Problem Statement Wedding planning is fragmented. Couples spend hours across dozens of websites researching vendors with no central place to browse, compare, save, and reach out to multiple vendor types at once. Vendors lack an affordable platform to showcase their work and receive qualified inquiries directly from engaged couples.

Solution & Approach Built a full-stack wedding vendor marketplace using Next.js 14 App Router with React Server Components — all data-fetching pages render server-side with zero client-side loading spinners on first paint. The platform features two authenticated portals (couple and vendor) and an admin approval workflow. Vendor photos upload directly from the browser to Cloudinary, bypassing the server entirely. The inquiry system supports multi-turn threaded conversations with a senderRole field distinguishing vendor replies from couple follow-ups. Route protection is enforced at three independent layers: Proxy Middleware (edge), Server Component session check, and API route ownership validation.

Key Highlights - Next.js 14 App Router with React Server Components — zero client-side loading on first paint - Three-layer auth: Proxy Middleware + Server Component check + API ownership validation - Direct Cloudinary upload pipeline — images bypass the server, only metadata stored in PostgreSQL - Multi-turn inquiry conversation system with senderRole field for threaded vendor/couple dialogue - Admin approval workflow — listings hidden until approved, with full vendor review panel - Full-text vendor search with category, location, and price range filters - 3 user roles (Couple, Vendor, Admin), 7 vendor categories, live demo accounts on login page