Queenstown & the South Island
The Full Price List
Wedding days, elopements, and the sessions couples add while they are down there.
Kia ora! Kamusta? The complete Queenstown and South Island list — wedding days, elopements and the sessions couples add while they are down there. Every figure, every add-on, nothing held back. It isn’t linked anywhere on the site, so read it at your own pace.
GST is not included in the prices shown.
“Queenstown” means three quite different days, and couples use the same word for all of them. A full wedding day with your people around you. Just the two of you on a mountain with a celebrant. Or a session — the day before, the morning after, or a trip of its own. All three are priced on this page, and the coverage is the same work either way. What changes is how long we are with you and how many of us come.
The full wedding day
A wedding with guests, a venue and a reception. Exactly the packages on our main wedding list — the mountains do not change what a day costs to shoot, only the travel to get there.
Coverage packages
Exactly the packages on the main wedding list. The mountains do not change what a day costs to shoot — only the travel to get there, which is quoted separately and itemised so you can see it.
Up to 10 hrs · one photographer · two videographers.
Included
Photo only $9,000 · film only $9,000.
Photo only here is ten hours and unlimited images. Classic below is six hours, and includes a film. Same price, two different days — pick the one that matches what you actually want to keep.
The one for a full wedding day. Two videographers means the ceremony is covered from two angles and nobody is choosing between your faces and the room.
Lake WanakaUp to 6 hrs · one photographer · one videographer.
Included
Photo only $5,500 · film only $5,500.
This is the one most Queenstown couples land on. Six hours covers a ceremony, portraits in the hills and dinner, without paying for a twelve-hour day you are not having.
The RemarkablesElopements, vow renewals & small ceremonies
Two of you, or two of you and a handful of others. Three tiers, each one handling more of the day for you. The same three work for a vow renewal or a small wedding — only the paperwork changes.
The three tiers
Three ways to do it with just the two of you. Every tier below is all-inclusive — the celebrant, the witnesses and the flowers are inside the price, not quoted afterwards. You turn up. Travel to Queenstown is the only thing quoted on top, and it is itemised so you can see every line. JUST US is priced two ways — photography and film together, or either one on its own. THE MOUNTAIN and LANDED both include film already. And none of this is rigid — the tiers are a starting point, not a menu you have to order from. Tell us the day you are actually picturing and we will price that day.
Most couples who book these are flying in. You will not know a celebrant in Queenstown, or which valley has the light at five o’clock, or who can put a picnic on a ridge and take it away again afterwards. That is the whole point of these tiers — you land, you get married somewhere extraordinary, and somebody else has already made the phone calls.
Up to 5 hrs · the mountain, the two of you, and the legal bit handled.
Included
Photo only $4,500 · film only $4,500. Booked separately $9,000 — together you save $2,000.
Everything you legally need to be married at the end of the day, and nothing you do not. If you want the simplest version of this, it is this one.
QueenstownEverything handled — styled, catered and looked after. You turn up.
Included
You only need to turn up. Booked, paid for and set up for you. The only three things not inside this price are the helicopter, a vintage car and a musician — all listed further down.
Central OtagoThe whole thing, flight included. Nothing left to arrange and nothing left to pay for on the day.
Included
Everything is in this number. You arrive, you get married on a mountain, and you go to dinner. Additional landings, a further site or a longer flight are quoted on top — that is the only thing that moves.
Above QueenstownNot included in any tier: flights and accommodation for you, your marriage licence (you apply for that yourselves, about three days’ notice minimum), and our travel to Queenstown, which is quoted and itemised for your date.
Tell us what you want the day to feel like and we will price it. None of it is compulsory, nothing gets bundled in behind your back, and here is roughly what each one runs so you are not guessing.
A singer or a guitarist for the vows. If you want music running through drinks afterwards it is closer to $900, and a duo or a remote alpine site more again — the sound gear has to be carried in and run off a battery.
Usually a two to four hour minimum rather than a straight hourly rate, and a little more for pickups out at Glenorchy, Cromwell or Wānaka. A Rolls Royce or a vintage Daimler sits above a Kombi.
A table for two somewhere good, a private lounge where one is available, or a sit-down if you have brought people. Reckon on $200 to $260 a head once wine is on the table. The very best rooms in town run well past that, and we will say which is which.
Through the suppliers we work with we can arrange discounted car rental and rates at selected accommodation, and book tours for while you are down there.
Who you get to pickThe shortlists we hand you — celebrant, hair and make-up, where you say it, the flight.
Nobody hands you a fixed itinerary and hopes you like it. You get a short list of people we have actually worked with, you meet them before you fly, and you decide. That is the difference between a package and a planned day.
Your celebrant
Several to choose from, all people we have worked with down here. We send you their details and you can talk to them on a call well before you fly.
Hair and make-up
A shortlist, not a single name. Same thing — you meet them first, so the person turning up on the morning is not a stranger.
Where you say it
We send you a location guide: ceremony spots, picnic sites and where the photographs work in the month you are coming. You pick the one you like the look of.
The flight
Landing sites are recommended around three things — what is available on your date, the view you want behind you, and where you are staying. We will tell you what each one actually looks like in your season, not just how it looked in somebody else’s photograph.
How the day runsA worked timeline, morning to dark.
We make the calls
Celebrant, florist, hair and make-up, the charter, the picnic, the dress and the suit. You get one document with your day on it and a reminder about the licence. Nothing to chase from the other side of the world.
Getting ready
Hair and make-up comes to where you are staying. The dress and suit are already fitted and hanging up. We meet you there, or at the pad.
Twelve minutes up
The lake below you, snow on the peaks behind you, and nobody else for twenty kilometres. Vows, photographs, champagne, as long up there as the charter allows.
Back down
The picnic on a ridge or by the lake, or dinner somewhere we have already booked. A sneak peek lands within 72 hours, usually sooner.
The aircraft carries the two of you and four more. That is your celebrant, your photographer, your videographer — and still a seat spare for someone you want up there. And you do not need to fly witnesses in at all: your photographer and videographer can sign as your two witnesses. Most couples do exactly that.
Queenstown weather does what it likes, and every couple asks about this before they ask about anything else. So here is the honest answer.
If the pilot will not fly, we do not lose the day. We move to a ground location already chosen for your date — there are valleys and lakefronts down here that look extraordinary under low cloud — and we have proper indoor options for real rain. Or, if you would rather hold out for the mountain, we go the next day, or any day we are still in the South Island.
If none of that works, the helicopter charter is refunded in full. You do not pay for a flight you did not take.
The photographs happen either way. That is the only part of this we will not move.
And if you want a second shot at the mountain, add The Second Day when you book — $1,500 + GST. It buys a second shooting day while we are still down here. If the weather takes your wedding day, this covers the reshoot: the dress, the mountain, the flight, all of it. If the weather is perfect and you do not need it, you get a sunrise or morning-after session instead — often the better shoot, because uncoupled from a ceremony timeline we can fly at first light or in the last hour of the day, which a wedding schedule almost never allows. Either way you get a second shoot. It is never money spent on nothing.
And if it is a passing shower and we are simply moving your portraits by a couple of hours, or we are there tomorrow anyway and it is a short session — that is not a second day and we do not charge for it. Flexibility is free. A second full shoot is not.
Just the two of you is the default, not a rule. If you want a handful of people there, we can seat them at the picnic and at dinner afterwards — that is an additional cost, and we will price it before you commit to anything.
And if it really is only the two of you, the champagne and the cake still come out. It should feel like a wedding, not an errand.
You do not have to take a tier. If all you want is the coverage — photo only, or photo and film — take it straight from the wedding packages above, usually CLASSIC, and add nothing else. Then pick what you actually want from the rest: celebrant, flowers, hair and make-up, the picnic, the helicopter, a musician, a vintage car, dinner booked afterwards. Each one is quoted for your date. Nothing is compulsory and nothing gets bundled in.
It works the same way whatever you are calling the day — elopement, destination wedding, pre-wedding, proposal, or a renewal of vows. Same coverage, same add-ons, priced the same way.
Our Auckland elopement packages cover Auckland only, where the suppliers are ours. Ask and we will put real numbers in front of you either way.
Pre-wedding, engagement & an extra day
No ceremony, no celebrant, no paperwork — just the two of you and the landscape. Add a day either side of a wedding while we are already south, or book it as its own trip.
While you are down there
Most couples flying to Queenstown add a session either side of the day — the morning after is the one people are gladdest they booked. These are the destination session prices, unchanged from the pre-wedding list.
Two to four locations.
Included
Half day, up to five hours including travel between locations $2,500. Short session, two hours at one location $1,500.
Lake WanakaMultiple locations, photo and film across the day.
Included
Booked separately $6,000 — together you save $500. Two days, up to nine hours each $9,000 (separately $10,000, save $1,000). Short session, two hours — good for proposals and helicopter shoots $3,000.
Travel is inside these prices. On photo + film sessions, flights, accommodation and car rental for the South Island are included rather than added at the end.
Roys PeakAdd-ons — coverage
Things that change what we shoot or how long we shoot for.
Central Otago has one of the darkest skies in the world. If you are already staying the extra night, astro is the best possible use of it.
Add-ons — the day itself
People and things we book, brief and pay for on your behalf. All of these are already inside THE MOUNTAIN and LANDED — this is what they cost if you are adding them to a coverage-only booking.
Terms apply. The price moves with the landing site, how many landings, and the time of day.
Supplier costs are passed through at what they charge us, and we will show you the invoices if you ask. What you are paying us for is not having to find them.
Albums & printsAlbums from $200 to $2,200 — what you can order after the wedding.
Getting thereFlights, driving times and what travel is quoted on top.
There is no travel charge anywhere in the Auckland region. For Queenstown and the wider South Island, flights, accommodation and car rental are quoted separately and itemised before you book, so you see exactly what it is rather than finding it folded into a number you cannot check.
The exception is the photo + film destination sessions above, where travel is already inside the price.
We would rather tell you the travel figure early and let you decide than have it turn up late. Ask for it with your quote — it is not a number we hold back.
Worth knowingPermits, weather, daylight and the things that catch people out.
What couples say
Public Google reviews, word for word. Two of these couples flew in for their wedding.
“We travelled from Australia to New Zealand for our dream wedding… We aren’t typically big photo people, but Gilbert made us feel incredibly comfortable and natural in front of the camera.”
Amy Harrington“Planning a wedding can feel overwhelming, but they truly lifted so much of the stress off our shoulders with their guidance, professionalism, and calm presence.”
Ivana Preradovic“My husband is quite introverted, but he felt really comfortable with Gibo and the team, which meant so much to us.”
Abigail AlbrechtsenMore reviews, and you can read every one of them on Google without taking our word for it.
Booking, weather & changesDeposits, what happens if the day moves, and the cancellation schedule.
Written out plainly, because the time to read this is now and not on the morning of your wedding.
Who calls the weather
The pilot does, on the morning, and neither of us can overrule it. Please do not cancel the flight yourselves. Most charter terms down here refund a weather cancellation in full but charge the full fee if the customer pulls out inside a week — so the same decision, made an hour later by the operator, is the difference between a refund and losing it. Ring us and we will handle the call.
What happens instead
We move to the ground location already chosen for your date, or somewhere properly indoors. If you would rather hold out for the mountain we go the next day, or any day we are still in the South Island. Adding The Second Day at booking is what makes that easy.
What is refunded
The helicopter charter, in full, when the flight does not happen. That is the operator’s own term and we pass it straight through to you without touching it.
What is not refunded
Photography, film, the celebrant, hair and make-up, flowers, styling and catering. Those people held your date, turned up and did the work, and you still got married — the ceremony simply happened at a different altitude. This is the same in every corner of the wedding industry; we would rather say it out loud than let you find out on the day.
Supplier deposits
Some suppliers are booked and paid on your behalf well before the day, and those deposits are not refundable to us. If you cancel, they are passed on at cost and we will show you the invoices. We do not mark them up.
Things nobody controls
Weather, cloud base, airspace or road closures, earthquakes, illness. Under New Zealand law a supplier is not liable for what it cannot control, and we will always try to move a day rather than cancel it.
And if we are the ones who cannot make it
If Gibo is genuinely unable to shoot — illness, an accident, an aircraft that cannot get us there — we find you a photographer of the same standard at our cost, and if we cannot, you are refunded in full. That obligation runs the same way as everything above, because a policy that only protects one side is not a policy worth reading.
Your booking agreement sets these out in full and you will see it before you pay anything. If any of it does not sit right, say so before you sign rather than after — most of it is negotiable and none of it is designed to catch you out.
How payment worksDeposit, balance, and when each is due.
Three instalments. Nothing is due in a lump sum, and nothing is due on the day. A deposit holds your date, and payment plans are available — ask us.
On signing — this is what secures your date. 30% on the all-inclusive elopement tiers, because we are booking and paying your celebrant, florist, hair and make-up artist and charter up front on your behalf
Date agreed with you in writing when you book
At least one month before your wedding
If that timing doesn’t work for you, say so.
We would rather spread the payments differently than have you stretched in the month before your wedding. Ask before you book and we will set a schedule that fits — it is a conversation, not a policy.