The story behind Wens on Web
Wens on Web started in 2020 with a surprise for Nathalie’s parents. They had been married for 40 years, but because of corona we could not celebrate it together the way we normally would.
So we looked for a way for friends and family to still contribute something personal. Not loose WhatsApp messages or Facebook congratulations, but one place where everyone could leave a message, a photo or a memory.
Maarten built the first version, Nathalie gathered family and friends, and together we turned it into a surprise. The reactions were so beautiful that afterwards we wondered: why doesn’t something like this exist for everyone?
That simple idea became Wens on Web.
It started with one surprise
In 2020, Nathalie’s parents had been married for 40 years. A special moment we would normally of course have celebrated together with family and friends.
Only 2020 was anything but a normal year.
Because of the corona measures we could not simply gather with everyone. Nathalie still wanted to surprise her parents and started thinking about a way for family and friends to contribute something personal from a distance.
The idea was actually very simple: what if everyone could leave a wish, a memory or a message online?
We briefly thought of just making a Facebook page. But with Maarten, web designer at Creativitijd, in the house, another idea came quickly.
Why don’t we just make something ourselves?
We built a simple website and sent the link to family and friends. Everyone could leave a personal message for the 40th wedding anniversary.
Congratulations came in, memories, photos and stories. All in the same place.
And that is how, without us realising it at the time, the very first version of Wens on Web came into being.
And then they still had to find the page
Making the page and collecting the messages was one thing. We also wanted to turn it into a real surprise.
On their wedding anniversary, Nathalie’s sister Annelies dropped by her parents to deliver the gift.
But simply saying “we’ve made a website for you” felt a bit too easy.
So we turned it into a small treasure hunt.
First they got a riddle with which they had to work out the website’s domain name themselves. Once they got there, they still needed a password.
That password was on a drawing by the grandchildren.
Because of the corona measures Nathalie could not be there herself and followed from Limburg via FaceTime as her parents discovered the page.
They read the messages, looked at the photos and discovered what family and friends had left for them.
There was laughter, and a few tears too.
The reaction was much bigger than we had expected beforehand.
And that is actually when Wens on Web really began.
From one family gift to Wens on Web
After that evening the idea stayed with us.
What we had made for our own family turned out to be something many more people could use.
Because at a birthday, wedding, retirement, birth or anniversary, plenty of people often want to say something personal. Only those messages end up everywhere.
A card from one person. A WhatsApp message from someone else. A photo via Messenger. A clip in a separate chat. A few more congratulations by email or social media.
And afterwards everything is scattered.
We wanted to make that simpler.
With Wens on Web one person creates a page and shares the link. Friends, family or colleagues can then add something themselves. A few words, a lovely photo, a funny memory or a clip.
That way everything ends up in the same place by itself.
And in the end you are not just giving a page as a gift.
You are giving something that a lot of people made together.
The idea is still the same
Since 2020 Wens on Web has changed quite a bit. The first website was very simple and mainly made to make one surprise possible.
Today you can use Wens on Web for all kinds of moments.
For a birthday where friends want to make something together. For a colleague who is retiring after years. For a wedding where you want to collect photos and messages from guests. For a birth, anniversary, graduation, engagement or world trip.
And sometimes it is not about celebrating, but about remembering.
Then too it can be valuable to bring together stories, photos and personal messages from different people.
The moments differ, but the idea behind them stays the same:
everyone has something different to tell.
One person knows a funny story from twenty years ago. Someone else still has a photo almost nobody has seen. And someone else would rather say something to camera than write a long text.
Wens on Web brings all those different contributions together.
The people behind Wens on Web
Wens on Web is not a large company with an anonymous team behind it.
It is still a project of the two of us.
Nathalie
Founder & creative mind
Without Nathalie, Wens on Web would never have existed.
In 2020 she wanted to make something special for her parents and came up with the idea of bringing family and friends together online.
Today she mainly looks at the human side of Wens on Web. What makes a page personal? What do people need to make something beautiful themselves? And how do we keep it easy to involve others?
That first surprise for her parents is still actually the best example.
Don’t make it complicated. Just invite people to contribute something personal.
Maarten
Web design & development
Maarten built the first website for the wedding anniversary in 2020 and is still responsible for the technical development of Wens on Web today.
From Creativitijd he keeps working on the platform, new features and the website.
What started in 2020 with “then we’ll just build something ourselves” has since grown into a full platform.
But there too we try to keep the same starting point: it has to stay simple for both the organiser and the people who add something.
A few versions later
Anyone who used Wens on Web a few years ago will notice that a lot has changed since then.
The platform has been developed further several times, and in 2026 we thoroughly renewed Wens on Web again.
Today you can collect text, photos and videos, adapt your page to the moment you are making it for, and keep the collected contributions afterwards.
With Basic and Premium you can export everything as a PDF. With Premium you can also make a video compilation.
A lot has changed behind the scenes as well.
But what we did not want to change is how simple the principle is.
Create a page. Share one link. Let everyone add something.
It really does not have to be more than that.
Built by Creativitijd
Wens on Web is developed and run by Creativitijd BV, our web studio in Peer.
We think that is important to mention.
On Wens on Web you sometimes make pages for very personal moments and share photos, clips and messages from people you know. Then it is reassuring to know who is behind the platform.
Have a question, is something not working, or do you have an idea you think “this would actually be useful”?
Then your message simply reaches us.
No large helpdesk and no anonymous company on the other side.
We also see how people use Wens on Web and take those experiences with us when we keep working on the platform.
Sometimes it is something small we can make simpler. Sometimes someone brings us an idea we had not thought of ourselves.
That is how Wens on Web has kept growing since that first page.
Get in touch with us
Why we keep making Wens on Web
Because we have seen for ourselves what happens when you ask different people to contribute something personal.
It is usually not the perfect texts you remember.
It is that photo you did not know someone still had. An anecdote you had already forgotten yourself. A clip from someone who could not be there. Or a few simple sentences that say exactly what someone means to you.
That was true of that first page for Nathalie’s parents.
And that is still, in the end, what Wens on Web is for.
Not simply to collect as many congratulations as possible, but to give the messages, photos and stories that would otherwise be scattered a place together.
Now it’s your turn
We made that first page for our own family.
Now anyone can do the same for someone who is having a birthday, getting married, retiring, having a baby, saying goodbye, or who simply deserves a little extra attention for another reason.
Create a page, share the link and invite friends, family or colleagues to add something.
Who knows, your page might become just as much of a surprise as the one this all started with for us.