Christchurch wedding photographer & videographer
Garden city weddings, plains estates, Waipara vineyards and Banks Peninsula bays. We are Auckland based and fly south for full wedding days through the season.
This page is about getting married in Christchurch and wider Canterbury — where people actually hold weddings here, what the light and the weather do to a day on the plains, and how we work when we are flying in for it. Every venue name below links straight to that venue’s own website, so you can check capacity, dates and pricing at the source rather than from a photographer’s summary.
We travel to Canterbury
We are an Auckland studio. We shoot South Island weddings every season and we travel to Christchurch — it is a region we want more of, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend to a local shopfront we do not have.
What that means in practice: we fly down the day before as standard, we scout your ceremony site in the light it will actually have, and we build the timeline around Canterbury conditions rather than importing an Auckland one. If you want a photographer who has stood in your exact reception room fifty times, hire a Christchurch local — we will happily say so. If you want one team doing photo and film, who plans the day properly and travels for it, that is us.
The short version
- Based: Auckland, travelling to Christchurch and Canterbury
- Coverage: photo and film from one team
- Arrival: day before, as standard
- Gallery: inside 8 weeks
- Highlight film: inside 12 weeks
- Travel: quoted inside your package, never added after
Christchurch city venues
Close enough that guests can walk or taxi between ceremony, photos and reception. Every name links to the venue’s own site — capacities and pricing move, so check there.
Mona Vale
Riverside homestead in Fendalton. The homestead and the Iris Lawn are hired separately — worth knowing before you compare quotes.
The Tannery
Woolston. A Victorian-style arcade with ceremony and reception under one roof, which is the whole argument for it if your date is in winter.
Riccarton House
An 1856 homestead backing onto Riccarton Bush. Formal rooms, mature trees, and a very short walk between the two.
Curator’s House
Spanish-mission house sitting inside the Botanic Gardens. Small numbers, and the gardens are your portrait location.
The George
Park Terrace, opposite Hagley Park. The hotel option for couples who want guests to stay where they celebrate.
Hotel Montreal
Merivale. Design-led and deliberately small — better suited to an intimate guest list than a big sit-down.
Ilam Homestead
Homestead and gardens on the Ilam side of town, close to the university.
Lacebark Function Centre
Purpose-built function centre. Less character than a homestead, far fewer logistical surprises.
Willowbank
Bush and wildlife reserve setting minutes from the airport — convenient if most of your guests are flying in.
Gardens, farms & vineyards
Twenty to forty minutes from the city. Big skies, long light, and the drive is part of the day. Every name links to the venue’s own site — capacities and pricing move, so check there.
Melton Estate
West Melton. One of the better-known Canterbury estates and usually booked well ahead.
Waipuna Estate
Tai Tapu. Purpose-built for weddings, with the Port Hills as a backdrop.
Otāhuna Lodge
Tai Tapu. An 1895 Victorian lodge and one of the country’s luxury lodges — exclusive-use, small numbers, high end.
Cossars Wineshed
Tai Tapu. Barn-style with a working-shed feel rather than a polished ballroom.
Trent’s Estate Vineyard
Vines, a chapel and reception on one site south-west of the city.
Langdale Vineyard
West Melton. Restaurant and vineyard, so the food question answers itself.
Casa Rossa
West Melton. Garden and boutique accommodation, which suits couples keeping the party small and staying on site.
Bangor Farm
Darfield. Farm setting well out on the plains — check what the transport plan looks like for guests.
Country Lane Gardens
Leeston. Gardens, catering and accommodation on the one property.
Omarino Estate
Estate grounds with ceremony and reception options on site.
Waipara & the Hurunui
Forty minutes to an hour north. Wine country, woolsheds and homesteads. Every name links to the venue’s own site — capacities and pricing move, so check there.
Tipapa Estate
Waipara. The Woolshed at Tipapa, with accommodation on the estate — built for a weekend rather than an afternoon.
The Starling Homestead
Broomfield. Homestead and farmstay running weddings, elopements and micro-weddings.
Broadoak Gardens
Ohoka. Established gardens north of the city.
Bramble Grove
Kaiapoi. Twenty minutes north and a common choice for couples who want country without the drive.
Glentui Meadows
Oxford foothills. Group accommodation alongside the venue, so the wedding party can stay put.
Flaxmere Garden
Hawarden. A serious garden rather than a function centre — ask what is included and what you bring in.
Banks Peninsula & beyond
Further out, harder to reach, and the reason some couples choose Canterbury in the first place. Every name links to the venue’s own site — capacities and pricing move, so check there.
Annandale
Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula. Coastal villas on a working farm, exclusive-use, and genuinely remote.
Terrace Downs
Rakaia Gorge, under the Southern Alps. Resort accommodation on site, which solves the guest problem an hour out of town.
Stonebridge
Geraldine, South Canterbury. Worth the drive if your guest list is already travelling.
What we know first-hand, and what we do not. We have not photographed at every venue on this page, and we are not going to imply otherwise. These entries are written from each venue’s own published information and from working in the South Island — not from pretending. Tell us your venue and we will tell you plainly whether we have shot there, and what we would want to scout the day before.
Christchurch photo locations
Canterbury gives you three completely different backdrops inside an hour: a stone-and-garden city, a coastline of volcanic bays, and the front range of the Southern Alps. Most couples use two of them.
Botanic Gardens & Hagley Park
The default, and it is the default for a reason. Huge mature trees, the Avon, and enough space to find shade at the worst hour of the day.
The Arts Centre
Gothic Revival stone, cloisters and quadrangles. The strongest architectural frames in the city and a two-minute walk from the gardens.
New Regent Street
A pastel Spanish Mission strip that photographs like nowhere else in New Zealand. Short, so it is a ten-minute stop rather than a location.
Riverside & the laneways
Rebuilt central-city texture — brick, glass and market colour. Good for couples who do not want a garden portrait set.
The Port Hills
Fifteen minutes and you are looking back over the whole city with the harbour on the other side. The single best golden-hour move in Christchurch.
Godley Head & Taylors Mistake
Cliff tops, tussock and open sea. Exposed — plan it knowing the wind may make the call for you.
Sumner & Cave Rock
Beach, esplanade and the rock itself. Busy on a good Saturday, which is fine if you like people in your frames.
Lyttelton & Diamond Harbour
Working port, coloured cottages and the ferry across. The ferry is a scene in its own right if your timeline can carry twenty minutes.
Akaroa & the bays
Ninety minutes over the hills. A destination in itself rather than a portrait stop — build the day around it or leave it out.
Rakaia Gorge
Braided turquoise river against grey shingle. An hour from town and the most dramatic thing you can reach without a helicopter.
Kura Tāwhiti / Castle Hill
Limestone tors on the road to Arthur’s Pass. It is a wāhi tapu and a reserve — access rules apply and we treat it accordingly. Ask us before you plan around it.
Arthur’s Pass
Beech forest, braided rivers and alpine walls. Two hours each way — realistically a day-after session, not a wedding-day stop.
The nor’wester
Canterbury’s prevailing wind comes over the Alps, dries out and arrives on the plains hot, hard and relentless. On a nor’west day the sky goes that strange bleached arch, the light turns flat and warm at once, and every veil, marquee wall and place card becomes a problem.
It is not a reason to avoid Canterbury. It is a reason to plan for it. That means knowing which side of your venue is sheltered before the day, having a portrait location that works with the wind rather than against it, and not scheduling the one shot you care most about at the most exposed point on the property. Ask your venue which way the nor’wester hits them — they will know immediately, and it is the most useful question you can ask on a site visit.
Light on the plains
Canterbury summer evenings run long. In December and January you still have usable light well past 8.30pm, which means golden hour can sit comfortably after your meal rather than cutting into it — a genuinely different timeline from an Auckland wedding.
Autumn is the other case. Late March through April gives you colour on the Peninsula and in the gardens, calmer air than midsummer, and a golden hour that lands at a civilised time. If you are flexible on date and you care about photographs, that is the window we would point you at.
One team, both
We shoot stills and motion with the same team on the same plan. On a travel wedding that matters more than it does at home: two crews meeting for the first time in a venue neither has seen, with an hour of good light and a wind picking up, is how shots get lost. See what the films look like and what the packages include.
Before you book
Do you travel to Christchurch for weddings?
Yes. We are Auckland based and we travel south through the season — Christchurch, Canterbury and Banks Peninsula included. We fly down the day before as standard so we can scout your ceremony site in the light it will actually have, rather than meeting it for the first time an hour before you walk down the aisle.
Have you photographed at our venue before?
Ask us and we will tell you straight. We have not shot at every venue listed on this page and we will not imply that we have. What we will do is scout it the day before, talk to your coordinator, and arrive with a plan for the specific room, lawn and light you have booked.
How is travel charged?
Travel is quoted inside your package before you book, never added afterwards. That covers flights, the extra night and the vehicle. You will see the figure in writing and it does not move.
Do you film as well as photograph?
Both, from one team on one plan. That is the main reason couples fly us down rather than booking two separate local suppliers who have never worked together. See our wedding films.
When do we get our photos and film?
Your full gallery is inside 8 weeks and your highlight film inside 12 weeks. Those are the contract figures rather than our targets, and we would rather quote the outside date and beat it. A full documentary edit runs longer: 12 weeks is the target when it is in your package from the start, up to six months in a busy season, and up to 24 weeks from the order if you add it after the wedding.
What is the best time of year for a Canterbury wedding?
Late summer into autumn — February through April. December and January give you very long evenings, which is great for golden hour, but they are also the peak of the nor’west wind. Late March and April trade a little daylight for calmer air, colour on the Peninsula and a golden hour at a more civilised hour.
What happens if the nor’wester turns up?
We plan for it rather than hope against it. Before the day we work out which side of your venue is sheltered and which portrait location works with wind rather than against it, and we do not put the shot you care most about at the most exposed point on the property. A nor’west sky is also genuinely dramatic on camera — used deliberately, it is not a loss.
Can we add Akaroa, the Peninsula or a high-country session?
Yes, and it is usually better as a day-after session than a wedding-day detour. Akaroa is ninety minutes over the hills and Arthur’s Pass is two hours each way — carving that out of your wedding day costs you time with your guests. A relaxed second session the next morning gets you better photographs and a better day.
Do you shoot elsewhere in the South Island?
We do. We also cover Queenstown and Central Otago, and in the North Island Wellington. If your wedding is a two-location weekend, tell us both and we will quote the whole thing rather than two halves.
Tell us your date and venue
Send us the date, the venue and roughly how many people. We will come back with availability, the travel figure and an honest read on what your day will look like — including whether we think a local would serve you better.