Molly & Dylan’s Early Winter Elopement on Garden Spurs

June gave Molly and Dylan the first proper snow of the season, and a day that turned out to be full of exactly the kind of light photographers love. With the Embrace the Journey upgrade added to their Simple is Beautiful package, the day started well before the helicopter did.

A First Look and Lakeside Photos, Before the Flight

Embrace the Journey adds photography at a ground location before you fly, and for Molly and Dylan that meant a first look and a set of lakeside photos before heading up the mountain. The light that morning was soft and diffuse, filtering through the nearby bush in proper shafts. It gave the early part of the day a completely different mood to the mountaintop that followed, and meant Molly and Dylan already had a full set of images before they’d even left the ground.

Embrace the Journey Upgrade for photos before the flight

## Garden Spurs: Snow, Ice, and Early Golden Hour

From there, they flew up to Garden Spurs, one of our Best of Queenstown landings. Scott had a feeling about this one — with fresh snow on the ground and rain in the days prior, the landscape had a good chance of looking genuinely interesting, and it did. Snow sat underfoot, and small pools had frozen over just enough to catch the light on their surface.

The real advantage of an Autumn or winter landing is the timing. The sun dips behind the mountains early, which means you get all the warmth and colour of golden hour without needing to still be out on the mountain late in the day, freezing, waiting for the light to turn. The shorter days do all the hard work for you.

What’s the weather like in winter

## The Details

Molly wore a boho, romantic dress that suited the softness of the day perfectly, paired with flowers from The Flower Room. Hair and makeup came from Natalie Perks, and celebrant Sarah Noble led the ceremony on the mountain, tying together a day that moved from bush light to lakeside calm to snow and ice at altitude — three very different settings, one elopement.

What’s included in our elopement packages

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*Sunshine Weddings arranges intimate helicopter elopements across Queenstown and Wānaka — landing, celebrant, and vendors included. Follow more real elopements on Instagram @sunshineweddingsnz