Jampacked Experience Driven Elopement: Warren + Stacie

In choosing an adventure instead of a traditional wedding, you embark on a new milestone in your relationship. You’ll feel empowered to celebrate exactly how you want. Not how society pressures you to. Likely you will be drawn to an experience driven elopement! Then add in some Icelandic landscapes and you have an unstoppable combo…

Warren & Stacie

Next, let’s rewind to 2010… Stacie was at a party that transitioned to Buffalo Wild Wings. Little did she know the love of her life, Warren would be there! They both quickly realized there was undeniable chemistry between them. Plus they both came from similar medical / healthcare fields so they had a lot in common from the start. Furthermore, they call the state of Virginia home, but they are obsessed with traveling the world! To illustrate, from the hiking Mont Blanc to the jungles of Costa Rica, they prefer to try new things whenever possible.

Therefore, shortly after they were engaged, they began exploring wedding location ideas. But being a non-traditional couple they immediately gravitated to elopement options. However, it wasn’t until they stumbled upon our Iceland Wedding Planner website, they found out planning an experience driven elopement was a thing! Thus began their road to Iceland!

July Elopement in Iceland

Warren and Stacie started planning with our Iceland Wedding Planner team in 2018 for a July 2020 experience driven elopement. However, we all know how Covid deeply affected wedding and travel plans around the world. Meanwhile, these two were not excluded and they felt safer postponing to July of 2021 instead.

The morning began with a quite summer sunrise in the town of Vik. Our hairstylist, Iceland wedding photographer, and makeup artist all began doing their thing while Warren and Stacie relaxed. By 8am it was time to grab their “go bags” and embark on their long awaited experience driven elopement adventure!

Dyrhólaey Wedding Ceremony

There is something really intriguing about getting married on a black sand beach. Maybe it’s the volcanic sand, the power of the ocean waves, the beauty of the basalt rocks, or all of it! Who knows! But what we do know is that Warren and Stacie came to our Iceland Wedding Planner team for a day away from tourist locations. For instance, a day where they could have an experience driven elopement that would entice their 5 senses.

Next, our team member, Vanessa led a lovely wedding ceremony in front of Dyrhólaey Sea Arch. Each sentence was centering and allowed Warren and Stacie to truly be present. Such special moments they shared! Immediately following their private property wedding ceremony, they toasted with a gin and tonic from a Viking Horn!

Intimate Iceland Beach Elopement Photos

Following their Iceland beach wedding, these two collected basalt stones. And for sure marveled over the beauty and privacy… For example, they are part of the few in the world who get to experience the view from this direction of Dyrhólaey up close! Fair to say our Iceland elopement photographer was in total bliss doing the drone shots too! What a stunning perspective!

Exploring the Dyrhólaey Peninsula

All parts of the Dyrhólaey Peninsula are beautiful. Since the light was right, our Iceland Wedding Planner team decided to explore the rock formations, cliffs, and dunes that makeup the bottom of the peninsula. Stacie and Warren’s playful laughs echoed around the cliffs and it was sooo ADORABLE!

Experience Driven Elopement

There are so many different kinds of elopements you can plan. However, we choose to focus on planning experience driven elopements. Why? Because they incorporate pushing your normal limits, engaging your 5 senses, and introduce you to an intimate part of the landscape or culture you will not soon forget.

So when Warren and Stacie arrived to this sweet little narrow canyon as their second location, they weren’t sure what to expect. For example, did they need to hike through it? Fill up their water bottled in the crisp spring water? Did they come to bird watch or picnic? To their surprise, they explored by foot for some epic photos but had the super jeep do all the work in transporting them through it!

Rugged Waterfall Adventures

The capabilities of our super jeeps continues to astonish us even 10+ years later! Having a super jeep transport you through the roughest and more challenging type of landscapes is really exciting. Mainly because it feels like you never ever know at what point you could get stuck or something could go wrong. However the reality is our couples are in seasoned professional hands!

Sometimes getting to the location is half the fun! But when Stacie and Warren showed up at the next stop the waterfall took their breath away. And as they got closer and closer it somehow kept getting better too!! Our Iceland elopement photographer rocked some super cool drone shots as well…

Natural Cave Luxury Picnic

No matter the season or weather, experiencing the inside of a natural cave in Iceland is pretty spectacular. Meanwhile, opting in for a luxury picnic while there seriously takes any experience driven elopement up a notch! To illustrate, the newlyweds added on a luxury champagne picnic complete with cozy blankets, pillows, Laurent-Perrier champagne, Icelandic cheeseboard, fruit, and other delicious pastries. Afterwards, they explored the cave both inside and out… In fact, they were the FIRST EVER to get wedding photos inside of this newly dug out cave!!

Ice Arch Wedding Photos

Glaciers are constantly changing. One of the many reasons, our Iceland Wedding Planner team scouts weekly. Because things change from week to week! We were thrilled to see a magnificent arch still standing tall the week leading up to their experience driven elopement. Seeing it in person and watching them witness it though was super special. For example, there was very much a otherworldly vibe that resonated.

Trekking to an Iceland Ice Cave

After their journey to the ice arch, it was time to move on to an ice cave! Although small, it was stunning in its own way. I might even dare to say, the perfect size for an experience driven elopement!

Dinner for Two in Vik!

As the day turned into night, they did a quick rest and then had a romantic dinner for two in Vik! However, keep scrolling because there is more…

Mountain Top Sunset Elopement Photos

We are huge advocates of ending the night with something if our couples energy level remains high. Doesn’t have to be crazy… Maybe it’s simple shots in front of a fireplace, romantic midnight sun photos at a nearby spot, sunset photos, or crafted nighttime photos. Well the weather was fantastic after Warren and Stacie finished dinner so we headed up on top of a nearby mountain for sunset photos! Glorious way to end their experience driven elopement, truly! Hope their jampacked Iceland wedding leaves you inspired to plan one with your own twist… Feel free to contact us if discovering private property locations sounds exciting to you!