Don’t want to go to the hassle of planning your wedding? Want to travel to New Zealand and get married without all the stress an overseas wedding can give? Well, an elopement wedding may just be what you are needing. Each year, couples from both New Zealand and around the world choose an elopement wedding. Taking advantage of the many pre-designed elopement wedding packages, couples can enjoy having every detail taken care of for them.

In this article, we explain what you’ll need to know in order to elope in New Zealand, and where to find all the wedding-related products to plan your dream day!

The Five Must-Knows to Plan Your NZ Elopement Wedding

By definition, an elopement wedding is secret. You don’t invite guests, but rather head away to get married and announce your nuptials on your return. While you don’t necessarily have to keep it a secret, the idea is to reduce the amount of pre-wedding build-up and planning a traditional wedding brings.

If you think the idea of eloping is for you, then here are five must-knows:

  • To tell or not to tell – there are pros and cons of both. If you don’t tell your friends and family of your plans, they may react slightly less than positive when you get back. On the other hand, you get to do things your way, and being your wedding, we think this is only fair.
  • An elopement wedding can save you money – we say can, because depending on the type of packages you select, the costs can be large. However, when you factor in that you don’t need to pay for catering for 400, nor dresses for your bridal party, you may end up saving money.
  • Your venue options are enormous – as you won’t need to worry about guest access to your wedding, you can select some of the most remote venues around. Travelling by helicopter to the snow for your ceremony sounds amazing!
  • You need a marriage license – there is still planning needed to get married, but if you select an all in one wedding package, the vendor will most likely arrange everything for you. This includes the marriage license and certificate and the marriage celebrant; both wedding must-haves!
  • Book ahead – if an elopement is right for you, don’t think that because it’s a small wedding that you can rock up on any day. Like with anything wedding related, elopements are booked months ahead, especially during peak seasons. We suggest starting looking around 6-12 months ahead of your preferred day, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to elope in a few weeks either!

For more advice about elopement weddings, we recommend contacting a marriage celebrant in the region you wish to get married in.

Looking for other wedding services? Try out NZ’s most comprehensive wedding directory My Wedding Guide