diff --git a/R/combineWidgets.R b/R/combineWidgets.R
index 1356be2..296086b 100644
--- a/R/combineWidgets.R
+++ b/R/combineWidgets.R
@@ -114,19 +114,96 @@ combineWidgets <- function(..., list = NULL, nrow = NULL, ncol = NULL, title = N
                            header = NULL, footer = NULL,
                            leftCol = NULL, rightCol = NULL,
                            width = NULL, height = NULL) {
-  widgets <- lapply(c(list(...), list), function(x) {
-    if (is.atomic(x)) return(structure(list(x = as.character(x)), class = "html"))
-    if (is.null(x$preRenderHook)) {
-      if (is(x, "htmlwidget")) return(x)
-      else return(structure(list(x = as.character(x)), class = "html"))
-    }
-    x$preRenderHook(x)
+
+  widgets <- c(list(...), list)
+  if (length(widgets) == 0) return(combineWidgets(""))
+
+  # create empty widget
+  res <- htmlwidgets::createWidget(
+    name = 'combineWidgets',
+    x = NULL,
+    width = width,
+    height = height,
+    package = 'manipulateWidget',
+    sizingPolicy = htmlwidgets::sizingPolicy(
+      browser.fill = TRUE
+    ),
+    preRenderHook = preRenderCombinedWidgets
+  )
+
+  # Add dependencies of embedded widgets
+  deps <- lapply(widgets, function(x) {
+    if (is.null(attr(x, "package"))) return(NULL)
+    append(getDependency(class(x)[1], attr(x, "package")), x$dependencies)
   })
-  nwidgets <- length(widgets)
+  deps <- do.call(c, deps)
+
+  res$dependencies <- deps
+
+  # Add widget list and parameters
+  res$widgets <- widgets
+  res$params <- list(
+    nrow = nrow,
+    ncol = ncol,
+    title = title,
+    rowsize = rowsize,
+    colsize = colsize,
+    byrow = byrow,
+    titleCSS = titleCSS,
+    header = header,
+    footer = footer,
+    leftCol = leftCol,
+    rightCol = rightCol,
+    width = width,
+    height = height
+  )
 
-  if (nwidgets == 0) return(combineWidgets(""))
+  res
+}
+
+#' Shiny bindings for combineWidgets
+#'
+#' Output and render functions for using combineWidgets within Shiny
+#' applications and interactive Rmd documents.
+#'
+#' @param outputId output variable to read from
+#' @param width,height Must be a valid CSS unit (like \code{'100\%'},
+#'   \code{'400px'}, \code{'auto'}) or a number, which will be coerced to a
+#'   string and have \code{'px'} appended.
+#' @param expr An expression that generates a combineWidgets
+#' @param env The environment in which to evaluate \code{expr}.
+#' @param quoted Is \code{expr} a quoted expression (with \code{quote()})? This
+#'   is useful if you want to save an expression in a variable.
+#'
+#' @name combineWidgets-shiny
+#'
+#' @export
+combineWidgetsOutput <- function(outputId, width = '100%', height = '400px'){
+  htmlwidgets::shinyWidgetOutput(outputId, 'combineWidgets', width, height, package = 'manipulateWidget')
+}
+
+#' @rdname combineWidgets-shiny
+#' @export
+renderCombineWidgets <- function(expr, env = parent.frame(), quoted = FALSE) {
+  if (!quoted) { expr <- substitute(expr) } # force quoted
+  htmlwidgets::shinyRenderWidget(expr, combineWidgetsOutput, env, quoted = TRUE)
+}
+
+# Private function used to prerender a combinedWidgets object
+preRenderCombinedWidgets <- function(x) {
+  widgets <- lapply(x$widgets, function(w) {
+    if (is.atomic(w)) return(structure(list(x = as.character(w)), class = "html"))
+    if (is.null(w$preRenderHook)) {
+      if (is(w, "htmlwidget")) return(w)
+      else return(structure(list(x = as.character(w)), class = "html"))
+    }
+    w$preRenderHook(w)
+  })
+  nwidgets <- length(x$widgets)
 
   # Get number of rows and cols
+  nrow <- x$params$nrow
+  ncol <- x$params$ncol
   if (!is.null(nrow) && !is.null(ncol) && nrow * ncol < nwidgets) {
     stop("There are too much widgets compared to the number of rows and columns")
   } else if (is.null(nrow) && !is.null(ncol)) {
@@ -141,13 +218,13 @@ combineWidgets <- function(..., list = NULL, nrow = NULL, ncol = NULL, title = N
   ncells <- nrow * ncol
 
   # Relative size of rows and cols
-  rowsize <- rep(rowsize, length.out=nrow)
-  colsize <- rep(colsize, length.out = ncol)
+  rowsize <- rep(x$params$rowsize, length.out=nrow)
+  colsize <- rep(x$params$colsize, length.out = ncol)
 
   # Get the html ID of each widget
-  elementId <- sapply(widgets[1:ncells], function(x) {
-    if (is.null(x)) res <- NULL
-    else res <- x$elementId
+  elementId <- sapply(widgets[1:ncells], function(w) {
+    if (is.null(w)) res <- NULL
+    else res <- w$elementId
 
     if (is.null(res)) res <- paste0("widget", floor(stats::runif(1, max = 1e9)))
 
@@ -155,13 +232,13 @@ combineWidgets <- function(..., list = NULL, nrow = NULL, ncol = NULL, title = N
   })
 
   # Construct the html of the combined widget
-  dirClass <- ifelse(byrow, "cw-by-row", "cw-by-col")
+  dirClass <- ifelse(x$params$byrow, "cw-by-row", "cw-by-col")
 
   widgetEL <- mapply(
     function(id, size) {
       sprintf('<div class="cw-col" style="flex:%s;-webkit-flex:%s">
-                 <div id="%s" class="cw-widget" style="width:100%%;height:100%%"></div>
-               </div>',
+              <div id="%s" class="cw-widget" style="width:100%%;height:100%%"></div>
+              </div>',
               size, size, id)
     },
     id = elementId,
@@ -177,78 +254,29 @@ combineWidgets <- function(..., list = NULL, nrow = NULL, ncol = NULL, title = N
   content <- sprintf('<div class="cw-content %s">%s</div>',
                      dirClass, paste(rowsEl, collapse = ""))
 
-  if(!is.null(title) && !title == "") {
+  if(!is.null(x$params$title) && !x$params$title == "") {
     titleEl <- sprintf('<div><h2 class="cw-title" style="%s">%s</h2></div>',
-                       titleCSS, title)
+                       x$params$titleCSS, x$params$title)
   } else {
     titleEl <- ""
   }
 
-  if (is.null(footer)) footer <- ""
-  else footer <- paste0("<div>", footer, "</div>")
-  if (is.null(header)) header <- ""
-  else header <- paste0("<div>", header, "</div>")
-  if (is.null(leftCol)) leftCol <- ""
-  else leftCol <- paste0("<div style='height:100%'>", leftCol, "</div>")
-  if (is.null(rightCol)) rightCol <- ""
-  else rightCol <- paste0("<div style='height:100%'>", rightCol, "</div>")
+  if (is.null(x$params$footer)) footer <- ""
+  else footer <- paste0("<div>", x$params$footer, "</div>")
+  if (is.null(x$params$header)) header <- ""
+  else header <- paste0("<div>", x$params$header, "</div>")
+  if (is.null(x$params$leftCol)) leftCol <- ""
+  else leftCol <- paste0("<div style='height:100%'>", x$params$leftCol, "</div>")
+  if (is.null(x$params$rightCol)) rightCol <- ""
+  else rightCol <- paste0("<div style='height:100%'>", x$params$rightCol, "</div>")
 
   html <- sprintf('<div class="cw-container">%s%s<div class="cw-subcontainer">%s%s%s</div>%s</div>',
                   titleEl, header, leftCol, content, rightCol, footer)
 
-  data <- lapply(widgets, function(x) x$x)
-  widgetType <- sapply(widgets, function(x) class(x)[1])
+  data <- lapply(widgets, function(w) w$x)
+  widgetType <- sapply(widgets, function(w) class(w)[1])
 
+  x$x <- list(data = data, widgetType = widgetType, elementId = elementId, html = html);
 
-  x <- list(data = data, widgetType = widgetType, elementId = elementId, html = html);
-
-  # create widget
-  combinedWidget <- htmlwidgets::createWidget(
-    name = 'combineWidgets',
-    x,
-    width = width,
-    height = height,
-    package = 'manipulateWidget',
-    sizingPolicy = htmlwidgets::sizingPolicy(
-      browser.fill = TRUE
-    )
-  )
-
-  deps <- lapply(widgets, function(x) {
-    if (class(x)[1] == "html") return(NULL)
-    append(getDependency(class(x)[1], attr(x, "package")), x$dependencies)
-  })
-  deps <- do.call(c, deps)
-
-  combinedWidget$dependencies <- deps
-
-  combinedWidget
-}
-
-#' Shiny bindings for combineWidgets
-#'
-#' Output and render functions for using combineWidgets within Shiny
-#' applications and interactive Rmd documents.
-#'
-#' @param outputId output variable to read from
-#' @param width,height Must be a valid CSS unit (like \code{'100\%'},
-#'   \code{'400px'}, \code{'auto'}) or a number, which will be coerced to a
-#'   string and have \code{'px'} appended.
-#' @param expr An expression that generates a combineWidgets
-#' @param env The environment in which to evaluate \code{expr}.
-#' @param quoted Is \code{expr} a quoted expression (with \code{quote()})? This
-#'   is useful if you want to save an expression in a variable.
-#'
-#' @name combineWidgets-shiny
-#'
-#' @export
-combineWidgetsOutput <- function(outputId, width = '100%', height = '400px'){
-  htmlwidgets::shinyWidgetOutput(outputId, 'combineWidgets', width, height, package = 'manipulateWidget')
-}
-
-#' @rdname combineWidgets-shiny
-#' @export
-renderCombineWidgets <- function(expr, env = parent.frame(), quoted = FALSE) {
-  if (!quoted) { expr <- substitute(expr) } # force quoted
-  htmlwidgets::shinyRenderWidget(expr, combineWidgetsOutput, env, quoted = TRUE)
+  x
 }