Filming this Aoraki Mount Cook wedding was an unexpected journey

A journey to this wedding

When Anna and Nick first enquired about a film for their wedding at Aoraki Mount Cook, it’s fair to say I got a little excited. Aoraki Mount Cook is incredibly special to me. To find out why, read on…(but watch the film first!)

“Slowly lift it up so you can see the hermitage” - 28 years later I was deploying exactly the same shot as a professional wedding videographer!

Where I fell in love with the outdoors and the video camera

Aoraki Mount Cook is, without question, my favourite region in New Zealand. Not just for the spectacular scenery, but for the many special memories the area has been responsible for nurturing. I was lucky growing up having teachers as parents as this meant we would go on adventures as a family almost every school holiday. Some of my earliest and dearest memories of the outdoors originate from exploring Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. Dad always brought home the school video camera for the holidays too which meant we had access to the latest and greatest in camcorder technology! I always loved playing and experimenting with video cameras but I think it was on one of our trips to Mount Cook that my love of capturing the action on film was truly born.

My greatest outdoor adventure

Although my career path ventured off in different directions (a few times), Richie has since summited Mount Everest as a guide and is currently an accomplished field instructor for Antarctica NZ.

Before becoming a professional videographer, I was a teacher and before becoming a teacher, I was a passionate outdoor instructor. Working in the outdoors and with some amazing instructors, helped forge lifelong friendships - one of which was with Richie Hunter. Richie and I traversed the Ball Pass Crossing back in 2005. It was a trip I’ll never forget.

Engagement to Heather

With Aoraki Mount Cook being so pivotal in shaping me, what better place to ‘pop the question’ to my biggest supporter? Like me, Heather was also introduced to the outdoors at a young age. Therefore there was nothing suspicious when proposing a weekend adventure to Aoraki Mount Cook! I won’t bore you with the details…we found a large boulder off the beaten Hooker Valley path where I popped the question…and of course she said yes (without hesitation).

Engagement Rock

11 years later brings you to the present day. The day before filming Anna & Nick’s wedding, we took our own children, Stella (6) and Walter (4) to our ‘engagement rock’. When we got engaged, Heather and I had the foresight to etch our names and date on a small rock which we hid under ‘our rock’. We had some fun with the kids fossicking for it…and found it!

New journeys

As parents, we are now doing our best to nurture the same love of the outdoors in our own children. Weka Films has enabled us to abandon the confines of a full time ‘workplace’ for work ‘places’. We have recently done up Heather’s childhood caravan and christened it ‘The Mint Trip’. Having a caravan gives us the freedom to travel from wedding to wedding over the NZ summer and have a bit of family adventure along the way…

So, Anna & Nick, it was absolute honour to capture your incredible day…and thanks for taking part in the journey!