So you’ve decided to elope in Queenstown.
Excellent choice. Now comes the slightly trickier bit – figuring out how you actually make it happen.
One of the lovely things about eloping is that there really aren’t many rules. You can keep things incredibly simple with just the two of you, bring a handful of your favourite people, say your vows beside a lake, fly into the mountains by helicopter, have cake afterwards, go out for an amazing dinner – or mix a little bit of everything together.
But having so many options can also make knowing where to start feel a little overwhelming.
I’ve photographed and helped plan elopements all over Queenstown, and my biggest advice is not to start with what you think an elopement is supposed to look like.
Start with how you want yours to feel.
Planning your Queenstown elopement
- Decide what kind of elopement feels like you
- Choose your location
- Decide how much planning help you want
- Build your local team
- Choose your photography coverage
- Sort the legal bits
- Plan for Queenstown weather
- Enjoy it
1. Decide what kind of elopement feels like you
Before choosing a location, photographer or even necessarily a date, think about the experience you want to have.
Do you imagine just the two of you somewhere completely private?
Would it feel strange getting married without your parents or children there?
Are you picturing mountains and helicopters, or would you rather keep your feet firmly on the ground?
Do you want the day to feel adventurous, romantic, relaxed, elegant – or really simple?
There’s no right answer here.
Some of my couples want to fly to the top of a mountain and say their vows somewhere that feels completely removed from the rest of the world.
Others choose a beautiful ground location, bring six or eight of their favourite people and celebrate with cake and bubbles afterwards. Both are elopements. Both can be incredibly special.
Work out what matters to you first. We can build everything else around that.
2. Choose the right Queenstown elopement location
This is usually the fun part.
Queenstown gives you a slightly ridiculous number of beautiful options.
There are quiet beaches along Lake Wakatipu, mountain views around Jacks Point and Lake Hayes, historic locations like Thurlby Domain, private venues, alpine lakes and, of course, some pretty spectacular places that are only accessible by helicopter.
But the prettiest location on Instagram isn’t necessarily the best location for your particular elopement.
When I’m helping couples choose, I’m also thinking about privacy, accessibility, the time of year, where the sun will be, how many guests you’re bringing, how much travelling we want to do and what our options are if Queenstown weather decides not to cooperate.
If grandparents or young children are joining you, for example, that can completely change what I’d recommend.
And if you’re dreaming about a helicopter elopement, we’ll also think about backup options from the beginning. Mountain weather can change incredibly quickly here. Having Plan B isn’t being pessimistic – it’s how we make sure you’re still getting married somewhere beautiful whatever the day throws at us.
3. Decide whether you want to plan it yourself – or have someone do it for you
A simple elopement doesn’t necessarily mean there’s nothing to organise.
There’s your celebrant, photography, hair and makeup, flowers, location, timings and possibly helicopters, transport, cake, bubbles or somewhere wonderful for dinner afterwards.
You can absolutely organise those things yourself. Or you don’t have to.
Alongside photography-only elopements, I offer fully planned Queenstown elopements where I bring together a trusted little team of local vendors and help organise the day with you. I actually really enjoy this part.
You tell me what you’re imagining and I can recommend the people, places and timings that I think will work beautifully together.
It means you don’t need to arrive in Queenstown already knowing which celebrant to book or which helicopter company flies to which mountain. That’s what having local people around you is for.
4. Build your local team
Whether you’re planning everything yourself or choosing a fully planned collection, I’d keep your vendor team small and choose people who know Queenstown well.
Your celebrant is obviously an important one. You want someone whose personality feels right for you and who can create a ceremony that doesn’t feel like it could belong to anybody.
Then there are the lovely extras. Hair and makeup so you can spend the morning getting ready rather than worrying about doing it yourself. Flowers that work beautifully with the landscape and season. A cake or picnic. A bottle of bubbles tucked away for afterwards.
And, yes, your photographer. (I’m obviously slightly biased on that one.)
But with an elopement, your photographer often becomes much more than the person who turns up with a camera. I’m helping with locations, light, timelines, weather decisions, vendor recommendations and all those little questions that come up along the way.
The photography is a huge part of what I do – but making the whole experience feel easy is just as important to me.
5. Work out how much photography you actually need
You don’t necessarily need eight hours of photography just because you’re getting married.
For a really simple Queenstown elopement, two hours can be plenty.
That might give us time for your ceremony, congratulations and a little celebration afterwards, followed by relaxed portraits somewhere beautiful nearby.
Three or four hours gives the day more breathing room. We might include getting ready, a first look, two locations, family photographs, cake and bubbles, or a little adventure afterwards.
A helicopter elopement has its own rhythm depending on your ceremony location and flight plan.
6. Sort the legal bits
If you’re legally getting married in New Zealand, there are a few practical things you’ll need to organise too, including your marriage licence and registered celebrant.
Don’t let this part scare you. It’s relatively straightforward, and if I’m helping plan your elopement I’ll make sure you know what needs to happen and when.
If you’re travelling to New Zealand from overseas, we can also build the timeline around your arrival so you aren’t spending the first day of your holiday worrying about wedding admin.
7. Leave some room for Queenstown to be Queenstown
This might be my most important piece of advice.
Don’t plan your elopement so tightly that one cloud can ruin it.
I’ve photographed in sunshine, rain, wind, fog and snow – sometimes several of those in the same afternoon.
Helicopter landings change. Mountains disappear behind clouds and reappear twenty minutes later. A location we hadn’t originally planned to use suddenly has the most incredible light.
Some of my favourite photographs have happened because we changed the plan.
Having a good plan matters. Being willing to let it change matters too.
8. And then… actually enjoy it
After all the planning, your job on the day should be pretty simple.
Get married.
Have a glass of bubbles.
Stand somewhere beautiful with your new husband or wife and think, for at least a minute, “we actually did it.”
You don’t need to spend your elopement worrying about where to stand or whether you’re doing something correctly. I’ll gently guide you when you need it, disappear into the background when you don’t, and make sure we have plenty of space for the unscripted bits too.
Because those are usually the photographs people end up loving most.
Planning a Queenstown elopement?
You don’t need to arrive with everything figured out. Some couples come to me knowing the exact mountain they want to land on. Others know approximately what month they’d like to get married and not much else.
Both are completely fine.
You can choose photography only if you’d like to plan your own day, or one of my fully planned Queenstown elopement collections if you’d rather have someone local bring the pieces together for you.
Either way, we’ll create something that feels like the two of you – not somebody else’s idea of what an elopement should look like.
Ready to start planning?
Take a look at my Queenstown elopement collections, from simple photography-only coverage to fully planned elopements, or get in touch and tell me what you’re imagining.