Wanaka Elopement by Emily Adamson

If I had of eloped it would have to be somewhere like this... I mean really, can you imagine anywhere on earth being more stunning that this? Ok yes I've travelled a lot and know that there are a LOT of beautiful places around the world, but there is no denying that Wanaka, and Central Otago is pretty damn special. Christine & Craig flew down from Alaska - one of those other beautiful places in the world I mentioned - to have their memorable day captured by Emily Adamson. And Emily, what an incredible job you did of it!! The ceremony at Waterfall Creek on the shores of Lake Wanaka, was followed up with a private, romantic dinner for two at the Botswana Butchery (incredible restaurant if you're ever down that way!!)

The highlight of the couple's day? "The beautiful sunshine and mountain views as we said our binding vows to each other. We loved being able to focus just on each other and be totally present in the moment without neglecting friends and family."

Photography | Emily Adamson Photography, Flowers | The Green Room Flower Company, Celebrant | Caitlin Harvey, Beacon Lodge, Wanaka, Grooms Suit | New Zealand Ace Suit Hire, Brides Dress | Vocelles Bridal, Florida, USA

Queenstown wedding from Emily Adamson...

I love discovering 'new to me' New Zealand photographers who are capturing the most beautiful weddings. I recently came upon Emily Adamson's work. Emily is based in Queenstown so is in the enviable position of being surrounded by incredible jaw dropping scenery to continually inspire her, as well as having her pick of amazing wedding venues to shoot at. This wedding has one of the most unique ideas I think I've seen... a old school hand wringer washing machine as the wishing well... kiwi ingenuity at it's finest I would say!! And how darling are the bridesmaid's bags made from lambs ear filled with gorgeous blooms.... I adore those! Emily shares more about Carly & Quintin's day with us. Be sure to check out more of her work over on her blog.

Carly and Quintin planned a day of surprises for their guests who were invited to meet at Guilty bar in Queenstown. Meanwhile Carly and the girls got ready at Canyons Lodge, while Maralyn (Quintin's Mum), who made all of the amazing floral & wooden displays, finished off decorating at the ceremony site and Canyons Lodge which would later be the reception site.

After a beautiful ceremony under the trees at Thurlby Domain, guests were once again taken by bus to another surprise, Queenstown Bay to get aboard the Million Dollar Cruise boats. After the cruise, guests were taken to Canyons Lodge for more drinks and nibbles to await Carly & Quintin who arrived, much to everyone's delight, by Helicopter.

All the details made by Maralyn, the surprise itinerary and the hilarious speeches made this wedding a fantastic day. Nothing was overlooked, everyone and everything looked great and everyone was entertained the whole day.

Colourful South Island Wedding at Mt Soho Winery...

If ever there was a venue and location to showcase the stunning scenery we have in the South Island, this would be it. Mt Soho Winery in Wanaka offers the best of what Central Otago has to offer. I know scenes like this are a dime a dozen (strange saying that one!!) in this part of the world, but really, do you ever get tired of looking at such beauty? I don't that's for sure. Ali & Calum were super lucky to be taken up to the lofty heights of the Southern Alps to capture some truly incredible shots. I met Ali through twitter (yep a true modern day connection) and was lucky enough to meet her and Calum a few days before their wedding on a whirlwind stop in Auckland on their way down south, so it's quite the honour for me to showcase their gorgeous special day here. Ali shares more of their details with us...

Even though we are currently living in Dubai we both decided straight away that we wanted to be married in New Zealand close to our families. We chose Queenstown (which is close to our home town) because we'd both spend a lot of time there on holidays and it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL there!! So because we were in Dubai and we weren't getting married in our home town alllll of our wedding planning was done over emails and phone calls. (Still not sure how we managed to pull everything off!!) But everything went off without a hitch. Every vendor that we dealt with was amazing and would recommend them to anyone!

I created many moodboards for the florist and the venue owner or what I had in mind for the day. We loved the idea of quite dark colours for the bridesmaids and groomsmen and then bringing in pops of colour through the decor. So we had beautiful colourful flowers and lots of coloured ribbon. I designed all the paper goods and got everything printed in Dubai. So on our flight home I carried 7kgs worth of paper as my carry on!!! (and had my lovely husband carry the dress!!) Along with all the table cards and signs I designed an arabic calligraphy poster for the wedding favour. I thought it would be nice for everyone to take home a one of a kind design with the memories of our wedding :) A definite highlight of the day was flying in a helicopter up to one of the mountains over looking Queenstown. We got some super spectacular pictures with some amazing views! So so happy we decided to do that.

Venue | Mt Soho Winery, Florist | The Flower Room, Photography | Alpine Images, Dress | Pronovias, Shoes | Jimmy Choo, Caterer | Occasionz Catering, Wedding Brownies | Eureka Cafe, Wedding DJ | Jay Moore, Hair | Krisandra Treweek-Usherwood, Makeup | Gemma Kaler