Are your helicopter wedding locations fully approved by the Department of Conservation (DOC)?

Yes. All New Zealand Dream Weddings heli landings and scenic locations are fully approved and permitted by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Every ceremony on private land is also covered by written permission, ensuring your wedding is both legal and environmentally responsible.

Do you hold public liability insurance for DOC and private-land weddings?

Yes. NZDW holds full public liability insurance as required by DOC and private landowners. This protects the environment and ensures every wedding complies with New Zealand’s legal and safety standards.

How do we apply for our New Zealand marriage licence?

You apply online through the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (Births, Deaths & Marriages). NZDW provides full guidance for international and New Zealand couples to make the process simple and stress-free.

How long does the marriage licence take to process?

Marriage licences take approximately three working days to process once the application is submitted and the fee is paid. NZDW assists you with every step to ensure it’s completed correctly and on time.

Tyndall Glacier Elopement – Alpine Heli Wedding Wanaka NZ

Wild Beauty at the Edge of the World

Tyndall Glacier is one of New Zealand’s most breathtaking alpine wedding locations, remote, dramatic, and deeply intimate. Nestled high in the Southern Alps near Queenstown, this glacier offers sweeping ice formations, rugged mountain peaks, and endless views that change with every season. Couples who choose Tyndall Glacier experience a wedding day like no other—wild, untouched, and beautifully timeless.

Arriving by Helicopter

Your journey begins with a scenic helicopter flight from Wanaka, lifting over turquoise lakes and jagged ridgelines before touching down on the glacier itself. The landing is private and pristine, with fresh snow and glittering ice providing a natural backdrop that feels both adventurous and serene.

Why Couples Love Tyndall Glacier

Pure Privacy: Remote and only accessible by helicopter, making it perfect for elopements.
Epic Scenery: Glacier ice, alpine peaks, and ever-changing light for photos that look straight from a fairytale.
Romantic Escape: Just you, your love, and nature at its most powerful.

Our Assurance

All NZDW heli landings and scenic wedding locations are fully approved and permitted by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) – the government branch responsible for protecting Aotearoa’s national parks and conservation lands.
NZDW also secures written permission for all private-land ceremonies, ensuring every location is both legal and environmentally responsible.

As part of DOC’s permit requirements, New Zealand Dream Weddings holds full Public Liability Insurance, covering land-use and environmental protection for all approved wedding sites.
This ensures every ceremony is planned in full compliance with DOC’s safety and environmental standards.

(DOC Concession renewed for another 10 years – 2025 to 2035)

Meet the Heart Behind NZ Dream Weddings

If you’d like to know more about who I am and what drives my passion for planning elopements across New Zealand, you can read more about me here. ‘Donna’
After nearly thirty years of helping couples marry in the most beautiful parts of Aotearoa, I still believe every wedding should feel personal, peaceful, and filled with heart.

Planning Your Tyndall Glacier Elopement

We take care of everything, from helicopter coordination to celebrants, photography, and champagne to toast among the peaks. Your only task is to arrive, take a deep breath, and let the beauty of the glacier become part of your love story.

New Zealand Dream Weddings – Nearly 30 years, one focus: creating stress-free elopements in the most extraordinary places.

What's Included

This wedding package has been designed as an elopement package for a couple with no guests.

There are no hidden fees in our package. Package price includes GST.

All NZDW heli landings and scenic locations are fully approved and permitted by the Government’s Department of Conservation (DOC), ensuring your wedding is planned in legal, protected areas.

All packages are flexible and can be adjusted to suit your requirements.

- Full planning and coordination with Donna-Louise
- On-the-day wedding coordinator
- An assistant to help you into your bridal clothes
- Full wedding day schedule and timeline
- Fully registered New Zealand celebrant
- Two witnesses required for signing your marriage license on the day
- Department of Conservation permit for landing on Tyndall Glacier
- Wedding ceremony on Tyndall Glacier
- Helicopter flight to and from Tyndall Glacier
- All legal paperwork:
  – Includes Marriage Certificate plus Apostille and postage to your home country
  – Assistance with your Marriage License application (you pay a one-off NZ$150 directly online to Internal Affairs)
- Hair and makeup styling for the bride:
  – Perfect for soft down styles or simple up-dos
  – Styling completed at your Wanaka accommodation
  – More detailed styles are priced accordingly
- Bouquet and boutonniere:
  – Flowers are priced at a seasonal standard bouquet. Please let me know if you’d like a larger bouquet, and we can adjust the price.
  – One bride’s bouquet (seasonal fresh flowers)
  – One boutonniere
- A complimentary glass of New Zealand bubbly to celebrate
- Photography package – up to 3 hours coverage, including:
  – Getting ready/first look at your accommodation
  – Ceremony
  – Photos after the ceremony
  – Additional photos at at another location within the region
  – All images provided in a private online gallery to download, print, and share
- Private return transport – couple only
  – From your Wanaka accommodation to the Heli base
  – On return back to the Heli base you will be taken to another location for photo shoot
  – From the photo shoot location back to your Wanaka accommodation

Additional Options

• Videography
– Full ceremony video plus 2-3 minute highlight video:
– Pricing on Request
Helicopter Flights – stunning locations to add on for extended photo shoots. Pricing on request.

Starting from $8000

Our Unforgettable Tyndall Glacier Elopement with NZ Dream Weddings

From the very first email, we knew we were in expert hands. Donna, the planning wizard behind it all, made the whole experience seamless and stress free by coordinating everything and still making us feel like the only couple in the world.

The morning of the big day arrived, everything was so easy from hair and makeup to photos and transport to the air base it was all taken care of. Jason, our skilled and charismatic pilot, flew us up in a helicopter over the breathtaking landscape of New Zealand’s South Island. As we soared above valleys and glacial rivers, the first glimpse of Tyndall Glacier took our breath away, pure white perfection surrounded by rugged peaks. We actually gasped. This wasn’t just a location; it was a dreamscape.

Landing on the glacier felt like touching down on another planet, untouched, silent, and impossibly beautiful.

Glenys, our warm and wonderful celebrant, greeted us like an old friend. Her words during the ceremony were heartfelt, personal, and perfectly us. She made the moment feel sacred and joyful, even in the chilly alpine air.

And then there was Simon, our photographer and unofficial hype man. He somehow captured every emotion, every laugh, every wide-eyed stare of disbelief at our surroundings. He made us feel completely comfortable, and the photos? Let’s just say we’ll be showing them off for the rest of our lives.

Every single moment was magic, and every person involved played a part in making it that way. Eloping on a glacier might sound wild, but with NZ Dream Weddings, it felt effortless and intimate—exactly what we didn’t know we were looking for.

We came for a wedding and left with a once-in-a-lifetime memory.

Thank you, Donna, Simon, Glenys, and Jason. Tyndall Glacier will forever be a part of our love story.

Steph & Clint

Would you like to book this package or want to know more?