“Ducks, we've got a problem!“

Our collaboration with WeddyPlace marks one of the longest and most dynamic partnerships in our company's history. Over the years we adapted to various working models, reflecting the needs of both WeddyPlace and the ever-evolving wedding sector.

The journey started almost nine years ago with Vanolia, a subsidiary product that allowed couples to create personalized wedding websites and mobile apps. At that time, WeddyPlace had not yet been established. The initial request was to fix Vanolia, which had been left in a dire state due to poor development practices. The platform required significant improvements and the task was to stabilize its functionality.

After improving Vanolia, we enhanced its theme management system and introduced new wedding themes. Daniel and his team were searching for a reliable development partner who could not only execute tasks efficiently but also respond quickly to their needs - something they hadn't found elsewhere.

So, we did something about it:

Phase 1: Groundwork

Once we received the request, the first step was to analyze the existing codebase. At that time, the business operated under the name Vanolia, a platform dedicated to personalized wedding websites and mobile apps. It was an unusual combination of stack - an approach that presented some efficiency challenges. Pressed by time constraints, the team needed a solution fast, and ducks, we delivered.

Phase 2: Transition and Web Development

As the business evolved, Vanolia was integrated with WeddyPlace, a broader and more ambitious wedding planning platform. By February 2017, we found ourselves in Berlin, working directly from their office to plan and develop their new platform.

Our expertise in UI/UX consulting and frontend development became instrumental in shaping WeddyPlace's user experience. Initially, their in-house team took over development, but soon, the necessity for a mobile app brought them back to us.

Phase 3: Mobile Application

We developed a hybrid mobile app (iOS & Android), which significantly increased engagement. 70% of the platform's usage came from mobile at peak times, leading to a 40% increase in user registrations. Following the app's success, we also developed a vendor-focused application to help service providers track their orders and statistics more efficiently.

Phase 4: Technical Support

As WeddyPlace grew, so did their infrastructure needs. We played a crucial role in:

• Migrating their entire ecosystem to a new infrastructure for better stability and performance.
• Providing ongoing business & technical consulting to optimize their scaling strategies.
• Taking full responsibility for infrastructure maintenance and platform support in the final year of collaboration.

We also developed:

• Marketplace: A central hub for vendors and a key access point for all other services.
• Wedding budget planner: Enables couples to allocate and track their wedding budget effortlessly.
• Wedding checklist: Helps couples organize tasks and milestones effectively.
• Admin panel: Facilitates comprehensive system management.
• Vendor panel: Allows vendors to manage their profiles and offerings.
• Blog: Drives traffic through informative content related to wedding planning.
• Online store: Offers a variety of wedding-related products.

Note: Some of these components were partially developed by us, while others were built in collaboration with the WeddyPlace internal team.

Challenges & Lessons Learned

The project was anything but smooth sailing. There was a mix of technologies (React, Vue, Angular) scattered across different parts of the system. This made support and further development incredibly complex, as our team had to be proficient in all three frameworks. And duuuuucks, we did it!

The collaboration with WeddyPlace's founders is always rewarding.

Developing cutting-edge digital solutions, from web platforms to mobile applications, allowed us to directly impact their business growth. Creating the hybrid mobile apps for iOS and Android, optimizing performance with Angular, React, and Vue and ensuring backend stability with Node.js were all key milestones. Seeing these technologies come together to enhance user engagement and vendor accessibility was incredibly fulfilling.

And in Conclusion…

Our partnership with WeddyPlace evolved over the years and we grew together! From web development and infrastructure scaling to mobile development and UX optimization we played a pivotal role in shaping the platform's functionality and effortless processes. With each phase - whether it was modernizing their tech stack, refining the user experience, or launching new features - we contributed to making WeddyPlace a leading digital wedding marketplace.

Reviewing the work successfully accomplished, it reflects our team's dedication, remarkable adaptability, innovative mindset and ability to deliver comprehensive web and mobile solutions. Our contributions, spanning from product development to strategic consulting and technical support, were pivotal in driving WeddyPlace's growth and success. It was an intense, rewarding and unforgettable journey!