Breathtaking New Zealand Wedding in the Snow

“Gareth went for a walk with our little boy, Lachlan, down to the water. They came back with Lachlan on Gareth’s shoulders, and Lachlan was holding a ring box. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!”

When planning their wedding, Melissa and Gareth realised they were only planning to make everyone else happy, rather than themselves. As big travellers, they knew they wanted to get married in the snow and looked into eloping in either Iceland or Canada.

“It would get too tricky with two small children so we looked closer to home in New Zealand and quickly fell in love with what we found.”

It seemed that sickness came hand in hand with their celebrations – Gareth’s parents had food poisoning and couldn’t attend the wedding and the couple’s children and nephews all came down with high fevers that afternoon!

However, the happy couple were determined to not let sickness ruin their day!

The couple took a helicopter up to the top of a snow-capped mountain in New Zealand where they shared their vows and toasted to the rest of their lives together.

“Having an intimate reception with our immediate families and then a big celebration with all our family and friends was perfect for us and made our wedding last a little longer!”

The casual, relaxed wedding reception – set up on a private property in Nangkita, SA – was everything the bride and groom could have asked for, creating their perfect wedding – even though they spent the night sleeping on the couch after their daughter vomited in their bed!

Photography by Fredrick Larson (NZ) and Angus White Photography (AUS)