All Day Hiking Elopement in Iceland

Couples who hike together, stay together, eh?  We think so and so does today’s super amazing couple from Canada, Sarah and Landan!  After some uninspiring months of planning a local wedding in Ontario Canada, they counted themselves lucky to have found our Iceland Wedding Planner team because the spark of excitement was ignited again.  So come along with us today as we share with you a fun story about them and their all day hiking elopement!

Before Iceland: Sarah and Landan’s Love Story

 Badass bride to be Sarah, has played high-level competitive hockey across the world since she was 10 years old.  She even found her way to play her first international tournament in Iceland in 2013.  It was then that she became obsessed with the country and all of the endless beauty!  Now all she had to do was find a beau that she could find her way back here to marry!  #EasyButton!  Good thing, she had a friend she had also been playing hockey with since she was 10 who had a charming older brother she fell in love with over the years.

These two bonded by the connection between their families, ever expanding careers, love of the outdoors, nature, and creating an amazing farm oasis together, rebuilding every inch of it from scratch with their fur and feather babies in tow!  Sarah and Landan have a passion for renovating dilapidated places and turning them into gems.  They took a 9 acre piece of property and transformed it into a small working farm alongside the Detroit River.  Sharing the continuous responsibility of caring for their 100+ hens who provide them (and all they love) farm-fresh eggs each morning and their many cats who keep their farm mouse free, these two love what they do!

The Proposal:

They had always planned on getting married to each other, but had not formally talked about it.  So when Landan surprised Sarah with proposing at one of her favorite restaurants just before both of their birthdays, she was really surprised!!  Especially since he was so thoughtful to even hide the ring in a Red Wings koozie… As if he was just gifting her with that!  Sarah said yes and wedding planning adventures began!

These two are anything but a tradition couple so why would they ever consider a traditional wedding, right?  Stupid North American society pressures.  Luckily the idea of entertaining that idea was short lived and they found themselves seeking something more.  Since Landan hadn’t been invited by his sister to go to Iceland and watch her play hockey in the tournament, he had to live vicariously through Sarah’s photos.  It was on both of their lists to come back and explore more.  As they began to research more about having their honeymoon in Iceland, they found our Iceland Wedding Planner team and our adventure wedding concept!

Sarah and Landan were seeking an adventurous elopement that had locations they would swoon over and a day that had constant exploration away from tourists.  Our Iceland Wedding Planner team pitched 7 different very exciting schedules to them and the all day hiking one won 😉  Now we just needed to find a fast forward button to August so we could experience it with them!  Luckily for you today we are thrilled to share their all day hiking elopement in Iceland!  Enjoy!!

Iceland Wedding Hotel: Hotel Stracta Hella

Basing yourself in Southern Iceland is a very good decision to explore the most dynamic parts of the countryside during your elopement in Iceland.  We are huge fans specifically of lodge, Hotel Stracta in Hella.  The hotel is newer than all of the others in this area, the staff are caring and accommodating, the food is delicious, and their amenities uphold a North American style standard (IE, comfy beds / sheets, hot tubs, saunas, easy free parking, free breakfast, etc).

Sarah and Landan began their morning around 5am inside of their cozy studio cottage with our hair and makeup team coming to the room.  Our Iceland wedding photographer was also up running around forever documenting their details too!  With their “go bags” packed, Sarah and Landan were ready to load into their posh super jeep for their all day hiking elopement in Iceland!

Iceland Private Waterfall Wedding Ceremony:

Adventure weddings happen rain or shine.  You two need to be rugged enough to endure the crazy and ever-changing Icelandic weather.  As we arrived to the start to the hike of the waterfall Sarah and Landan were doing to say “I do” at, it was raining and they freaking not only embraced it, but LOVED it!  Hiking to your Iceland wedding ceremony location really gives you a connection with nature and a satisfying feeling of being badass #couplesgoals!

The pastor on our Iceland Wedding Planner team will follow you up a mountain in the rain just as he did with Sarah and Landan too!  Sarah and Landan spoke their personal vows to each other and marveled at words Pastor Egill spoke and the 360 views all around them!

Waterfall Elopement Photos:

Getting married in front of a waterfall that is multi-tiered is super inspiring and gave our Iceland wedding photographer some fantastic options during and after.  These two spent times exploring together hand in hand after the ceremony and still could not believe a place so beautiful existed just for them to marry each other.  Private property waterfalls, really give you that “I just discovered it” kind of feeling and it’s truly intoxicating and unforgettable!

Iceland Cave Wedding Exploration:

Caves in Iceland are countless, and frankly we are kinda obsessed!  Seriously, our Iceland Wedding Planner team goes out weekly to scout caves we have heard about from locals or endless research on the landscape.  Being able to explore a natural cave during your Iceland elopement is romantic and super fun!  Plus, Iceland does not have any bats or anything scary in the caves so come on in!

This specific cave set we explored on Sarah and Landan’s wedding day was one that we had only scouted and was a “plan b” location from their original schedule.  It was a sketchy hike, but they said it would just be a better story later 😉  Indeed, it was hands down even more amazing than the originally planned locale!  Our Iceland wedding photographer even had to wear wadders on and get in chest high rushing river water to get “the shot.”  So freaking EPIC for everyone!!

Hiking Elopement Couple Trek to the Top of a Mountain:

The hiking adventure continued to the top of one of our favorite mountains.  The area boasts a fantastic view of the glacier outlet of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano (you know the crazy one that went off on April 14th 2010 and ruined European flight travel for a few weeks?).  Sarah and Landan thoroughly enjoyed stopping to take in the incredible views along the way to the top.  …and Landan enjoyed picking blue berries to eat too!  But once they arrived to the top, wow-wee!!  So so stunning and worth having the all day hiking elopement adventure for sure!

Iceland Wedding Lunch Stop in a Secret Canyon:

A huge benefit of our adventurous elopements is that our exclusive super jeep can get to places most others cannot because of gear, driving experience, and permissions.  Which then means we can have a hot dog bbq in some crazy cool places!!  While our super jeep team fired up lunch, our Iceland wedding photographers had Sarah and Landan explore the unique canyon together to create some magical portraits!

River Canyon Wedding Photos:

In the highlands of Iceland there are many different types of canyons.  Some are formed by glaciers receding back whereas others by erosion, tectonic plates, and weather.  Glacier rivers often carve out canyons too and that is the case with the next 2 locations Sarah and Landan explored during their hiking elopement in Iceland.

Adventurous Private Waterfall Wedding Portraits:

The last location on Sarah and Landan’s all day hiking elopement was going to another private property waterfall!  I swear hiking this, everyone had the vibe of being in the magical land of Narnia.  There were horses grazing, the grass was a crazy vivid green, and the place just felt alive!

Have you totally enjoyed Sarah and Landan’s all day hiking elopement in Iceland?  If so, our team would love to craft something up for you just as unique!  Feel free to contact us for more information and to see if we would be a good fit!

© 2018, Iceland Wedding Planner / Your Adventure Wedding, All Rights Reserved.

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