Posting our weekly Iceland wedding inspiration a tad early because Photos by Miss Ann has a bustling holiday weekend filled with Iceland wedding invitation mock ups, a wonderful wedding Saturday in Grass Lake, and then little newborns Sunday and Monday!

Today’s topic: Shoes!  Isn’t this every girl’s favorite topic?  I know the eyes are the coined “window to the soul” so what does that make our feet/shoes?  Do they allow us to walk the path to our future?  As far as weddings are concerned, yes!  Just think the shoes you choose for your wedding day are the shoes you’re going to marry the man of your dreams in!  <Swoon> This incredible little detail can also prove to be an extraordinary expression of who you are, your flair, and be colorful detail in your Iceland couples portraits.

My Iceland Bridal Shoe Story:  When my husband and I had finally settled on holding our wedding day in Iceland at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, I had actually already bought a vintage wedding dress off of eBay.  I was also convinced I was going to wear my peep toe Betseyville pink polka dot heels with it.  Frankly, the idea of stepping into a bridal boutique made me cringe.  Fun fact about me:  I am 100% an online shopper not really a fan of crowds or waiting (if I could buy groceries online I would!).  But, one snowy Saturday in November, my mother had come into town and convinced me to go to 2 of those fancy dress stores to at least try on a few wedding dresses in order to get the full “bride” experience.  Begrudging I went to appease her.  The first and last shop we went to was Bridal Couture of Plymouth, Michigan.  I walked in and immediately fell in love with the helpful staff and a stunning an ivory trumpet gown by Demetrios (Style 9659).  It sadly but excitedly blew my little vintage wedding dress out of the water!  My mother and I looked at each other and just knew that was “the dress.”

At that point, I was still committed to wearing my Betsey Johnson pink polka dot heels and felt they were still the right choice for my Iceland wedding shoes… That is until the Badgley Mischka’s were found on eBay, days later.  The exquisite Badgley Mischka “Salsa” actually had a broach at the peep toe that was identical to the broach on my dress <Insert bridal happy dance!>.  Those magnificent stilettos put my pink polka dot Betsey’s to shame.  Although, I did end up wearing the polka dots as my Iceland wedding reception shoes.  So that is how an interesting turn of events led me to my wedding shoes.  How did you find yours?  Are they close toe? Peep toe? Wedges? Stilettos? Flats? Or are you still searching?  If you’re in need of guidance as to what the best shoes would be to wear for your Iceland wedding, have no fear you’ve come to the right place!

Depending on the time of year and the location you have chosen for your wedding in Iceland, the setting may dictate what type of wedding shoes would be best.  A couple examples follow below:

• Having your wedding on top of a glacier in Iceland (Most popular Icelandic glaciers follow: Eyjafjallajökull, Snæfellsjökull, Mýrdalsjökull, Vatnajökull) = Boots would be best with no heels (The brand Sorel makes some super cute ones- but note that they run big from my experience!).

• Iceland Wedding at Seljalandsfoss or Skogafoss waterfall = Wedges or thicker heels would be ideal but you can totally do stilettos too just be careful as you walk (you will sink into the grass)!  These clear heel protectors rock too!

• Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon wedding =  Wedges would be ideal but a thicker heel or adding a clear heel cover (Heel Saver by Solemates) for your stiletto would also do the trick to ensure you do not ruin them while walking on rocks, gravel, ice, and grass.

• Iceland Country Church Wedding (such as having your Iceland wedding at Budir, Hellnar, Hallgrímskirkja, Oddi, or Vik) = Any shoes will work since you’re inside.  But do bring a pair to change into if needed after the ceremony to go around with your Iceland wedding photographer in order to take your gorgeous Iceland wedding portraits!

• Iceland Blue Lagoon wedding = Any type of shoe you desire!  They have a gorgeous facility that offers wood floors, concrete paths, a bridge, and flatter grassy/gravel areas as well.

• Lava Field wedding in Snaefellsnes Peninsula (such as having a Hotel Budir wedding) = Wedges would be ideal but a thicker heel or adding a clear heel cover (check out Heel Saver by Solemates) for your stiletto would also do the trick to ensure you do not ruin them while walking on the grassy rocks and hills.

• Vik Beach Wedding (or a wedding at Skardsvik’s Golden Beach = Iceland’s only white sand beach) = Wedges, boots, sandals, or barefoot (it will be chilly!)!  I wore stilettos until we arrived here for our wedding photos in Iceland, then I put on hiking boots and in the end and finished up barefoot.  Keep in mind too that this is a black sand beach and the black sand does not easily come off (so protect the expensive shoes!).  I think some black sand is still engrained in the lining of my Iceland wedding dress (even after washing it).

So here comes the super exciting part… Color & Style!  There has been a pretty strong trend in the destination wedding industry to have unique wedding shoes.  Some Iceland bridal shoe ideas follow below:

• Have your Iceland wedding shoes to match your favorite color (pink, purple, blue, red, etc!)
• Compliment your bridesmaid’s dresses (or wedding color theme).
• Have feathers accents.
• Iceland destination wedding heels adorned in rhinestones.
• Polka dots
• Ruffles
• Rosettes
• Vintage lace
• Sparkly Mystique sandals
• Add a broach to the peep toe or the outside topside of the shoe.
• Fur trim boots (How Nordic, right?)
• Plain heels with an added flower clip!

I encourage you to have fun with it!  Or maybe even customize your own pair you find.  After you find your perfect pair, you can finish off your heels for your Iceland destination wedding with “I Do” stickers for the arch of your shoe!  They are a pretty awesome sparkly detail and a dual purpose for your something blue <bonus!>.  So now I am sure you’re wondering what brands may be the best?  My personal opinion that I swear by for comfort, style, and price:  Badgley Mischka, Betsey Johnson, Sorel, Mystique Sandals and Poetic License (All of which are featured in the below photos along with some of our brides from last year’s shoes).

Tips for getting the most out of your Iceland wedding shoes:

1. If you do not usually wear heels and want to for your wedding day, start ASAP.  Start out wearing them while doing household chores (1-2 hours a day) and build up until you can stand an entire day.  I know this may sound silly, but the more time your toes and the balls of your feet have to get a little callused, the longer you’ll be able to stand, walk, and run around in those fancy stilettos with no complaints (Serious advice from a 15+ year stiletto veteran- believe me it works!).
2. Invest $13 USD to purchase a pair of Heel Savers by Solemates you’ll be glad you did later!  I had a pair, forgot to put them on my heels before I left for our Iceland wedding at Seljalandsfoss and I definitely sunk into the ground at the Iceland waterfalls.
3. If you are worried about your shoes slipping there are shoe grips you can purchase that go on the bottom of your shoes and also inside to add comfort and prevent slippage.
4.  Do your research before buying!  Many shoe sites now have shoe reviews which you may find helpful before buying online.  If also buying online make sure you check out Retail Me Not for a possible coupon code!  That site rocks.
5. Remember to take your Iceland wedding shoes to your dress fittings to ensure a perfect bottom hem (and bring your other shoes if you’re considering a change at your reception to gauge length difference).
6. Wrangle your fiancé into dancing with you on a hardwood floor to give your destination wedding shoes a test run.  Make sure you can move, spin, be dipped and regain your balance in them easily.
7. Lay your shoes out the night before your wedding (together with any other accessories too) so your awesome Iceland wedding photographer can snap some super sweet detail shots.
8. Clean your shoes once you get back from your Iceland destination wedding.  I know my heels were stained with mud by the end of our Iceland wedding ceremony at Seljalandsfoss, wedding photos at Skogafoss, playful wedding photos at Vik Beach, and by the end of our Iceland wedding reception at Hotel Ranga.  It took me a bucket of water, Simple Green, Dove soap, and 40 minutes to restore them back to their original glam status but I am so glad I did!
9. Wear them again, again, and again they’ll make you smile =)  I took mine to wear for our Bali Honeymoon Photos and even randomly make dinner in them sometimes, lol!

Selecting your Iceland wedding attire should be one of the most exciting “to do’s” on your Iceland destination wedding planning list.  You can always start with a basic design and in the end and really put your own spin on your matching accessories especially on your wedding shoes.  So be creative lovely ladies!

As you plan, we hope you find our blog helpful and use it as a tool to have the perfect Iceland wedding!  Please contact us for more details on how Photos by Miss Ann can be an asset to your Iceland wedding planning and/or Iceland wedding photography.

In the meantime, savor the weekend!  With a smile, Ann Peters

Expert Iceland Wedding Photographer and Iceland Wedding Planner

© 2013, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Iceland Wedding Shoes! [by Iceland Wedding Photographer] appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Thanks for stopping by!  A fun fact about us… We went from having an Iceland destination wedding to a honeymoon in Bali, Indonesia.  We loved having the two extremes for our wedding adventures.  Our honeymoon was featured on the fabulous Aisle Perfect / Perfete blog, so a take moment to check it out!

Definition of HONEYMOON  (Source: Merriam-Webster )

1: a period of harmony immediately following marriage

2: a period of unusual harmony especially following the establishment of a new relationship

3: a trip or vacation taken by a newly married couple

Ah, yes every engaged couples “light at the end of the tunnel”- the honeymoon.  Long awaited and well deserved.  After planning our Iceland destination wedding from October 2011 to April 2012 and coordinating travels and activities for our 40 guests we knew we would need a break right after the wedding, not another vacation.  To us, it seemed like terrible etiquette to have all the people we love fly in for just a few days of wedding events and then not spend time with them.

Whether you are planning a local wedding in Plymouth, Michigan or destination wedding at in Iceland I assure you, breaking tradition and waiting to take your honeymoon 6 months later is the way to go.  Every bride gets wrapped up into the excitement and planning of the day and once she goes back to normal life with no wedding planning to keep her busy a type of “post wedding depression” sets in.  Even being a super planner and being a destination wedding photographer as myself (please visit: www.PhotosByMissAnn.com), I was actually surprised at what a void I felt.  Planning my Iceland wedding became a hobby.  The excitement level crashed upon our return to Plymouth Michigan; my wedding was now ancient history.

Luckily, I had my honeymoon to plan! Bam, easy transition out of my post-wedding-blues!  Much like the same way we attacked finding a destination wedding location we compiled a list of possible honeymoon locations:

1. The Maldives
2. Antarctica (via Santiago, Chile)
3. Bali, Indonesia
4. Faroe Islands

Being a wedding photographer and specializing in destination wedding photography, we needed to work around my high season of photographing and plan for a trip in November or December.  That sadly eliminated the Faroe Islands since there would only be 4-6 hours of daylight during that time.  In the end, we chose Bali, Indonesia.  We rented “The Honeymoon Villa” in Candidasa.  Candidasa is 1.5 hours northeast of the DPS airport and the waypoint to all of the adventure and amazing food the country has to offer.

Each couple has to decide what sort of honeymoon they want to have and we are 100% action-packed adventure (and “sleep when you’re dead,” sort of travelers).  Our itinerary truly reflected the same.  If you’re reading this and are like us I suggest the following awesomeness for your destination honeymoon:

Day 1: Fly to LAX and stay overnight.

Day 2 and 3: Arrive in Bali (DPS airport).

Day 4: Check out our favorite beach Padang Padang then head to Ayana Resort for their “Pesta Lobster” dining experience.  Uber romantic!

Day 5: Check out the Tirtagangga Water Palace and the White Sand Beach. 11pm leave for the Sunrise Hike to the top of the highest peak in Bali, Mount Agung.

Day 6: Hike 9,900 feet to watch the sunrise on Bali’s highest volcano and then visit Pura Besakih (Temple in the Clouds).

Day 7:Day trip to the oldest most traditional Baliense village Tenganan and and then go to Ubud to shop the 4 story market.

Day 8:  Go Canyoning in Bali

Day 9: Head to the Taro jungle and ride an elephant at the Elephant Safari Park.

Day 10: Scuba Dive Tulamben – USAT Liberty Wreck.

Day 11: Spend the afternoon at Pandang Bai Beach, dinner at Rouge in Canidasa, and fly out of DPS at midnight.

As we planned our honeymoon in Bali, we debated on hiring a professional photographer to do some post wedding / honeymoon photography locally.  But, me being the perfectionist I am, I could not bear the thought though of anyone else photographing my honeymoon, but me!  So alas, against my husband’s pleas not to bring… the professional Nikon gear was packed!

Honeymoon Photography is a new upcoming phenomenon. As couples begin to choose more out of the norm locations (or luxury honeymoon locales) this becomes increasing important to document.  This is the couples chance to forever seal their wedding year glamor and turn it to printable legend.  It is certainly not every day or even every year you can take such an elaborately striking vacation so take advantage of it.  Forever pause this time in your lives and hire a professional to capture it!

Picture this… It’s just the two of you- no family, no friends, no obligations to worry about and certainly no time constraints as you did during your wedding day.  Plus ladies,you can choose to have another fun dress to be photographed in (or don your gorgeous wedding dress again!), bonus!  Destination honeymooning in Iceland, Fiji, Bora Bora, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, or even Bali Indonesia is a lifetime adventure and you need to capture that matchless beauty in couples portraits!  Especially if you have chosen to stay in one of those glorious over the ocean bures!

After having a destination wedding in Iceland in April my husband and I needed a break, not honeymoon!  So we waited 7 months on our official honeymoon and decided on Bali Indonesia.  Choosing such an exotically dreamy place, we knew we needed to document it.  We professionally photographed our own couples portraits and also hoped to fast-track this new trend in our destination wedding photography packages going forward.  We began our photography adventure at Padang Padang Beach (the Bali beach featured in the movie Eat, Pray, Love) and it was stunning!  Next up was a very romantic sunset dinner on Ayana Resorts Private Jetty.  A few days later we finished with a couple of random spots in around the city we stayed, Candidasa.

What a fun week of portrait sessions!  My husband and I were relaxed, playful, and uber romantic as we had every spot to ourselves.  I was so excited that I was already envisioning 19×23’’ acrylic prints to hang and designing our Christmas cards in my head!  This was truly a special session for us.  Here we were in the middle of an unusual countryside celebrating our 7 month anniversary (delaying the honeymoon was the best decision) and we were savoring every second.

Our honeymoon portrait session was unlike any other session we have to date experienced.  It was not as awkward as our engagement session nor as stressful as our wedding day- it was us in the essence of the moment and at our best.  These are by far my favorite images we have taken because taking them was an adventure in itself!  I know many of you may not have ever thought of it, but why not take your wedding photographer on your honeymoon?  Especially those of you bride and grooms that are planning destination weddings- I bet all of your destination wedding photographers would offer you a special package to continue on with you on your honeymoon too, just ask!  The wedding is critical but the honeymoon is epically you!

Yours in Iceland destination wedding photography and planning, Ann

13 Must Dos for your Wedding Day

Best Destination Wedding Tips for Obscure Locations

Aisle Perfect / Perfete Bali Honeymoon Feature

© 2002-2012, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Destination Honeymoon Photography: Bali Indonesia appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.