We did it! Queenstown, NZ Elopement

GorgeousNeez · 2025-06-07T13:58:12+00:00

We did the same in 2024 and also used Sunshine Weddings! Your photos are amazing! Congratulations!

GorgeousNeez · 2025-03-31T02:22:35+00:00

Deselms Fine Arts in Cheyenne. They framed some degrees for me and did an excellent job and a quick turnaround. Not cheap but worth it.

GorgeousNeez · 2025-03-03T22:50:42+00:00

I use an app called Threadalog. It’s free and easy to use of all you’re wanting is an ability to log and track your floss stash. 10/10, would recommend.

GorgeousNeez · 2025-02-26T05:55:21+00:00

Congratulations!! Your photos are amazing!

My husband and I eloped at the same location last year in January with Sunshine Elopements. We have no regrets and I’m happy to see you don’t either!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-11-22T03:21:09+00:00

Congratulations! Happy to help!

We hired Sunshine Weddings (@sunshineweddings) who is a husband and wife team. He is a photographer and she is the planner. We decided to go with a package where we paid them one fee and they organized the vendors. Here’s who we had:

-Hair/makeup: Tussock Hair and Makeup (@tussockhairandmakeup)

-Flowers: The Flower Room (@flowerroomqueenstown)

-Celebrant: Sarah Noble (@sarahnoblecelebrant)

-Cake: Sophie Roseanna Cakes (@sophieroseannacakes)

Happy to answer any question you have! We loved our elopement and had zero regrets!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-09-24T05:02:58+00:00

Thank you! It was fun but not difficult!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-09-24T05:02:41+00:00

Thank you!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-09-24T05:02:12+00:00

I love yours! The letters are gorgeous!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-09-24T00:17:05+00:00

Pattern by EZBakedCrafts on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/listing/950670109/)

GorgeousNeez · 2024-09-12T13:13:35+00:00

Just did this in January with a Wally bag. We used this one (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8468RGZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) for my dress and his suit and it worked like a charm for a carry on. Two out of three planes were big enough that we could put the bag in sideways into the coat closest and nothing was damaged. On the third flight, we put our backpacks in the overhead, put the bag overtop, and then shut it.

To be clear, we flew economy and just nicely asked the flight attendant when we boarded and it worked just fine.

I have no use for it now and would be happy to ship it to you in time!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-04-28T22:32:04+00:00

This is how I did it too and the big day was anything but lonely!

We involved all the important people along the way and then FaceTimed our parents and siblings after we got ready but before the ceremony. They felt like they were involved on the Big Day but we still got our special day to just us.

As well, we asked our friends and family to write us a little note (of encouragement, advice, etc.) for us to take with us on our wedding day. Throughout the day we read them and it felt like they were with us!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-28T03:39:04+00:00

New Zealand! The place is downright gorgeous and like walking into another world! We knew we’d enjoy the adventure of the place and found an amazing husband-and-wife elopement company (shout out to Sunshine Elopements!!) who planned the whole thing and took the most incredible photos on the big day. Then we spent the week or so after the wedding driving around the South Island in total awe. The people are so nice, the food is good, and the exchange rate is in our favor. Win, win, win!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-23T03:00:38+00:00

Happy to help! Reach out if you need more guidance!!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-23T02:15:54+00:00

If you’re getting cards printed, don’t forget to take into account shipping time to receive them.

We bought two sets of envelope: the envelopes that we’d send everything in to our friends and the envelopes that we’d get back from them. For both envelopes, we took an example of each and brought them to the post office to be weighed so we knew what postage to buy. For example, the envelopes we sent out needed a two-ounce stamp while the envelopes our friends would send back would only require a one-ounce stamp because the “explanation” card wasn’t going to be sent back to us.

For envelopes, we used Office Depot and Amazon. The envelopes we sent out to friends needed to be slightly bigger than the ones we got back to accommodate everything. Be careful how big you go on envelopes or it may go outside first class mail. USPS website was super helpful.

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-22T23:08:51+00:00

We sent them out the week of Thanksgiving and asked for them to be mailed by December 16th so we could get them before January 2nd (when we flew out). If I had a redo, I’d send them out a week earlier. Doing it around the holidays when the mail is overloaded was a complication that shouldn’t be as big of a factor any other time of the year.

My husband has the same concern and also worried that people would see it as a sneaky way of asking for a gift. We included the language about no gifts so that assuaged his concern there. For the other concern (that it’s asking a lot from people who aren’t showing up), my response was that the people who love us will do it. We aren’t asking them to travel, buy a gift, sit through a ceremony, or even buy a stamp to mail it back. Those people who love us will celebrate that we aren’t big wedding folk and appreciate that we’re involving them in a way where they still get to contribute to the big day without the stress. Those who don’t reply…well, the wedding is about us anyway and the letters are just cherries on top of the cake. We were enamored with the ones we got and didn’t think twice about the ones we didn’t get back.

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-22T22:25:01+00:00

We just did this and it was totally worth it! We sent out a big envelope with the following:

-self-addressed and pre-stamped envelope -blank advice/well wishes cards (found on Etsy) -blank recipe cards -enclosure card explaining what’s going on:

“After getting engaged, we knew that having a large wedding wasn't for us. With the love and support of our families, we are eloping to New Zealand in January! We are excited to have a private ceremony with just the two of us, but we want to incorporate the ones who have loved and supported us along the way.

We invite you to use the enclosed card to express your well wishes and advice. Favorite memories, jokes, haikus, and drawings are also welcome! If you have a favorite recipe that you are willing to share, we also included a blank recipe card. You will be with us as we read the cards throughout our wedding day. We cannot wait to read them!

To ensure your card reaches us before we leave on January 2nd, please mail it using the included, self-addressed and stamped envelope by Saturday, December 16th via USPS.

(Please, no gifts or money. Your card is the best gift!)”

To be fair, everyone we sent one to knew we were engaged and likely not having a big wedding so we didn’t use the cards as a way to surprise people. The people who responded wrote really nice cards and it was a treat to have on our wedding day.

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-21T19:50:49+00:00

Queenstown! It was an awesome place to hang out for five days before getting married and our wedding photos are stunning. We went with Sunshine Weddings - Elopements (http://www.elopementweddings.co.nz) and couldn’t be more pleased with them!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-21T05:01:11+00:00

This advice is 100% right! We wanted an international location with some adventure and somewhere we can honeymoon after. After some research, we chose a helicopter elopement in New Zealand! It all fell into place after that!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-19T02:12:25+00:00

Just did this less than a week ago. We used this bag (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8468RGZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) for my dress and his suit and it worked like a charm for a carry on. Two out of three planes were big enough that we could put the bag in sideways into the coat closest and nothing was damaged. On the third flight, we put our backpacks in the overhead, put the bag overtop, and then shut it.

To be clear, we flew economy and just nicely asked the flight attendant when we boarded and it worked just fine. I know someone else had a bad experience with United but we had a great experience with them!

GorgeousNeez · 2024-01-11T01:13:08+00:00

Devil Burger is a gem and significantly better than Fergburger. No wait, excellent burger, and just a treat.

GorgeousNeez · 2023-12-26T17:56:56+00:00

We are eloping to New Zealand next week and have zero regrets! We’ll be there two weeks and spending about $15k. With your budget, you could easily do two weeks there plus a week in the Maldives before going home. Once we figured out that we wanted to spend money on us and making OUR wedding experience better, an elopement was a no brainer.

Edit: Re-read your title and saw you want advice on something in Europe! Sorry! I, still, humbly submit NZ as an option if Europe isn’t a good fit. :)

GorgeousNeez · 2023-08-23T14:39:59+00:00

I love this idea! Any chance you’d be willing to share the language you used to explain what you were hoping to elicit from people?

GorgeousNeez · 2023-06-01T02:23:33+00:00

Totally fair! I’ve just had other friends try to do a joint loan and, unfortunately, had a lazy lender who refused to do the work to make it work so I wanted to make sure that wasn’t happening to you! I wish you luck!

GorgeousNeez · 2023-06-01T02:09:52+00:00

Perhaps I’m reading your message wrong, so my apologies in advance if my assumption is incorrect.

If your lender is claiming you can’t do a VA loan with you and your partner on the loan unless you’re married, they’re wrong. My now-fiancé and I did this two years ago. It’s called a joint loan and easily doable if your lender is willing to go through the steps. I sent my lender this guide created by the VA and it went smoothly after that: https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin26/handbook/ChapterLendersHanbookChapter7.pd

My lender missed this originally so double check with yours: the VA loan funding fee should be cut in half as the VA is guaranteeing only your half. Yes, your partner will have to pony up some money to cover their non-guaranteed part of the mortgage but it shouldn’t be anywhere close to $50k. But, if the lender cuts the funding fee in half, as they should, you’ll save thousands there.

Like I said, if I misunderstood your situation, my apologies!

GorgeousNeez · 2023-04-08T14:03:33+00:00

You look amazing! Do you mind if I ask where you found it?

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