So much has changed and shaped the wedding industry in the past years. One of the most important developments is the need to have a current website to appeal to millennial brides. Because, truth is, if a bride or groom visits your website and it’s outdated or not mobile-friendly, they’re almost guaranteed to find another wedding vendor.
After all, your website is your face. Your brand. It should be reeling in as many couples as possible. That’s why I’ve compiled the top seven web design trends that will take your wedding business website into the present and future.
1. Flat design
This trend isn’t going anywhere. Flat design is focused on using simple shapes, elements, typography and flat colors. So, it’s anything but three-dimensional. There are no special effects like shadows, gradients or textures to give the illusion the illustration is real. Thus, in essence, your website should look less busy and focus more on simplistic designs. By creating a simple website with flat design, your site will look less distracting to brides. Sure, it may seem cool at first to have a flashy website. But, is there a reason it’s flashy? Is it necessary? More importantly, can couples navigate through it without feeling frustrated? If the answer isn’t yes, it’s time to redesign your website.
2. Mobile UX (User Experience)
The growth of mobile devices is unstoppable, and web design has risen to the challenge of adapting to it. One of the most important parts of mobile design is getting your layouts right, and minimalism continues to lead the pack through 2018. You shouldn’t take the shortcut and use a software that creates a separate mobile site. This is because Google gives ranking preference to sites that are already mobile-friendly and don’t require an external site. Make sure your most important information about your wedding services is at the forefront of your website and prominent on a phone as well.
3. Micro-interactions and other animations
These days, micro-interactions are so ubiquitous we hardly pay attention to them at all. However, it’s impossible to deny their importance when it comes to good UX design.
They’re essentially small animations based on an action such as a button click. The best micro-interactions succeed in two aspects:
- They convey the effect behind an action (such as liking a post on Instagram).
- They don’t distract users from the overall experience.
For instance, if a bride is filling out a form on your website and clicks submit, the submit button may be a micro-interaction. Take a look at the examples below.
They’re already a mainstay when it comes to app design, and as web navigation continues to evolve, we expect websites to start incorporating them en masse as well.
4. More imagery
This past year saw websites embrace a more image-driven approach to design and storytelling. Wedding photographers, florists, entertainment companies, planners, and venues alike should take advantage of strong imagery on their website, but if you want to create a more compelling and interactive website, try a video header or other videos as opposed to photography. Brides crave an interactive, vicarious experience when viewing your site.
5. Cards over tiles.
5. Cards over tiles.Pinterest led the charge of tile-based design, but now the tides are turning towards their more informative counterparts: cards. But what are cards? They are a box that contains images, headlines, texts, or call to actions. Unlike Pinterest, cards are the same size. They don’t vary in length like tiles that stack up like bricks. They line up equally on the same plane. For example, an entertainment company might have several different card layouts that showcase different offerings such as DJing, lighting, photo booth, etc.
6. More content.
6. More content.Drive more traffic to your website with relevant blog posts. Google gives preference to pages with fresh content. So dust off your blog! In the wedding industry, brides are bombarded with information from the moment they become engaged. You should take the opportunity to lead them to your website and guide them with all the useful information they need to make a decision. The more information on your website, the easier it is for a bride to make a choice.
7. White Space.
Gone are the days where you can try to clutter your website with as much information as possible in a small amount of space. More and more designers are moving toward employing lots of white space on your site. This is to ensure that the focus of the eye does not get easily distracted from your message. Not only does it ensure a better user experience, its more aesthetically pleasing to the eye and helps your website attract more leads.
Try to think of your website from the brides’ perspective, because it works in two ways for you. The white serve as a reminder to her wedding, and employing the white space guides the brides’ eye easily over your website, drawing her to your businesses’ benefits and call to action.
If you think it’s time for a new wedding business website or redesign, contact me so we can talk and get you started.
