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Features
Despite being a sub-service within Minted, the wedding site functionality is surprisingly comprehensive. The overall experience is very pleasant, and users find a high level of convenience. The core builder includes clever little ideas here and there, like being able to download the guest list, or the ability to hide events from the guests until they reply to the RSVP. There is a present registry where you are able to inform people about your gift preference. As for the travel and destination section, the system automatically adds a Google Map link that shows the exact location of your wedding events. Minted’s wedding websites have a pre-set list of pages you can include, which keeps couples from creating overly bloated invitations. Sadly, some essentials are missing from the free account. The most painfully absent feature is the photo gallery, which only unlocks by becoming a full-fledged member. The premium package also includes a custom domain name and the ability to hide the site from uninvited visitors.
Various Extras
Speaking of invitations, Minted offers a huge selection of paper invitations made by high artistic calibers. You can go through the free samples, and then order the paper version of the one they like. Naturally, these invite templates can be further customized by changing the size, shape, color and so on. They will be posted in a beautiful envelope, with the guest addresses already printed on them. But the forethought of Minted Wedding doesn’t stop there: the same level of quality and choice is present with the save the dates, which are also available. Then they have a catalog full of attractive wedding accessories like program menus, place cards, wedding decors, announcement cards and table numbers.
Mobile & Apps
Although it doesn’t really impact the wedding site building process, smartphone support still plays an important role in managing the preparation. People always have their mobile devices at hand, and being able to modify or change details on the invitations or the guest list is always a huge help. Unfortunately, Minted totally lacks any form of proper smartphone friendliness. Not having an independent app for Android and iOS is excusable, as rarely any other wedding site builder has these. But the total absence of smartphone compatibility makes the service unusable on smaller devices. The pages are crammed with information and images, making it hard to load and even the end result feels jumbled. The images aren’t resized, thus they look small and indistinct. There are no interface changes, which makes it hard to navigate with your finger. There is no building tool created for mobiles and we caution everyone from relying on it.
Setup
Starting with Minted Wedding Website is an easy and stress-free process. The site itself promotes the idea of registration, and you only need to provide some basic information about yourself to earn the right for a free account. Note that a custom domain is only available if you purchase it; otherwise the system generates one randomly for you. The actual editing process is smooth and easy, although it might be because there are very little to do. Most of your website is already drafted for you, the only changes you can make is the addition of some pages (travel, events, registry etc.), but creating these feels like filling out generic paperwork.
Designs
While the actual editing may feel like a chore, browsing the template gallery is where the real fun begins. Minted has a huge stockpile of designs, and lots of them are wedding related. There are 116 in total, with their creator’s name displayed below them. It’s Minted’s nature to let people freely express their creativity, which leads to a diverse portfolio of themes. The available design templates really look and feel different. They use various colors and background elements, plus the font changes as well. This is made even better with the ability to choose from three different layout variations that truly spice things up. The creators themselves often included fixed color variations to break up the monotony and provide more room for your own creative desires.
Pricing
Minted advertises itself as a “design marketplace”, which is a fitting metaphor considering their stance towards content distribution. Minted gifts all newcomers with a free account, but your actions have been cut short. For the full website building experience – that includes custom domains – you need to pay a one-time fee of $35. This is quite an interesting move on Minted’s part, as other wedding site providers demand a subscription.
But you can have a shopping cart full of other features if you wish so. The paper wedding invites start from $1 per piece, but you’ll probably wish to purchase larger quantities from them. This is coupled with the posting fees that can go up to $34.95 if you have a “Rushed” order. The save-a-dates are around $1.06 per piece, but again, they are bough in larger quantities. There is also an option to buy framed pictures of yourself for $29. Going through the full catalog of wedding announcements, table papers and decorations would be quite extensive, as they tend to differ in prices.
Customer Support
Since Minted is a bit more diversified and encompasses more than other wedding site builders, it’s no wonder people may feel lost among all the potential designs. To make sure users don’t feel discouraged, Minted created a highly informative website that feels and reads like a wedding catalogue. They also present quite a lot of inspirational material to make sure your imagination gets wings. Minted is also confident enough to provide their phone number and email address, alongside the ability to chat with an agent during workhours. Sadly, the FAQ section is more for general kinds of issues related to every aspect of Minted, of which the wedding website builder is only one minor part.
Bottom Line
After finishing our tour with Minted’s wedding website builder, we come to the conclusion that the service leans towards traditional couples. While other wedding sites providers are focusing on a modern way to manage the preparations and inform everyone online, Minted is more like a tool for making a nice little invitation for the guests, which complements the grandness of the ceremony well. You are presented a free to use account but the content available is quite barebones, and it’s stripped from the most exciting features. Although the customization is far less extended, they make up for it with a huge gallery of custom made designs and convenient features. Still, their biggest strength lies in the ability to order beautiful invites in nicely addressed envelopes, and choose from an astonishing number of other wedding related accessories. Although Minted Wedding Websites focuses more on selling these extra items, the building tool is still worthy for a try.
Positives
- Clever little features
- Extensive catalog of wedding accessories
- Free profile
- Beautiful designs
Negatives
- The free version is bleak
- Disastrous mobile support
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Karma Raines says
Awful website – you cannot send a link to your guests from the website itself – you have to personally email them. We discovered this after populating all of the emails into each event. But don’t think you can just download the guest list and copy/paste, oh no. You download the guest list, and it populates guest names but not email addresses, so then you have to individually cut and paste each address. Emailing guests from your personal email could confuse guests where to rsvp, on the site or to your email!
Shannon says
I researched a lot of wedding websites before picking this one mostly because of this article but I am so disappointed. Loved it at first glance because it was easy to set up and the price was affordable. However I was upset before the first day was over. We are having a potluck reception and we were going to use the website to keep guest informed of head count and dishes being brought however due to technical difficulties on the websites end we cant do this. Customer support has emailed me several times saying they are working on it but it has been three weeks and the problem still not fixed.
Daniel (Best Reviews Team) says
Hello Shannon, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. We’re always eager to go through our readers’ feedback, as it means a lot to us.
First of all, congratulations on your engagement. We’re sorry to hear that you’re having issues with Minted. Planning a wedding is already stressful as it is, and having problems communicating with your guests makes things even worse. Hopefully, the company will be able to fix its technical difficulties soon.
We wish you a beautiful wedding day!
Patreese Ingram says
I am extremely dissatisfied. The instructions on the cite are not user friendly. First of all, customers should be told that they must create an account before beginning to create an order. Even after I created an account, I was told that the company could not find my account. Long story short, after being on the cite creating and recreating my order and talking to 3 different online Chat persons from the company I have spent about 5 hours trying to get an order placed. I finally gave up. I will try a different company. I will not use this company, nor will I encourage anyone else to do so.
Daniel (Best Reviews Team) says
Hello Patreese, and thank you for your comment. We’re sorry to hear about your experience with Minted.
Your account likely had some kind of a bug because the account creation process was pretty seamless when we tested the software. Did you confirm your email after setting up the account? Some companies only create the user’s profile after this step is completed.
We hope that you’ve found a service that suits your needs, and we wish you the best with your wedding website.