A wedding website in South Africa costs anywhere from R0 to over R6,000, depending on the pricing model. Free builders like Wix or Squarespace cost nothing but lack proper registry and RSVP features. Percentage-of-gift platforms look free but take 3% to 8% of every cash gift, which often works out to thousands of rand. A one-time flat fee platform such as Our Big Yes costs R399 once, with no percentage taken from your gifts.
Wedding websites have gone from a nice-to-have to close to standard practice for South African couples. Most guests expect to find your RSVP link, your registry, your travel information, and your story in one place online. The question is what that should cost.
The answer varies more than you might expect, and some pricing models are structured in ways that make the real cost difficult to see upfront. This guide walks through the main options available to South African couples honestly.
Free website builders (e.g. Wix, Squarespace, Canva)
Free tiers from general-purpose website builders can get you a page with some photos and basic information. The limitations are predictable: your URL will include the platform’s branding (yournames.wix.com rather than yournames.ourbigyes.com), templates are generic rather than wedding-specific, and registry and RSVP features either do not exist or require a paid upgrade.
For couples who just want a page to share their story and a link to an external registry, this is a reasonable option at no direct cost. But it requires more manual work to get a result that feels cohesive, and guests often notice when a wedding website looks like a general landing page.
International wedding website platforms (e.g. Zola, The Knot, Hitched)
Several established international platforms offer free or low-cost wedding websites. The catch for South African couples is that these platforms are designed primarily for US or UK markets. Payment processing, registry item sourcing, and support are all oriented toward those markets.
The practical problem: if you want to collect cash gifts, you will typically be forced to use the platform’s built-in gift collection, which then pays out in USD or GBP, triggers currency conversion fees, and may require international bank account arrangements. The currency conversion alone can cost 3% to 5% of every gift, which on R50,000 in gifts is R1,500 to R2,500 gone before you see anything.
Some of these platforms also charge a “cash gift fee” of 2.5% to 3% on top of standard card processing. For South African couples, international platforms are generally not worth the complexity.
Dedicated SA wedding platforms with percentage fees
A number of South African platforms offer wedding websites with built-in registry and cash gift features. These often look free to set up, but charge a percentage of every cash gift collected, typically between 3% and 8%.
To understand the real cost, you need to know approximately how much cash you expect to collect. If your 80 guests each give an average of R1,500, that is R120,000 in gifts. At 5%, the platform takes R6,000. That is a meaningful cost for what is essentially a collection fee on money your guests intended entirely for you.
The percentage model is not inherently unreasonable, but it is important to calculate your expected cost before committing. Platforms that lead with “free to sign up” and bury the gift fee percentage in their terms and conditions are not being straightforward about their pricing.
One-time flat fee platforms
The alternative model is a one-time flat fee to publish or activate your wedding site. You pay once, and then everything (RSVPs, registry, cash gifts, gallery) is included at no additional cost. The platform does not take a percentage of your gifts.
This model gives you complete cost certainty. If you pay R399 once, you know exactly what your wedding website costs regardless of how many guests attend or how much your registry collects.
Our Big Yes uses this model. You can create and preview your full wedding site for free. When you are ready to go live, you pay R399 once. From that point, your site is published and your guests can RSVP, view your registry, and contribute to your cash gift funds with no further fees taken by Our Big Yes. Payment gateway fees (Paystack’s standard rates) apply to cash gift transactions, but those are standard card processing costs that no platform can eliminate.
What features should your wedding website include?
At any price point, a wedding website worth using for a South African couple should cover:
Your story and details: Where and when the ceremony and reception are happening, how you met, your wedding party, and dress code guidance.
RSVP management: Online RSVPs with meal choice collection, dietary requirements, household groupings, and a dashboard showing your confirmed headcount.
Registry: Either a link to an external registry, a built-in wishlist, or cash gift funds, ideally all three.
Travel and accommodation: Venue details, directions, nearby accommodation recommendations, and any transport or shuttle information.
Gallery: Engagement photos or a photo gallery guests can explore.
FAQ: Answers to the questions every couple gets asked repeatedly (is there parking, what is the dress code, are children invited).
Thank-you notes: A way to send personalised thank-you messages to guests and registry contributors after the wedding.
Our Big Yes includes all of the above. See the full feature list for details.
A comparison at realistic gift volumes
To make the cost comparison concrete, here is how different models stack up for a couple with 80 guests averaging R1,500 in cash gifts (R120,000 total):
| Model | Platform cost | Gift percentage | Total platform cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free builder (no registry) | R0 | n/a | R0 |
| International platform | R0 | ~3% conversion + 2.5% fee | ~R6,600 |
| SA platform at 5% | R0 | 5% | R6,000 |
| Our Big Yes (flat fee) | R399 | 0% | R399 |
The flat fee model wins decisively once cash gifts are part of the picture. Even at lower gift volumes, the percentage model cost exceeds a flat fee within the first few contributions.
Which model is right for you?
If you are not collecting cash gifts and just want a page to share your details, a free builder may be all you need.
If you want RSVPs, a proper registry, cash gift collection, and a cohesive wedding site experience, a one-time flat fee platform is the most cost-effective option for most South African couples. The maths are simple: you pay once, you know what it costs, and every rand your guests contribute to your registry goes to you.
The South African wedding website market has improved significantly in recent years but not all pricing models are created equal. Read the fine print on any platform’s gift collection fees before signing up.
If you would like to see what a one-time flat fee model looks like in practice, Our Big Yes is launching soon. You pay nothing until you are ready to publish, and the one-time R399 fee covers everything. Our pricing page has the full breakdown.