We were asked to revamp and re-design the website for stunning Tauranga wedding venue L'Orangerie
I was approached by Rebecca to revamp her wedding venue website and after visiting the spot just up the road, I took on the challenge with gusto
The old website hadn’t been touched for a number of years, had very little information about the venue itself and had a selection of imagery but it was generally all very small and really didn’t show how amazing the venue was and generally felt quite outdated.
It was also impossible for Rebecca to update, so the new site had to be easy to maintain without the need for developer each time she wanted to add an image or a supplier.
After talking through what she wanted from the website, I first created a detailed siteplan of pages - new pages to add value both from a user point of view but ones that would also bring more benefit from an SEO point of view as well once agreed came the wireframes and initial designs. Rebecca was keen to write the content.. The venue is so personal to her ( she built it herself ) so it was important for her personality to come through.
Into the build we went and I was lucky enough to have a huge array of amazing professional photographs to choose from… For such a stunning location it was more of a case of which one rather than can we find one. Again these choices become important to Rebecca so I ended up teaching her how to use some photo editing software and she now knows her webp files from her jpegs and how to save for web like a pro! This has now given her the freedom to update and pick the images she likes for her website.
This was very much a collaboration and we did lock design horns on a number of occasions where I was pushing for best practise, accessibility and the user but that just comes down to communicating your thinking and presenting an understanding of the what and why. I think we both ended up with a few compromises but what project doesn’t.
The outcome I think is fantastic.. A well presented website, one where the tone is very much Rebecca and you get a sense of the dedication, commitment and effort that goes into creating weddings for those that use the venue. One that she can update and tweak with ease and one that really showcases this amazing venue she’s created.
I’m really excited that we’ve got this live and am excited to be able to help her show off her amazing venue.
A really heartfelt THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to Alex (dollop.design) who is the master of Website Design . . a technological magician . . and the most patient, supportive . . generally just the nicest guy you could ever hope to work with.
