Hands on an open notebook with soft New Zealand afternoon light cascading through a window
Hello, and Welcome

Destination Wedding PlanningSouth Island, New Zealand

Thank you for being here, I am Rebecca, and I plan a small number of weddings each year on the South Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Intimate weddings of up to 60 guests. And, for couples who have planned their own celebration, on-the-day coordination.

Two ways to work together. One person. Real care.

LUXlife Magazine Global Wedding Awards 2026 winner
LUXlife Magazine Global Wedding Awards

Luxury Destination Wedding Planning Specialists of the Year 2026, New Zealand

The Planner

A short list-as-portrait, to trace the real human on the other side of your plans.

01

Earl Grey tea.The first cup, the second cup, the just-in-case third cup. Black with honey.

02

I am a hugger.Just so you know.

03

I love every flower.Except gerberas. (I am not sorry.)

04

I drive my car like the race car driver I think I am.

05

Three nieces.Three very different beauties and personalities. All have my heart.

06

Jasper, my dog, has a wristwatch for dinner and walks, and I am his loyal live-in maid.

07

If your idea will not work, I will tell you.If a vendor is not the right match, I will say so. I would rather have a slightly hard conversation in May than a heartbreaking one in November.

Jasper & Rebecca
The Philosophy

how i got here & how i work

I built this work the way I want to live my life. Considered. Deeply present. Rooted in a country I love.

The road here was not a straight one. Thirty years across hospitality around the world, sixteen of them in weddings. Along the way: film production coordinator in Auckland, commercial floristry under one of the best florists in New Zealand, event work in Las Vegas, and three years running a converted woolshed venue near Wānaka. Couples who book me get a planner who understands deeply how their day will be remembered, photographed, and felt by their guests.

I plan weddings in the South Island for couples who want their celebration to feel like the most beautiful version of their real life. Not a performance. Not a Pinterest re-creation. The real, slightly imperfect, deeply loved thing.

A small handful of weddings each year. Not because of false scarcity. Because I am one human, and I want to give you all of me when your turn comes.

When you email, Rebecca writes back. When you call, Rebecca answers. The exception is my 2IC, Meghan, who is my work wife, my secret weapon, more of a perfectionist than I am, and the only other person you might hear from.

The planning months lean heavily on voice notes and Loom videos. Not endless emails. Mine sounds like a cup of tea with a friend.

Two brides exchange vows beside a South Island lake, framed by tall poplars and soft lupin florals
Ways to Work Together

Each one is its own shape of help. The right one depends on where you are coming from, how many people are coming with you, and most of all, how you want the day to feel.

Newlyweds walk through a shower of petal confetti thrown by guests at a lakeside South Island wedding, mountains behind.
service 01

For couples bringing their favourite people to Aotearoa, New Zealand, for a weekend that begins as a wedding day and becomes something more.

Twenty people. Thirty. Forty, sometimes sixty. The number sits within that range. The spirit stays the same. Where the welcome dinner becomes a moment of its own. Where the ceremony is held in a Central Otago valley at six o'clock, when the light goes long, and the air softens. Where the dance floor is the size it needs to be, and not one inch bigger.

“Rebecca planned a beautiful wedding that was beloved by our guests as well as us. Recurrent compliments have been on the food (Rebecca somehow found an incredible chef, plucked him from obscurity, and brought him to our wedding, who prepared four incredible meals), the venue, which we would never have found on our own and required complex private negotiations to book, and a boat adventure across a lake in Wanaka. We appreciated her versatility and rapid responsiveness to changing weather conditions... .” M&S - Intimate Wedding, January 2025

A small note on guest counts.

My intimate wedding service caps at 60, on purpose. Above 60, a celebration shifts from a weekend gathering into a production, and that is not the kind of planning I do best. If you are imagining 100, 150, 200 guests, I am genuinely not the right home for your celebration.

A styled wedding place setting with a hand-illustrated menu card, striped linen napkin folded like a rose, and olive-branch detailing.
service 02

For couples who have the details handled but want a calm, experienced pair of hands to run the day itself.

By the time your wedding day arrives, you have made a thousand decisions. My job here is to take the whole run of the day off your hands: the setup, the timing, the vendors, and the small fires that get quietly put out before you ever hear about them. You get to be a guest at your own wedding.

A wedding party walks arm in arm through vineyard rows above a lake, mountains rising behind them
The Journey

This is the shape of a full planning year, the rhythm intimate weddings tend to follow.

The first conversation
01PHASE 01

The first conversation

You send me a note from anywhere in the world. I read it myself. We schedule a call within a week, working with your time zone, not mine. I want to hear your story. Where you met. Why Aotearoa. What you have already imagined and what is still blank space. There is no script.

The proposal
02PHASE 02

The proposal

Within five days, I send you a personalised proposal. A piece of writing shaped around what you told me, with the right service shape, a recommended approach, a transparent investment, and the next step clearly marked. A Loom video walks you through it.

The welcome
03PHASE 03

The welcome

Once we are working together, I will send you a Welcome Guide. Part roadmap, part reference document. Written in plain English, you can read with a glass of wine instead of a highlighter.

The planning months
04PHASE 04

The planning months

Voice notes after every vendor conversation. Loom videos are best when something is shown rather than told. Email check-ins at each milestone. A private planning portal you can open at 2 am if you want to.

The celebration
05PHASE 05

The celebration

By the time the day arrives, every detail has been considered, refined, and prepared. I am quietly present from morning until I turn the lights off. You should barely see me at all. That is the point.

A newly married couple sit close together in long grass at dusk, looking out over a still lake and mountains
Inquire Deeper

The questions couples ask me most about planning a wedding in Aotearoa New Zealand.

For intimate weddings, most couples reach out 12 to 18 months ahead. Peak season (late February through April) tends to fill 18 months out.
Begin your plans

Tell me a little about the two of you. Where you are in the planning. What feels most uncertain right now. I read every enquiry myself. There is no script. Just a conversation.

Yours and your partner's first names.

I will write back personally within two working days.

City and country is plenty. It helps me know the time zone we are working with.

A specific date, a season, or "not yet." All are fine.

A number, a range, or "we have no idea." Every answer is welcome.

A South Island region, a specific landscape, or "help me decide."

How you met. Why Aotearoa. What made you start thinking about a wedding here. Take your time. There is no word limit.

A friend? Pinterest? Instagram? Just curious.

Instagram

@fantail_weddings, behind-the-scenes from the planning desk, vendor love, and the slow build-up of every Fantail celebration.

Pinterest

@fantailwed, with South Island wedding inspiration sorted by region, season, and feeling.

Newsletter

The Fantail Letter, a quiet email I send once a month. A piece of writing, a vendor I am loving, and the thing I am thinking about most. No sales. No pressure.