CrazyLeaf Editorial You’ve spent the past year fine-tuning your wedding business’s social media presence, creating awesome blog content, and even researching local SEO.
But with 2017 almost over, it’s time to start thinking about how you plan to grow your wedding business — and your online influence — in 2018.
One of the things that many companies often neglect?
The importance of website design. How your website looks has a huge impact on your sales. Plus, with over 2 million couples getting married each year in the United States alone, the competition to win over their business has never been stronger.
So, which web design trends will be taking over the wedding industry in 2018?
Read on to find out.
1. Hand-Drawn Illustrations
In the past, filling your wedding website with countless photographs of happy couples, rose-gold wedding rings, and of course, the all-important dress, was all the rage.
But now things have shifted to a more interpretative, charming design trend: sketched illustrations of all things wedding.
When it comes to the drop-down menu sections on your site, one of the most popular web design trends is to differentiate each one with a special picture.
Ask a local artist to sketch an elegant drawing of a tiered cake on the section of your website relating to cakes and catering. When it comes to flowers, have someone dream up a beautiful, colorful sketch of a bouquet to use as a background image.
Want to help potential brides-to-be get to know the members of your team? Instead of including tired, over-lit headshots of your employees, replace them with stunning hand-done drawings of
your wedding and event planners.
This is a wonderful way to set yourself apart from the competition and make your website memorable. Who knows? Couples may be coming to you to ask if you can connect them with an artist to draw portraits for their save the dates!
Need a little inspiration?
If so, check out this Thames Wedding website. Its homepage is filled with elegant and fun clickable icons and drawings that make it easy for readers to find exactly what they’re looking for.
2. Bold Colors
in 2017, one of the biggest web design trends for wedding businesses was minimalism. You likely got used to all things black and white.
But in 2018, things are moving onto a much more festive place. Neutral colors are a thing of the past! Now, couples want your website to express their excitement and celebrate the vibrancy of their big day by using bright, bold, and even neon colors.
First of all, going bold will help cement your website in people’s minds. But more importantly, bright shades appeal to the all-important millennial market. For best results, try washing your wedding website in millennial pink or the new “Color of the Year,” ultraviolet!
To keep your bright design from becoming completely overwhelming, it’s best to limit yourself to no more than three shades. As always, ensure that the colors you choose don’t compromise either the professionalism of your site or your visitors’ ability to read your text.
3. Instant Chat Features
One of the biggest wedding web design trends of 2018 will undoubtedly be the instant chat feature.
Be honest with yourself: how many insane emails from panicked brides does your wedding business receive every week?
Wouldn’t it be nice to let a robot automatically answer some of the most common queries, taking some of the stress off of you (and certainly, off of the bride?)
Enter the chatbox, which instantly pops up when someone visits your site and asks them if they need assistance. These chatboxes encourage people to stay on your site for longer (meaning you’ll rise in search engine rankings.) Plus, especially when people are shopping online, it’s up to you to replicate the in-store experience as much as possible.
Having a customer service agent on call will make it much easier for you to close the deal — and will cut down on those bridezilla emails.
4. Imitating Couples’ Wedding Websites
These days, future brides and grooms have a lot of digital wedding planning to do.
They have to find the perfect filter for that all-important engagement ring photo, craft the perfect
“I said yes!” status, and of course, immediately make an account on countless wedding planning sites.
One of the most important things that today’s couples need to consider?
Their personal wedding websites.
Usually, a couple’s wedding website will include a countdown to the big day, a brief story of how they met, bios about the wedding party, tons of photos, and links to their registry.
In 2018, this rite of passages for couples will begin to influence the web design trends of wedding business websites.
For example, under your site’s “Our Story” section, you could include a brief retelling of your own wedding, and what first inspired you to get into the wedding business. Instead of “How We Met,” try “Who We’ve Helped,” and include a slideshow of past brides and grooms.
Instead of links to a registry, create an index of popular vendors in your area. The options are unlimited here, so don’t be afraid to show some personality and have fun!
What Other Web Design Trends Should Your Wedding Business Know About?
Now that this post has given you access to some of the biggest wedding website design trends for 2018, we know that you’re ready to jump into redesigning your site.
But remember, design isn’t the only thing you’ll need to consider when it comes to helping your website to increase its conversions and rise in the search engine rankings.
You’ll also need to strategize about SEO, site speed, social media, mobile-friendliness, and much more!
We know that, like planning a wedding, a lot goes into creating the perfect website for your business. We’re here to help you make sure that everything goes according to plan.
Check out our website and blog for daily digital marketing advice. With our help, you’ll be able to help more couples than ever in 2018.
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