New Zealand Wedding Guides & Directory
Your New Zealand wedding, minus the guesswork.
Real, local guides for couples getting married in New Zealand. The best wedding venues region by region, the vendors worth booking, & honest answers to the stuff you're Googling at 11pm! Written by a Kiwi wedding photo & film team who are actually at these venues most weekends :)
Wedding venues by region
Start with the venue, everything else builds around it. Here's our honest pick of the best wedding venues around NZ, with a real note on who each one actually suits.
Palmerston North & Manawatū
The Best Wedding Venues in Palmerston North & the Manawatū
Country estates, barns, heritage homesteads & a hidden Italian garden, with an honest note on who each one suits.
Read the guide →
Wellington
The Best Wedding Venues in Wellington
Clifftops, waterfront spots, garden retreats & country barns, with an honest note on who each one actually suits.
Read the guide →More guides on the way
We're adding new wedding venue & vendor guides all the time. Next up:
- Wairarapa wedding venues
- Hawke's Bay wedding venues
- Auckland wedding venues
- Whanganui wedding venues
- Taranaki wedding venues
- Queenstown wedding venues
- Manawatū wedding florists
- Manawatū wedding celebrants
- Wedding hair & makeup
- Wedding car hire
Planning a wedding in New Zealand
There's a lot that goes into a wedding day, & most of it comes down to a handful of big decisions: where you get married, who captures it, & the people who make the day run. These guides walk you through the best wedding venues in the Manawatū, Wellington, the Wairarapa, the Kāpiti Coast & beyond, with honest notes from a team who's actually shooting at them most weekends.
From there it's your vendors, your wedding photographer & videographer, your celebrant, florals, hair & makeup, cars & catering. We'll keep adding local guides for each, region by region, so you can plan the whole day from one honest place. And if you want it all captured, we shoot fine art wedding photography, video & real Super 8 film right across the country.
Common questions
How much does a wedding cost in New Zealand?
It's a big range! A relaxed backyard or small do can land a few thousand, while a full day with a venue, catering, photo & video, florals & the rest sits somewhere in the tens of thousands for most Kiwi couples. The venue & guest count move the number the most, so start there & build your budget around it.
How far in advance should you plan a wedding?
Most couples give themselves 12 to 18 months, mostly so they can lock in a summer date at the venue they actually want. Venue & date go first, then the vendors who only take one wedding a day (photographer, videographer, celebrant) book out fastest, so sort those early!
What order should you book your wedding vendors in?
Venue & date first, always. Then your photographer & videographer, your celebrant, then catering if the venue doesn’t do it in-house, then florals, hair & makeup, cars & the finishing touches. The one-a-day vendors are the ones to chase early.
Do you need a videographer as well as a photographer?
Honestly it's up to you & your budget! Photos are the classic keepsake, but video (& real Super 8 film) is the one thing that gives you back the sound & movement of the day, your vows, the speeches, everyone dancing. Having one team do both keeps it simple & means they're not tripping over each other on the day :)
Planning your own day?
One team for photo, video & real Super 8 film.
We're Selah, a NZ wedding photo & film team based in the Manawatū. Documentary, warm & never stiff, & we travel for weddings all over the country. If you're figuring out your day, we'd love to help :)