A wedding website that also works on the day

Some very close friends are getting married in 2027. About 120 guests.

It needed to be more than a nice-looking website: RSVPs, table planning and making the day itself easy.

An RSVP isn't just yes or no. Each guest can bring plus-ones, each with their own menu, and you have to know who needs the bus.

Those answers decide the tables. On the day, every guest has to find their seat without asking anyone. And, if they like, leave the couple a photo with a message.

The couple run all of this. They're not technical, and they want to change everything themselves: text, photos, guests and tables.

I did all of it: product, design and build.

The key decision was not to build three separate things. The website, the tools for the day and the panel are three products built on the same codebase, database and storage.

So the tables the couple set up in the panel are the same ones guests find with the QR code. Nothing is copied by hand from one place to another.

RSVP without codes. Nobody wants to hunt for a code on the invitation. You type your name and the website finds you on the list.

A separate touch version. The website is heavily animated, and on a phone that slows things down. On touch screens there's no parallax and no heavy effects, so it runs smoothly.

Find your table on your own phone. On the day, lots of people will be on their phones at once. Once the floor plan is open, the search runs on the phone, with no need to connect again.

Photos straight to storage. Photos upload from the phone without going through the website's server. The server only gives permission to upload; the file goes direct.

Four pieces, one shared base:

• Public website: a single, heavily animated page. It opens with an envelope that unfolds over 36 frames, the schedule is a line that draws itself as you scroll, and there's a countdown to the day.

• RSVP: you type your name, confirm and add your plus-ones one by one, each with their menu (adult, children's, vegetarian, coeliac, allergies…). You also say if you need the bus and leave a comment. No codes.

• Tools for the day, with QR codes: in "Find your table" you type your name and the floor plan zooms in on your chair. For the photo message, you take a photo, add filters, some of the 46 stickers and a few words, then download it as a polaroid-style print. The photo challenge and the shared album are built, but they show as "coming soon".

• Couple's panel: they see RSVPs and menus, manage guests and plus-ones, and set up the tables by dragging each guest to their chair. From there they print the floor plan in A3, change any text or image on the website and export to Excel.

So far, 50% of the guests have confirmed through the website. 95% are expected to.

The couple love how easy it is to manage. And that it's 100% what they wanted.

Under the hood: about 20,000 lines of code and 65 commits between March and June 2026.

My takeaway: a product for a single day is designed for that moment. That's why there are no codes, you find your table on your phone and the couple run the panel on their own.

The real test comes in 2027.