Abby & Chris
Abby & Chris | Twin Peaks Helicopter Elopement | Wānaka
Abby and Chris came all the way from Australia to marry at the beautiful Lake Hawea View, nestled in the mountains. Their intimate elopement with only close family as witnesses fell on a day where the weather had other plans and their post ceremony helicopter adventure into the mountains got cancelled.
Anyone who's planned a Wānaka elopement knows the deal: you can prepare for everything except the weather. Abby and Chris arrived from Australia with their hearts set on a helicopter adventure after exchanging their vows, only to wake up to low cloud and grounded helicopters. It's the risk you take with a destination wedding in the Southern Alps.
But here's the thing about eloping in New Zealand, the wait is almost always worth it.
With a few extra days up their sleeve, they explored the region, spent time with family, and trusted that the mountains would eventually reveal themselves. And they did.
When the weather finally broke, everything came together. A helicopter flew them above Lake Wānaka to Twin Peaks, where a blanket of fresh snow had transformed the landscape overnight. The kind of scene you couldn't plan if you tried.
Most of these images were captured on 35mm film, which felt right for a day like this. There's something about the grain, the softness, the way film handles mountain light that digital doesn't quite replicate. It slows everything down fitting for a mountain adventure where you have nothing but time and those 360 panoramic views.
Abby and Chris's day is a good reminder that flexibility is everything when you're planning a helicopter elopement in this part of the world. The mountains don't care about your timeline. But if you can build in a buffer and go with the flow, you'll almost always be rewarded with something more beautiful than you imagined.
If you're considering an intimate wedding or elopement in Queenstown or Wānaka, whether it's a heli adventure to a remote peak or a lakeside ceremony with just your closest people, I'd love to hear what you're dreaming up.
