Elopements
Wānaka elopement guide: how to plan, cost and legally marry
A two-person wedding is the most private way to marry here, and the one most often planned too casually.
Short answer
You still need a marriage licence and witnesses. Beyond that, an elopement buys you freedom: pick the hour with the best light, choose a site that suits two people, and keep one written fallback for bad weather.
Late light in the Wānaka mountains. Photograph: Wonder Weddings.
How to plan it
Six things to get right
- 01
Understand what an elopement is here
Usually the two of you, a celebrant, witnesses and a photographer. It is smaller, not simpler, the legal steps and the weather risk are identical to a full wedding. - 02
Sort the legal requirements first
A New Zealand marriage licence is required regardless of guest numbers, and a marriage must be witnessed. Confirm current requirements on the official source before you plan around them. - 03
Choose a site you can genuinely reach on the day
Two people can go further than a hundred, but a remote spot still needs an access plan, a weather plan and, in some places, permission. Being small does not remove the paperwork. - 04
Plan the light, then the rest of the day
The advantage of eloping is that you can put yourselves in the best hour of the day. Set that hour first and build everything else around it. - 05
Decide the weather rule in advance
Agree what conditions would move you, where you would move to, and who makes the call. Making that decision on the morning is how the day gets lost. - 06
Tell people afterwards, on your terms
A dinner later, a message the same evening, or nothing for a week. Decide together beforehand so it is a choice rather than an obligation.
Wānaka elopement video
An elopement day, on film
A two-person wedding is mostly travel, weather and light. This trailer shows a fly-in elopement end to end, which is a faster way to understand the pace of one than any checklist.
Verified
The legal essentials
- New Zealand marriage licence cost
A New Zealand marriage licence costs NZ$158.
New Zealand Government · last checked 2026-08-22
- Marriage licence lead time
Arrange the licence at least three working days before the ceremony.
New Zealand Government · last checked 2026-08-22
- Marriage licence validity
A licence expires three months after it is issued.
New Zealand Government · last checked 2026-08-22
- Overseas application
You can apply for a licence from overseas.
New Zealand Government · last checked 2026-08-22
Logistics
Flying to your ceremony
What flying involves, including the day it does not fly.
ReadLocation
Coromandel Peak elopement guide
How the ridge above Lake Wānaka actually works on the day.
ReadTool
Timeline planner
Build your day backwards from real sunset times.
ReadLegal
Legal and permits
The licence, witnesses and site permission.
ReadTalk to a planner
If you would rather hand the whole day over and just turn up, that is worth a conversation.
Planning by Wonder Weddings, an affiliated brand.
Reviewed by Cristian Batista, CEO and founder, Wedding Machine Group on .
Want your elopement planned properly?
Wonder Weddings plans and runs weddings in Wānaka and the wider Southern Lakes. If you would rather talk it through than read another guide, start there.
Planning and photography by Wonder Weddings, in the same group as this guide.
This guide is written, maintained and funded by Wedding Machine Group, founded by Cristian Batista. Enquiries sent from this site go to Wonder Weddings, the planning and photography brand in the same group, and some readers become its clients. Heli Elopements and Eureka Films are also brands within Wedding Machine Group, sister companies, not independent recommendations.