“Forgive Quickly. Kiss Slowly. Love Truly. Laugh Uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.”
–Audrey Hepburn
This amazing quote instantly makes me recall one of my favorite couple’s late summer (September) elopements from this last year… You live once and should never ever live a life of regrets. Always try, always do, and always choose love (or at least the chance at it)! People often come into our lives at just the right moment. It’s a moment of where the Universe provides and serendipity takes over, where we are left with a magical moment that changes the course of our life. Our adventurous Iceland wedding couples often have amazing “how you met” stories. I think it comes from always being brave enough to put yourself out there, take risks in return for big rewards.
So! Let’s rewind back to 2013, when Mark and Biheng attended separately a charity event in Melbourne Australia (Thanks – Cambodian Kids Can) for the evening. Glances from across the room turned into first time introductions where they both bonded over sharing an extraordinary passion for volunteer work. And after the chance meeting that evening, they found their way into a 2 year relationship together! They spent their days traveling the world together, cooking, being an amazing team together, and partaking in adventures that would challenge them both. During a trip to the Philippines, Mark planned a day where they took a boat to an isolated island where they hiked to a secret waterfall. It was there he proposed a lifetime of adventure to Biheng and she said YES!
These two are not only seriously into traveling the world together, but they are also into offbeat travels away from the typical touristy locations. So naturally when they began thinking about what destinations called to them for their elopement… Mark and Biheng were seeking non-traditional vibes, striking tons, textures, a variety of types of locations that could all be seen in one day, elements of hiking, and also grand sweeping landscapes that would be forever ingrained in their minds. After research for adventurous wedding locations that are less touristy, they found their way to us here at Iceland Wedding Planner, since we specialize in private and offbeat wedding locations in Iceland!
Deciding on when to get married in Iceland can be a hard decision! The seasons in Iceland are bit tricky and vary from other countries because we can have crazy weather no matter the month or week. No matter the time of year, you’re never safe from a gale force wind /sand storm or pouring rain. Our summer season is officially from June-September (typically June – July – August being the warmest). Whereas Fall is between October-November. Winter holds tight to December-March and spring emerges again April-May.
Living in Australia, Biheng and Mark, decided that September would be the best month for them to run away and elope in Iceland! September is still apart of the token “summer” months but is on the brink of fall when you head into mid to late. The temperatures are cooler and rain can certainly come at any point in time. Mark and Biheng knew from the start of Iceland wedding planning with us that this was a very real possibility and they should be prepared for it to full on rain, so it was no surprise that it was pouring buckets! They rated themselves a 10 out of 10 on our adventure scale and they seriously were! Come along with us today as we share their hiking elopement in Iceland with you! Also head over to Offbeat Bride to see the awesome feature they had on them too, HERE!
The day began around 5:30am at a rustic boutique hotel in Southern Iceland, where our Iceland wedding hair-styling team went right to work!
Can we talk about the brides Iceland wedding dress for a sec?! Biheng selected an incredible designer based in Australia for her Iceland wedding dress: Toni Maticevski. It was a fantastic little two piece number and the best part… the dress was made from NEOPRENE. No joke! Like seriously, neoprene is what my scuba diving wet suits are made from. It’s freaking brilliant if you ask me! I personally think all my adventurous brides should for sure checkout Toni’s line of unique wedding dresses! Stay stylish, warm, and DRY during your adventurous wedding day in Iceland!
This lovely bride was a fan of stilettos (I hear ya girl, old habits die hard!) for her Iceland wedding shoes, but partnered them with hiking boots as our day was going to be chock-full of hiking! Mark pulled out of all the GQ stops and went for another local to Australia designer with having made a custom Calibre blue suit with dapper brown shoes. Oh la la the excitement to see them together was mounting!! We could not wait to start their adventurous Iceland elopement!
Before 8:30am we were out the door of the wedding host hotel and loading into our super jeep for the day!
After a super fun drive through rivers (like huge ones that actually make you use the snorkel on the super jeep) Biheng and Mark arrived at the base of the hike. It was there they began their ascent with our favorite Pastor and Iceland wedding photographer to the top of a lovely mountain. It was raining so everyone stayed bundled up until they reached the top. As they hiked higher and higher the visibility became lower as the clouds, rain, and fog settled in.
Our Iceland wedding photography team, made the call to stay at a lower point on the mountain so that there could still be some depth and textures in the wedding photos rather than being married in the midst of all white clouds and rain. So about 30 minutes into the hike they ventured out to their secret mountain spot to hold their private Iceland wedding ceremony. And it was sooooo freaking magical in the midst of the rain and fog!
Once the private wedding ceremony concluded, it was time for exploration of the area and Iceland wedding elopement photos!
The adventure continued as they hiked down from the mountain. It seemed like the fog kept following them lower and lower so it seemed they had just finished their Iceland wedding ceremony just in time before more weather came in. The path was muddy, stony, and steep in parts but these two powered through it with their hiking boots, lots of laughs, jokes, and big fat smiles on their faces! The colors of fall just beginning were such a beautiful backdrop for their Iceland wedding photos!
Since the weather turned a bit narly once down from the mountain top, they warmed up for a few minutes in a nearby cabin but then were ready within minutes to go back out for more Iceland elopement exploring around the base camp area!
Our Iceland wedding photography team love to do impromptu stops when there are beautifully lit mountains around! Before crossing one of the rivers, these two jumped out for a few romantic Iceland elopement photographs!
A quick drive led to another amazing hike for Biheng and Mark… This time it was to the inside of a stunning canyon and a amazing natural cave. These two enjoyed exploring both as they had their Iceland wedding portraits taken.
The next stop on their unforgettable Iceland elopement schedule was a hike to a hidden waterfall. It’s a personal favorite of ours because of how vivid it looks when the ground cover begins to change. They playfully explored and discovered it together!
As if 3 awesome hikes weren’t enough already by this point, these two adventured on another hike on their Iceland wedding day! Their rock stars, seriously! The last canyon they discovered together was a narrow darker river stream one where the entire time they hiked through the water. The pay off at the end of this hike are waterfall(s). It was incredible to see the play between the light and dark coming into the canyon for their Iceland wedding photos! These two were fearless!
Spending almost every second of daylight of that lovely September late summer (early fall) wedding day, Biheng and Mark concluded their Iceland wedding day by exploring a private black sand beach. The laughs and smiles were endless! What an EPIC way to end an adventurous wedding day in Iceland!
Over 12 hours of pure adventure was had during this hiking elopement in Iceland. They ended the day delighting in a delicious meal and trying out a traditional Iceland wedding cake!
© 2018, Photos by Miss Ann / Iceland Wedding Planner, All Rights Reserved