

A wedding website in 2026 is not a vanity project. It's the operational front-end of your wedding — the place your 500 guests will check, on their phones, when they want to know what time the baraat starts. Treated as decoration, it generates more questions than it answers. Treated as a tool, it eliminates 70 to 90 percent of the comms load that would otherwise crush the family in the final two months.

This is the complete 13-item checklist. Each item is functional, not aesthetic. If your current website is missing more than three of these, rebuild it. The cost is one weekend.

The 13 must-haves

1. Schedule page with per-event detail
2. Per-event RSVP form
3. AI Q&A concierge
4. Dress code with reference images
5. Travel and accommodation logistics
6. Gift guidance or registry
7. Livestream link
8. Photo gallery (updates per event)
9. Contact-the-family section
10. Accessibility information
11. Multilingual support (at least the AI)
12. Mobile-first design
13. Venue map with embedded Google Maps

Below, what each one actually contains.

1. Schedule page with per-event detail

Bold lead-in: one scrollable timeline, sticky nav at the top. The most-visited page on your wedding website by a wide margin. For each event include:

• Date and start time, in IST (and other time zones if you have significant overseas guests).
• Dress code, in plain language ("pastel Indian formal" not "festive chic").
• Venue name, address, and an embedded Google Maps link.
• A one-line description of what to expect.
• ICS calendar download.
• A "you're invited to this event" indicator (driven by RSVP tier).

Put all events on one page with a sticky table-of-contents nav. Don't split events across pages — aunties get lost.

2. Per-event RSVP form

Bold lead-in: ask the minimum, but ask per event. A single "will you attend the wedding?" RSVP is not enough. The same uncle who skips the sangeet always shows up for the reception buffet. The form needs:

• Per-event yes/no.
• Meal preference per event (veg, non-veg, jain, halal, GF, allergies).
• Plus-one yes/no, with name and meal.
• Travel and accommodation help needed?

Keep the form under 8 fields total. Longer forms have 30 to 40 percent abandonment.

3. AI Q&A concierge

Bold lead-in: a chatbot trained on your wedding documents. The 2026 must-have that wasn't on 2024 websites. A static FAQ section answers maybe 20 percent of questions; an AI concierge answers 70 to 90 percent.

How it works:

• Upload your wedding's documents (invite, schedule, venue PDF, dress code, family contacts).
• The AI is trained only on your wedding's data — tenant-isolated, so it doesn't hallucinate.
• Guests ask in their own words and language, get instant answers 24/7.

Many couples handle this with WhatsApp groups. The upgrade is an AI concierge — Mandap Chat is one example, a chatbot that answers guests in 12 languages including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi and Hinglish. Setup takes under 30 minutes. ₹5,000 one-time per wedding.

4. Dress code with reference images

Bold lead-in: pictures, not adjectives. "Indian formal" means nothing across families and generations. Show 4 to 6 reference images per event, with:

• The colour palette per event.
• What not to wear (most Hindu weddings ask guests not to wear white or black to the ceremony).
• Modesty notes for temple venues or conservative settings.
• Footwear notes if guests will be on grass, sand, or stairs.

Tag images with credit if you pulled from Instagram or Pinterest — keeps things professional and avoids takedown issues.

5. Travel and accommodation logistics

Bold lead-in: out-of-town guests need a single source of truth. Include:

• The nearest airport and average Uber or Ola fare to the venue in rupees.
• Hotel block code, name of the hotel, the actual rate.
• Shuttle schedule between hotel and venue, with WhatsApp number of the transport coordinator.
• Suggested packing notes for weather, especially destination weddings in Udaipur, Jaipur, Goa, or Coorg.
• Visa and entry guidance for international guests if relevant.

For destination weddings, this page does more work than the homepage.

6. Gift guidance or registry

Bold lead-in: tell guests what you want. Indian families are uncomfortable saying it directly. Make it easy:

• Specify if you have a preferred shagun denomination (₹501, ₹1,001, ₹2,501 are common).
• Link to a registry if you want experiences or home goods (Amazon India, BlueStone, Pepperfry support wedding registries).
• Or specify a charity if you're redirecting gifts to a cause.

Pick one option. Multiple options confuse guests and reduce completion.

7. Livestream link

Bold lead-in: 10 to 15 percent of your invite list will watch online. Diaspora cousins, elderly grandparents, friends who couldn't travel. The link needs to be:

• Easy to find — a button on the homepage in the final week.
• Time-zone aware — show the pheras start in IST, EST, GMT, AEST.
• Tested in advance from a phone, not just a laptop.

YouTube unlisted, Vimeo, or a dedicated wedding livestream service like LiveOn or Witnessly. Pick one and stop overthinking.

8. Photo gallery (updates per event)

Bold lead-in: don't make guests wait six months for the photographer's full delivery. Within 48 hours of each event, post:

• A 30-photo highlight reel.
• A 90-second video if the videographer can deliver quickly.
• Guest-submitted photos via a shared Google Photos album or WedShoots link.

The full photographer delivery can take 3 to 4 months. The short stuff is week-of.

9. Contact-the-family section

Bold lead-in: when AI can't answer, a human should. This is the safety net. Include:

• Two or three named coordinators (groom-side, bride-side, logistics).
• Their WhatsApp numbers.
• Hours they respond.

The AI concierge handles 70 to 90 percent. The website handles another 5 to 15 percent. The named coordinator handles the remaining 5 percent that needs a human.

10. Accessibility information

Bold lead-in: 5 to 10 percent of a large guest list has accessibility needs. Include:

• Wheelchair access details per venue.
• Ramps, lift access, and accessible parking.
• Hearing-accessibility notes if available (induction loop systems are increasingly common in 2026).
• Notes on stair count, terrain (grass, sand), and seating options for elderly guests.
• A way for guests to flag specific needs via the RSVP form.

This used to be optional. In 2026, it's expected.

11. Multilingual support (at least the AI)

Bold lead-in: meet guests in their language. The static pages can stay in English if your invite is in English. But the AI concierge must answer in at least:

• Hindi
• Hinglish
• One regional language relevant to your family (Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu)

For weddings with significant elderly attendance, broaden the languages. The good AI concierge services support 12+ languages out of the box.

12. Mobile-first design

Bold lead-in: 90 percent of guest visits are on phones. Build the site for the phone, then check it on desktop, not the other way around. Specifics:

• Load time under 3 seconds on 4G.
• Tap targets minimum 44px square.
• Text minimum 16px.
• Forms that work with mobile keyboards.
• No autoplay anything — guests open these in office meetings.

Test the site on your father's 5-inch phone before launch. If he can't navigate it, neither can your aunt.

13. Venue map with embedded Google Maps

Bold lead-in: a screenshot of a map is not enough. Each event venue should have:

• An embedded Google Maps with the venue pinned (not just a link — the actual embed).
• A "get directions" button that opens in Google Maps or Apple Maps.
• Parking instructions specific to the venue.
• Entry gate name (large Indian venues often have 4 to 6 gates).
• Last-mile directions ("after the petrol pump, turn left into the lane next to the white temple").

Saves your security team 50 phone calls on the day.

What you don't need

A few things that look like must-haves but waste your time:

• A custom domain (priya-aur-rohan.com) — guests won't remember it. Use whatever's free.
• Background music. Guests open the link at work.
• A countdown timer. Adds stress, not delight.
• A 1,500-word "our story" page. 200 words maximum.
• A hashtag generator. Nobody uses wedding hashtags in 2026.
• A pinch-to-zoom photo carousel. Just use a Pinterest-style grid.

The launch timeline

The recommended cadence for an Indian wedding website:

| Milestone | When | What to launch | |---|---|---| | Save-the-date | Month 6 | Homepage, basic event list | | Full site | Month 4 | Schedule, dress code, travel, venue maps | | RSVP open | Month 3 | Full RSVP form, registry link | | Final reminders | Week 6 | Reminder email or WhatsApp blast | | AI concierge | Month 2 | Embed the chat widget | | Livestream link | Week 4 | Add livestream button to homepage | | Photo gallery | Event day | Auto-update after each event |

Launch a minimum version early. Iterate weekly. Lock at week 2 before the wedding.

The opinionated summary

A 2026 Indian wedding website serves three functions, in priority order:

1. Operational — schedule, RSVP, travel, AI concierge. This is what guests actually use.
2. Reassuring — gift guidance, accessibility info, contact-the-family. This handles edge cases.
3. Memorable — the love story, the photo gallery, the livestream. This is what guests look back at.

Build the operational layer first. Add the reassuring layer. Decorate with the memorable layer only after the other two work. Couples who invert this order spend ₹40,000 on a beautiful website that doesn't reduce their guest-question load by a single message.