Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ’s

We deliver Preview Photos within 5 working days, and the full set of Photos (and/or Videos) in 6-8 weeks after the wedding. During the peak Wedding Season (November~April) this may extend to 10 weeks.

Customers can request for certain styles/ambiance of the music, however we cannot use copyrighted material.

The truth is, we use the same editing workflow & styles (some know this as “filters” “presets”) for every customer. The main difference in the look of the photos comes down to the Season, the time of the day, the weather and the location. Photos with the “golden” looking light are mostly taken either in Autumn~Winter or Winter, or really late in the evening in Summer around 9pm.

We do!
James is the Planner & Videographer, Tomomi is our Studio Manager & Photographer, while Josh and Ayaka lead the Photography and Video. We don’t use external contractors for these services.

All the photos and videos on this website are done by us.
By doing photos & videos in-house, we are able to work more efficiently especially on the mountain-tops with time constraints, without fighting over the best angles with external contractors.

Customers are welcome to add or remove items from the packages based on your requirements, except for our Photography service. Some couples bring their own Pastor/Priest instead of having one of our celebrants, and some couples will fly in their personal makeup artist from out of town.

We prioritise safety first, then comfort.
Flying & taking photos in wet or windy weather is unsafe and uncomfortable.

Until April 2024, we are including 2 wet weather backup date with every booking. The weather call to reschedule the wedding will be made 2 days before the wedding/photoshoot date.

We advise making at least 2x wet weather backup dates available in case we need to reschedule.

Absolutely!
Yes! Up to 15 guests at the Ground level locations , or charter additional helicopters (NZ$1515 for a 6 seater, as of September 2023)

Eloping doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate with your friends and family! 

Queenstown New Zealand Elopement Wedding Photographer - A group of people reaching a mountain summit.

In Winter (July~September) it is most likely to have snow on the mountain tops.

It may sometimes snow in October~November and May~June. 

For snow in the warmer months, we can fly to one of the glaciers that will have snow all year round. Warm summer sun + frozen ice on a glacier will be a much more comfortable option than going up to the mountains in winter.

We can travel within Queenstown Lakes District (including Glenorchy & Wanaka) and Central Otago for free.

You could, but..

  1. The Church of the Good Shepherd has stopped taking bookings for couples residing outside of Tekapo.
  2. Lack of suppliers – Most vendors will have to come from out of town, making it difficult to reschedule in the case of bad weather.
  3. No Wedding access to Mt John – Mt John has also banned Wedding Photography.
  4. No Wet Weather backups – No indoor alternatives & the need to book additional nights of accommodation for vendors (difficult to arrange during peak season)
  5. No Lupins – The local Council has been removing lupins as they are considered an invasive species of weed.

It depends on where.

It’s impossible to drive to the helicopter locations.

This includes: Cecil Peak, Double Cone, Bayonet Peaks, Lake Hope, Mt Creighton, Big Geordie, Earnslaw Burn, Lake Isobel, Lake Lochnagar, Lake Erskine, Coromandel Peak (Roys Peak), Twin Peaks, Mt Bonpland, Mitre Peak and all of the glaciers. 

Drivable mountains include: Coronet Peak, Remarkables (ski field) and Deer Park Heights. 

Unfortunately, we can’t.

Civillian helicopters must be on the ground 30 minutes before Civil Twilight. This means we can’t fly up to Coromandel Peak (Roys Peak) at night for a Starry Night Shoot, although we’d love to if we could!

Dates in Peak Travel Season tend to get booked up about 10 months in advance. This includes Christmas, New Years, Chinese New Years (February), Japanese Golden Week (March), Easter (April), Anzac Weekend (April), Ramadan (May~June).

With the end of the pandemic, we are experiencing very high demand (5+ enquiries a day) so we recommend booking quickly if your special day is close to the holiday periods.

Queenstown New Zealand Elopement Wedding Photographer -         FAQ: Bride and groom standing on top of a hill overlooking lake wanaka.

Why hire local?

Hiring a team of Queenstown locals mean:

1. Availability & Flexibility: What if your out-of-town vendor couldn’t make it to Queenstown? Stuck at customs or immigration? Flights Delayed? Batteries confiscated?

2. Local know-how: Local insight on the best locations & activities to do.

3. New Zealand’s best vendors: Queenstown has a high concentration of the top rated Wedding Vendors in New Zealand.