Part of getting married these days is having a wedding website. There are tons of options out there—both free and premium—but my fiancée wanted something a little more bespoke. She asked whether I would build a custom site and she offered to do the graphics and help plan/design the site. I enthusiastically agreed (how could I say no?) and got to work building the prototype.

As with all my projects, I wanted to use this opportunity to learn some new skills, so I decided to delve into the world of CSS pre-processing. This seemed like an ideal skill to add to my arsenal for this project, since Emma would be making the aesthetic decisions for the site and I wanted to be able to easily swap out fonts and colors to help her choose. I chose LESS pre-processor for its ease of setup and its flexibility, and I was able to get set up quickly.

I set up the initial structure of the site (with Taylor Swift themed placeholder content) and then let Emma do her magic.

Integrating Emma’s designs and colors proved to be easier than expected with the structure I’d built, particularly the LESS variables I had in place. I also ended up experimenting with the CSS3 flexbox features I hadn’t used before, and they were invaluable in getting everything laid out the way Emma wanted while maintaining the mobile-responsive design I hoped to achieve.

The end result is nothing more impressive than any of my other projects, but it holds a special place in my heart because of the event it represents. You can check out the full wedding website (which no longer the full Swiftie theme, but you may spot one holdout) at ItsASmallConnellWorld.com.