Jana and Peyote travelled across the ditch from Australia to New Zealand, with four of their closest friends, planning to elope on a mountain top here in Queenstown.
Like many alpine weddings, the weather had other ideas. With the helicopter grounded on the Saturday, they chose to embrace it and were married lakeside instead, surrounded by their people.
Their original photographer wasn’t available the following day, so I was lucky enough to step in and join them on Sunday when the skies cleared. We flew up into the mountains and captured them quite literally on top of the world.
Jana & Peyote ~ Helicopter Elopement Wedding Queenstown // Kirsten Summers // Queenstown wedding photographer
I met Jana and Peyote at the Heliworks base in Queenstown. Their energy was high, and the excitement was building. After the weather delays the day before, this felt like the moment it was all coming together.
We flew out from Queenstown and landed on a remote alpine ridge, high above the valley. The views were unreal, with mountains in every direction and Lake Wakatipu sitting quietly below us.
I took some time to photograph just the two of them, taking in the views and the moment, before bringing their friends in for some fun, relaxed shots together. These guys were lots of fun!
We could have stayed up there all day. The views were incredible, and it was surprisingly warm. We hadn’t known what to expect, especially after how chilly it had been on the ground. Fair to say it was a very successful adventure.