Laurel & Lawrence

I very much out of the blue got an email from Laurel and Lawrence asking if I would be interested in a bit of an adventure elopement on the Routeburn. They had planned and booked the Routeburn huts and asked if I might be interested in joining them while also tying in a ceremony at the Falls Huts. When I say I squealed, I squealed! I was so excited about the idea of doing two of my favorite things, hiking and also getting two people hitched!

We planned the day, found a photographer, some witnesses and hoped for the best with the weather. We caught up a few times before the ceremony to get to know each other and 24 years earlier they met on an old fashioned blind date set up by close mutual friends. They had a shared love of hiking, camping, watching BBC series, recreational eating, recreational drinking and family time. So we all hit it off quite quickly.

On the day, we all spent the day hiking and chatting, took snack breaks and photo stops and once we arrived at the Routeburn Falls hut we scouted out a beautiful perch for the ceremony. The whole day was magical but this ceremony still gives me chills to this day. We shared some bubbles and more snacks before heading back to Queenstown while Laurel and Lawrence enjoyed their honeymoon on the Routeburn track 🙂

Photographer: Orianna Photography @orianna_weddingphotography