For those of you who are planning your wedding, and want to go tech savvy instead of going the traditional way to keep your friends and family posted about rituals and events, then FirstPhera.com is a good place to start. The portal lets you create your own wedding site complete with pictures, stories, and the works. Here is a quick guide to get your wedding site up and running, well before your big day so that your loved ones can embark on this journey of a lifetime with you!

Getting Started
To begin with, head over to the website and click the Create a Website - Free button and start with the basic design of your website. Depending on whether you are the bride or the groom, check on the appropriate option, enter your wedding day, and hit the Show My Wedsite button. You can then pick a design of your choice from the selections available from the slider at the top. Hit the personalise button to create a login to alter your "wedsite". You can either create a new account or use your Google, Yahoo!, or Windows Live account to proceed. Once done, you are ready to plan your wedding, online! However, before you proceed, make sure that you are using IE or Firefox browsers as the website supports only these for now.

If your wedding is on the cards and you haven't settled on a date yet or need help shopping, this website can help you there too. The Wedding Guide helps you plan a traditional wedding in the real world, while the Wedding Shop section on the website helps you with purchases. You can even pick up the EasyWeddings wedding planning guide book for $4 (Rs 200) containing discount coupons.

It's All About You!
After you sign up, you will be redirected to your wedsite with an interesting flash animation. Once inside, you will be greeted with some love songs to set the mood right, thanks to an internal media player that streams songs live. You can upload a lead image to load with the flash intro as well. Hit the Edit Page button to customise pictures and text, to share your story in your own words. If you are not too good with words, the stock text is good enough to work around as well. If not, the Ideas For This Page button will help you with multiple templates to pick from. Add pictures and blog entries to keep all you loved ones up to date about your wedding preparations.
 

Meeting And Greeting
While preps are an integral part of your wedding plan, arranging for people to attend functions, and directing them to the appropriate venues is just as important. You can set up events, posts invitations, RSVPs, set up navigation maps to guide your guests home, and even get them to sign your digital guest book as a memorable keepsake.


Pleasure Of Gifting
Gifts are welcome only if you get what you want. Therefore, instead of staring at disappointments, why not set up a gift wish list using the Gift Registry service, giving a hint as to what present to get for you? Moreover, this way you can also make sure that there are no duplicate gifts coming your way.


First Trip Together
Why stop at just the wedding ceremonies? The wedsite is available for a good six months, so go on and plan your vacation, starting with your honeymoon. While you can still keep the intimate details to yourself, you can write blog posts and share some pictures from all the trips you embark on as man and wife.


Wrapping It Up
The website is free for the first six months, but that means you have to put up with nagging ad-banners. You can upgrade to a Premium Plan starting at Rs 600 to keep your wedsite alive after the free duration. Alternatively, after six months, you can delete your site and order a CD or coffee-table book. Hope you have a fun-filled wedding and a happy married life too!

Tags : Internet, Kamakshi