No country seems to lend itself more to dramatic wedding photographs than Iceland. That landscape is just begging for moody and beautiful couple shots. So when Lauren proposed to Gareth just a month before the date, she asked him specifically if he’d like to elope there.
“Only a month before actually getting married in Iceland, I sat Gareth down at a local cafe, and asked him if he would like to act on our high soaring love for each other”, Lauren explained. “I asked if he would like to marry me in Iceland, a place that we had both dreamed about visiting. Just the two of us and some of mother nature’s finest creations. To my great relief, he said yes.”
“I took it upon myself to do some research about getting married in Iceland. Gareth and I had decided that we wanted to get married in the striking, yet simple, Budir Church on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. It seemed the perfect place for us to exchange our vows. Tucked away behind broken crevices in the earth and surrounded by knee length grass dancing in the wind and a backdrop of sea, mountains and a dramatic sky.”
“It was peak season so we could not book a room at the Budir Hotel close by, but I am glad we couldn’t because even though it was quite a distance away from the church, this lead me to a very cosy and rustic style cottage in Borgarnes. I thought we could stay there for two nights as it offered privacy for us to wake up on the morning of our wedding together and feel free to get ready in our own space. There was something endearing about being able to watch each other’s facial expressions and body language hours before eloping in marriage.”
“Finding a photographer and videographer to capture our special day was was hard, I won’t lie.”, she continued. “On searching for inspiration on Icelandic weddings I found a link to Vimeo. Welcome to the world where your own true fairytale can be transformed into a movie clip and you can watch it forever and ever. How magical.”
“We stayed up late a few nights and stumbled on a couple of candidates. And then came JNS vision, our saviours. They do photos and video and after appreciating Roland and Natalia’s natural flare and respect in translating peoples own personalities and ‘style of love’ into video and photography, we felt excited about asking them to document our day for us. And even more reassured after knowing that they are familiar with Iceland too.”
“There was then just a few more things to plan. Airfare and rental car, although expensive (because of peak season and short notice) had to done,nonetheless. Gareth had surprised me with an amazing choice in a light grey suit and salmon coloured tie. I had made him a boutonniere of a feather I found in Malta and a rose made with page 21 (our wedding date) of an Australian romance novel.”
The bride wore a dress from Grace Loves Lace and she made her own bouquet. “Finding my outfit was a little harder and it only arrived on the actual day we were flying to Iceland. I’m very thankful that it came at all! I also forgot to pre-order my bouquet including my favourite flower, a Proteas. Luckily, before driving to our cottage we stopped at a local florist and she had one! We bought it and I made my small bouquet myself before we left for the ceremony. I also made Gareth’s boutonniere from burlap and feathers.”
“Eloping actually made things extremely easy to plan. There were no family dramas and everyone we spoke to was really helpful”, Lauren concluded. “Our entire stay in Iceland was magical, but especially that day. Iceland’s never ending beauty opened up my eyes, heart and mind and filled them with inspiration to make my marriage perfect in every way possible. Sunsets were long and painted the sky with gold and magenta, the mountains were always spotted with grazing sheep and the waterfalls spread their mist creating rainbows. We enjoyed the winding scenic routes whilst stopping to make friends with the Icelandic horses and humble people in the quaint seaside villages. Would I get married in Iceland again? Yes! A million times over.”
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- Photography & Video: JNS Vision
- Venue: Búðir Church
- Bride's Dress: Grace Loves Lace
- Groom's Attire: Zara