D E T A I L S

    • Friday November 14th

      Welcome party in the afternoon/evening, location & details TBD

    • Saturday November 15th

      Wedding ceremony will start around 3pm  

      Cocktail hour and reception immediately following the ceremony

  • If you have the time, I recommend exploring the Auckland area for a few days when you arrive, as well as Queenstown. I’ll send more recommendations later on! 

    Wanaka lodging: 

    • Wanaka is a small lake town, so they don’t have big name hotel chains. Most lodging is through independent hotels and Airbnb. 

    • Since it is small, most places are no more than a 10-15 min drive away from the center of town. 

    • We’ll have a block at the Edgewater Hotel, which is the closest hotel to Rippon just a few minutes away. 

      • Use code 2511GAVAGH when booking to receive 5% off and be placed in our block. 

      • As of today, these are the following rooms and rates available: 

        • 10 standard hotel rooms @ $359 NZD // $199 USD

        • 12 premium hotel rooms @ $409 NZD // $227 USD

        • 22 standard suites @ $479 NZD // $266 USD

        • 24 premium suites @ $554 NZD // $308 USD

        • 9 apartments @ $922 NZD // $513 USD

        • 12 premium apartments @ $1047 NZD // $582 USD

      • *Edgewater is another popular wedding venue, so if another party reserves these dates for a wedding there, they will give preference to those folks. Please book early! 

    I’ll update this with more info as more plans are booked but please let me know if you have any other questions!

  • USA → Queenstown, NZ (ZQN)

    • Air New Zealand is the main airline in NZ (there is also Jetstar, they usually have cheaper rates but are the equivalent to Spirit Airlines). Air NZ is partnered with United.

    • Air NZ/United operates direct flights between Auckland and San Francisco (12.5 hours), LA (12 hours), and Houston (14.5 hours). I recommend taking the red eye so you can sleep on the plane and land in the morning local time. 

    • Arriving in Auckland: unless you’re staying to explore the area, you’ll need a connecting flight to Queenstown (in the South Island, about a 1.5 hour flight).

    • Make sure you have enough time in Auckland for your connection as you’ll have to clear customs and transfer terminals (you’ll want ~2+ hours of a gap minimum to be safe). In my experience, customs and general airport operations run pretty smoothly here (just don’t bring any food with you through customs!!)

    Arriving in Queenstown: Wanaka is a 1 hour scenic drive from Queenstown Airport. 

    • I recommend reserving a rental car from the airport

    • You’ll adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road faster than you think