Upload a digital wedding program to your Squarespace site for guests to view (5 step tutorial)
If you’ve ever wondered how to upload PDFs to your Squarespace website so that other people can view or download them, this will walk you through it!
Recently, a wedding planner asked me:
“I want to add a wedding program to my site so that guests at the ceremony can just scan a QR code and pull the program up on their phone. This would also be useful for reception menus, thank you notes, gratuity guides, etc., so when guests sit down they have something to read. How would I go about doing that?”
I looove this idea, so let’s talk about the 5 steps to set it up! You’ll want to start at the end goal (the document you want to share) and work your way backwards.
Here’s the full breakdown :)
Step 1: Create the PDF Itself
In case you’re not already using it every day of your life, I 1000% recommend Canva for this (and any digital design needs).
Your document can be any size and dimensions that you feel is appropriate for your purposes. It can be one page or multiple pages.
Just start a new document from scratch or choose one of their template designs to start with.
Once you have your design perfected, download the file using the ‘PDF Standard’ option.
At this point, I would make sure that the file is named something relevant. For example “Julie and Matt Ford Wedding” instead of “Untitled-2” (lol happens to the best of us).
Step 2: Upload Your PDF to Your Squarespace Website
Now you need to upload your file to your Squarespace site; so log in to your website’s back end.
Under your ‘Not Linked’ section, hit the plus sign *as if* you’re going to add a new EXCEPT— instead of clicking ‘Blank Page’, scroll down to the bottom and choose “Link”.
In the popup window, title your document (people will be able to see this later). Then click the settings gear icon.
Under the ‘File’ tab, you’ll select ‘Upload File’. Upload it!
Next, make sure you click on the file that you just uploaded, so that a checkmark appears next to it.
Be sure to save both of the popup windows. Now your PDF has been officially uploaded to the internet, so it can be seen by anyone with the link!
Step 3: Grab the Web Link to the PDF
You should now see the file listed under your ‘Not Linked’ section in your Pages panel. When you open the settings for it, you can view the link extension that has been created for your file. It should look something like:
/s/file-name.pdf
Highlight that link and paste it somewhere safe on your computer. When you add your main website address to the front of it, you’ll have your full web link. My website is byemilyjane.com, so my full PDF link in this case would be:
byemilyjane.com/s/file-name.pdf
Step 4: Create a QR Code for Your Link
The next thing you’ll need is your custom QR code (aka new age barcode) that connects people to your PDF once they scan it through their phone.
You can use a free online QR code generator. I like the one from Shopify. (You do unfortunately have to sign up with your email address with most of these, but it’s totally worth it as you can unsubscribe at any time).
They’ll send your custom QR image to your inbox, where you can download it onto your computer!
Step 5: Display Your QR Code Publicly
Now you get to decide how you want to share the QR code for people to actually use.
For example, you can create another design in Canva and get it professionally printed. Then place it at the table at your wedding, near the entrance to the ceremony, or at their seats!
Once a guest scans the code with their phone’s camera, they will be immediately directed to the PDF file, which will be hosted on a hidden page on your site :)
pretty cool, right?!
I’d love to hear how you plan on implementing this strategy. Leave a comment for me below! ⇩
