Mountain Weddings - Queenstown Wedding Planners — Local services in South Island

It has been a disruptive year, so apologies for this rather late review! We had our heli-wedding in NZ in Feb 2020. Liaising with Steph and Warren was done via emails (I am based overseas) and they had been very responsive in the months leading up to the actual wedding.

Wedding planning: This was very structured and covered multiple options for type of wedding, venue, transport, celebrant, photography, videography, bouquet, styling etc. There were many options with different styles and budgets. You get links to look up different portfolios or websites to choose the one best suited. Steph would then get things organised and booked.

We arrived in Queenstown and had a meeting with Steph and Warren prior to the actual day. We were greeted by the warmth of Steph and Warren at a nice cafe in Queenstown. There was a bad weather spell that would coincide with our actual wedding day, so the professional suggestion was to bring the photoshoot/heli-wedding ceremony forward, which we did. The weather also only allowed us a small window for the heli drop-offs and so we switched locations to two nearer ones. We then had another mini ceremony on the actual day at our hotel with the celebrant (Phillipa Cook) and Steph and Warren as our witnesses because the date held special meaning. We also had our videography arranged for another day (on another helicopter ride) due to this special situation. But we felt that it was really the best arrangement possible.

(Note to prospective clients: you are in safe hands, but do try to have more days around the actual date as backup because once in a long while, there may be a bad weather spell (which is normal in NZ). This same bad weather spell caused the closure of Milford Road (and the only road access to Milford Sound).)

Photography: Top-notch photography from Warren. Of course, the breathtaking scenery played a part, but to have it captured professionally along with our emotions - you won't go wrong with Warren! He was really fun and passionate - still can't forget his Woohoo's Service: The warmth and hospitality was simply amazing. It felt like we had two friends with us for the entirety of the wedding. They had also gone above and beyond what was expected with certain arrangements ;) As this was an elopement wedding, there was a plan for a reveal and status change on Facebook on the actual day and they surprised us with quite a few amazing edited photos to post.

Location: The breathtaking scenery, enough said.

To be honest, we are already contemplating future anniversary or even...

Where do we even start? From the first initial email we felt immediately relaxed and reassured by Steph and Warren that we had made the right choice to elope in NZ with Mountain Weddings. The whole process was seamless and stress free. Steph and Warren were able to change our wedding date two times due to Covid and then finally for the third time, on the day before our wedding due to bad weather (not to mention they were away on a family trip and still answered emails and contacted all our vendors to reschedule!)

Throughout the months leading up to our wedding Steph and Warren provided us with recommendations and a list of amazing different vendors to choose from. They were then able to lock in our favourite and even managed to get them two days before our new wedding date! They are extremely organised and professional and made us have a very stress free, relaxed wedding!

We were lucky enough to meet Steph, Warren and Andy our celebrant two days before the wedding.It felt like catching up with old friends! They were extremely friendly and professional and immediately put us at ease about the last minute change in plans.

The wedding day: our wedding day couldn't have been more perfect! From the 6:30am start with Claire to the 4pm extra footage finish with Steph! All vendors arrived in perfect time due to Steph's precise timeline.

As soon as Steph arrived with our videographers she set the tone of complete calmness but was also highly organised and knew what she wanted! She paid such attention to detail in her photos and even kept our friends book a secret so she could capture our reactions! She made us feel so relaxed and comfortable throughout the entire process and everything felt so natural and fun!

Steph is a highly skilled wedding planner and photographer! She provided us with the most incredible sneak peek photos in less than 24 hours after our wedding. We couldn't believe how amazing they were not to mention the sheer amount of them-18! Steph not only captured our favourite locations but also brought us to a third location on ground the capture some of her favourite shots we didn't get time for on the mountain! These shots are simply beautiful!

Thank you so much Steph and Warren for giving us the best day of our lives. We are forever grateful to you and cannot stop talking about just how amazing you are. You have exceeded our expectations and more. We cannot wait to see the rest of our photos!

If you are thinking of eloping in NZ you HAVE to book with Mountain Weddings. You simply couldn't ask for anything to be more stress free,...

From the moment Steven and I began planning our elopement, we knew we wanted something truly special, but our search in Australia proved challenging. That’s when we discovered Mountain Weddings in New Zealand, and everything fell perfectly into place from our very first email! The responsiveness and support we received from the team—Steph, Anais, and Warren—made the entire process incredibly stress-free, even when we decided to transition from a helicopter elopement to a 30-guest wedding. They were always accommodating, answering our myriad questions about local dining and activities during our stay. When we arrived in Queenstown, we met with Anais and our celebrant, Andy, just a few days before the wedding. Their calming presence and expert advice set us at ease, ensuring we could fully enjoy our special day and capture beautiful photos. On the day of the wedding, the weather was absolutely perfect! Stoneridge Estate provided a stunning backdrop with beautiful autumn colours for our ceremony. Afterward, we celebrated with our guests over a delicious Raspberry and Lemon Curd cake made by Aimee, which received rave reviews. In fact, our guests were so enamored, they requested to enjoy the leftovers with tea the following day while reviewing the sneak peek photos sent to us less than 12 hours later! Warren and our videographer, Scott, went above and beyond, capturing perfect family photos and being incredibly gentle and engaging with our young nieces, who were our flower girls. Our helicopter experience with pilot Jason was amazing; he was professional and made us feel completely secure. We had breathtaking photo opportunities at Lake Erskine, a Glacier and Coromandel Peak. Though it was a bit chilly for Isabella during our glacier landing, we appreciated Warren and Jason deciding to land at Lochnagar for Isabella to warm up, which quickly became one of our favourite spots! Our final stop at Coromandel Peak was capped off with a surprise flyover, leaving us feeling truly spoiled! After our helicopter adventures, Warren drove us to Botswana Butchery, where we reunited with our guests. Everyone praised the wedding menu and wine selection, calling it one of the best meals they’d ever had! We cannot thank Mountain Weddings enough for making our day not just special, but entirely stress-free. We're already planning a return next year for our anniversary and hope to schedule an astrophotography shoot. We recommend Mountain Weddings—they were the perfect choice for our wedding, and we...