This quote very time I read it gives me goosebumps and after I read it, Crystal and Devin’s wedding day instantly comes to mind.  Why?

The love they exude.

Their endless addiction to adventure.

Their wedding ceremony.

The locations.

The ever-changing Icelandic weather.

Every single element of the day impacted them (and their guests).  The epic moments throughout their journey will forever be in their hearts for the rest of their lives.  Iceland is apart of them and their love story.

These two Florida natives found themselves searching for a unique awe-inspiring wedding location that would break the mold of the traditional American “destination wedding” experience.  I know this is how the majority of our offbeat couples find us, but this was even more critical than usual, because Devin is a fellow destination wedding industry entrepreneur (check out Swag Decor).

After indulging in photos of glaciers, volcanos, black sand beaches, hidden caves, secret waterfalls, and the greenest mountains on the planet, Devin and Crystal quickly found themselves obsessed with Iceland.  It was the answer.  So please follow us along today as we experience their incredible Iceland adventure wedding!  Then also head over to the awesome POPSUGAR / MSN to see more from their amazing day!

With a smile, Ann Peters + Team (Iceland Adventure Wedding Planners)

How pretty are these Iceland wedding invitations?!

The adventure began where luxury meets homey-charm: Hotel Ranga.

You all know we’re a huge fan of Iceland wedding welcome bags, right?  How fantastic for your Iceland wedding guests to receive the below?!

The BEST Iceland wedding dress combo right here folks!  Long sleeve lovely elegant dress plus some warm but stylish Sorel boots!  #yesalldaylong

Serious kudos goes out to the fabulous Vault of Wonder on Etsy who created my personal and all time favorite ring box EVER, below:

I love when the bride and groom write love letters or exchange Iceland wedding day gifts before seeing each other!

Crystal’s Iceland wedding bouquet is one of my favorites because she had it made of maps of all of the areas they have explored together!

Before sunrise and we all loaded into super jeeps for the day, Crystal and Devin shared a private “first look” at the hotel.

Then we were on our way to a private side of a glacier for their unforgettable Iceland wedding ceremony!

Crossing rivers whether it be in a super jeep, by foot, or dodging glacier quicksand, our couples are the coolest!  Crystal and Devin were fearless!

The private glacier area our Iceland wedding planning team has access to, was super moody looking that gorgeous fall morning!

There are many amazing celebrants to choose from for your Iceland wedding ceremony.  In the end, Crystal and Devin chose to go the old-world Norse route and have a Asatru wedding ceremony.

It was surreal seeing these two profess their love to each other at the base of this amazing glacier side!

…and who doesn’t want to share their first drink from a horn during their Iceland wedding ceremony?!

Have you seen greener mountains for a wedding in Iceland?

Ughh, so moody and dramatic!! …an Iceland wedding photographers DREAM come true!

The shapes of the Icelandic mountains still be-still my heart years later!

Pit Stop!! Lunch in a private cave… A traditional Icelandic BBQ of Hot Dogs!

After lunch it was onto secret waterfall hunting during Crystal and Devin’s Iceland wedding day!

The variety of Iceland wedding locations during their adventure was stunning!!

More often than not, you only run into sheep during our Iceland wedding days…

Sunset on a black sand beach!  Reynisfjara is not one of our usual stops for our Iceland adventure weddings, but we are happy to oblige if a couple has it on their “must have” list.

Oh la la THAT LOVE!

Ha, typical Iceland depicted here… Downpour of rain and sun at the same time!

Misty secret canyons… a fave for Iceland wedding photos!

After relaxing and refreshing guests enjoyed a delicious meal at Hotel Ranga during Crystal and Devin’s Iceland wedding reception!

How sweet are these Iceland wedding favors?

Closing out their adventure wedding in Iceland Crystal and Devin attempted to launch chinese lanterns as a send off… Sadly the wind decided we go with “plan b!”

I always seem to have sparklers in my Iceland wedding planner “go” bag =)

Crystal + Devin,

So many epic moments that still leave me speechless months later.  Thank you for being so willing to adventure in the rain, climb, and hike!  You’re freaking amazing together, thank you for choosing our team to plan and photograph such an EPIC day in your lives!  Okay, so hurry and come back so we can go on another exploration together!!  ?

© 2017, Iceland Wedding Planner /  Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved.

The post Iceland Glacier Wedding || Devin + Crystal’s Adventure appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

<<Insert serious cheese alert>>

As someone once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”   No joke folks, it rains in Iceland more often than not so if you are planning to have a wedding in Iceland you must embrace this simple fact and be excited to run around in it.  Come along with us today as Gina and Terry show you exactly how to do that!

A sunrise start in mid September began this Iceland adventure wedding day!

After crossing a few rivers via super jeep and then on foot, Gina, Terry, and their intimate wedding party made their way to their ice cave wedding ceremony spot!

The funny thing about rain on your Iceland wedding day, is that most of my couples don’t seem to notice (or care) because they are so high on adrenaline and love!

They may have been soaked and shivering at times, but they got married in front of their gorgeous ice cave in Iceland!  ….Note: Our teams always have your safety in mind so unless an ice cave is fully stable we cannot take you inside.

Gina and Terry held a traditional Asatru Ceremony in front of that ice cave in Iceland. It’s the closest thing to a Viking style wedding ceremony where you hold oath rings to say your vows and take your first drink as newlyweds out of a horn!

This ice cave was formed by snow that fell hundreds of years ago that has been traveling slowly down the glacier.  Pretty neat, huh?

Rain or Shine, this place is pretty flipping EPIC to explore!

One of my favorite moments of the day… It had rained so hard during the ceremony that the water levels were out of control making our bridge we brought useless.  Don’t worry, we always a “plan b” and  “plan c” in our pocket!  The bride and guests took “plan b” which was a piggyback ride through the river and the groom took “plan c” forging it on his own!

Sometimes we find it fun to breakup the Iceland wedding ceremony pieces.  So we continued the awesome “drink from the horn” Asatru tradition at another location.

Lunchtime brought a stop at a mountain hut to dry off and warm up during their fall Iceland wedding day!

What I enjoyed the most about Gina and Terry during their Iceland wedding day was that they genuinely loved and laughed their way through the rain savoring every silly awesome second of it! #couplesgoals

Our secret caves often provide fantastic shelter from the rain during Iceland wedding days!

Woohoo!!  A rain free moment and a rainbow!

But in Iceland they say… If you don’t like the weather, wait a few seconds, it’ll change! And change it did!

Rain is often challenging when it comes at you sideways, these two took it like seasoned champs and made it look GOOD!

Weddings and Waterfalls just go together on Iceland wedding days!

…and then sometimes you have to find your way to Mars to find some sunshine

After an action packed adventure wedding day, Gina, Terry, and their fabulous guests found their way to a delicious dinner!

© 2017, Iceland Wedding Planner /  Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved.

The post Rainy Yet Radiant Iceland Wedding of Gina and Terry appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Christophe: 

NYC Digital Guru who is an epicurean of all things delicious.  Dapper from head to toe.  Addicted to super cool things like Iceland, adventure travel, and Mary.

Mary:

She is hands down the most adventurous, compassionate, and thoughtful person I have ever met.  She cares about others on a level that doesn’t exist in most people. Not to mention she is also one of the most beautiful!

Together:

They make my cheeks hurt from smiling so much by simply just being around them.  The love they radiate is contagious, serves as an example to the world and makes you want to love whoever is in your life, harder and deeper.  …and they adventure together, often.

Quickly bonding over their shared obsession for good food, adventure seeking, travel, love of motorcycles and a continuous curiosity with Iceland…. They soon found themselves ~2,100 feet up on top of Whistler Mountain the day after Valentine’s Day where Christophe got down on one knee and proposed a lifetime of love and epic adventures to Mary.  She said “yes” and Iceland destination wedding planning began!  ::Update:: Checkout more of their amazing images on the Destination I Do blog, when they featured it, HERE!

One of the most important aspects of having a wedding in Iceland was that Christophe and Mary wanted to share in an EXPERIENCE with their friends and family not just have a wedding day like they could have back in the USA (church to reception).  To their guests surprise they were invited to an epic wedding day journey beside Mary and Christophe exploring the purest areas of Iceland.  Come along with me as I share with you some highlights from their 100+ person Rugged Adventure Wedding in Iceland!  All images you’ll see below were captured by myself and other primary photographer, Jean Smith!

Also check out Destination I Do Magazine’s blog for more from their amazing day (and specifics from the couple!), HERE!

The day began in a quaint little village called Vik.  The town of Vik is about 2.5 hours from the capital of Reykjavik.  The area is known for some of the most stunning landscapes but also the most amount of wind and rain.  It’s a tradeoff risk Christophe and Mary were willing to take.  “Boots and Suits” were the dress code theme and within each guest’s welcome bag they found some helpful items to help during the adventure like a backpack for a shoe change and an emergency rain poncho.  How fun, right?

By 9:30am their 100+ guests gathered in the hotel lobby and patiently waited for the super jeeps to arrive.  They were shuttled up to the top of the hill in the village where a beautiful white and red church sits overlooking the village.

Christophe and Mary professed their endless love to each other in that sweet little countryside church.

From there, we went waterfall hunting!  After hiking for 10 minutes their group was greeted with a secret waterfall to explore!

Did you know that between all of our 9+ Super Jeeps we had for their 100+ person Iceland wedding adventure the bride and groom had the ability to talk to their guests and sync a music playlist?  You can only imagine how that increased everyone’s excitement level!

The second stop on the adventure wedding agenda was a hot dog bbq lunch in a private cave!  To get there, we forged some sweet rivers and jammed out to music.  Once there everyone ate a delicious lamb hot dog with all the sauces (Icelanders LOVE their sauces) and fixings (like raw and fried onions), toasted with Christophe’s family’s champagne (La Caravelle) and had a fun Icelandic sing-along.  The energy from all the excitement in there was intoxicating and truly an unforgettable experience!

A subglacial volcano was the next exploration spot.  It rained a lot, but the smiles just got bigger the closer we got to the glacier.  Everyone was in utter awe of the colors, depth, tones, and textures.  And even in the rain, Christophe and Mary bounced around laughing and playing together hand in hand.

The final stop for the guests was my favorite private beach.  It comes complete with epic sea arch, black sand, and a stunning glacier view.  To say everyone enjoyed would be an understatement!

The team of Iceland wedding photographers and videographers continued to our last stop with just the bride and groom….  A private canyon area where some of my favorite shots from the day were taken!

The rest of the group had about an hour to rest and refresh before they were invited to delight in an incredible four course Icelandic meal.  Many amazing toasts, endless laughs, delicious cocktails, and dancing kept the night lively. Then close to the final hour the couple cut their traditional Icelandic wedding cake for a sweet treat!

Just when you thought the night might be coming to an end, several folks in the group went on a Northern Lights hunt.  They were successful too, somewhere around 2am!  Perfect end to a fabulous September wedding in Iceland!  Our friends at Two Penny Productions created a lovely video (including those dancing Northern Lights) documenting Christophe and Mary’s adventurous wedding day in Iceland.  We encourage you to go check it out here and leave them some love!

Mary + Christophe,

Ugh. You two!!  You’re disgustingly BEAUTIFUL humans, both individually and together.  Getting to know you over the last 2 years has been a super fun experience!  I’m going to miss our 5am Skype calls and your witty emails.  But!  You will not escape me anytime I come to NYC or you come to Iceland

I cannot say it any better than my friend Pastor Egill… “Part of your home is here now.  You are home here in Iceland.”  I know you know this in your hearts, feel this, and that you will always come back to have more experiences and incredible adventures here.  I’m excited to see your marriage and journey unfold!  Lots of love and hugs to you!!

With a smile, Ann Peters + Team (Iceland Wedding Photographers + Planners)

© 2016, Iceland Wedding Planner /  Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved.

The post Vik Iceland Rugged Adventure Wedding: Christophe + Mary appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

BOOM, and so the story begins! Sarah and Matt met in a serendipitous moment when Matt was traveling through Sarah’s town with a mutual friend.  The love connection was not only made, but was one neither one of them were expecting or looking for at that time in their lives.  That’s how the best love stories happen, right?

They lead lives full of passion for life and adventure so it was important to them that their wedding day reflect the same and had a casual fun vibe attached to it.  Since the rain spoiled our original plan of an Iceland waterfall wedding, our plan b was put into action and ended up being the perfect plan.  Funny how that works, eh?  There was even an impromptu stop in a new cave to have an Icelandic sing-a-long with all of their guests!  Such a fun experience!  Enjoy their Iceland wedding photos below… in the words of the fabulous couple, the images are, “phantasmagorical!”

With a smile, Ann Peters + Team (Iceland Adventure Wedding Planners and Photographers)

© 2015, Iceland Wedding Planner /  Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Phantasmagorical Wedding Photos in Iceland appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Menu formation is a big decision on the Iceland wedding planning “to do” list.  Why?  Let’s be honest, every wedding you have gone to as a guest, there is ALWAYS a conversation about the flavors, quality, or quantity of the food.  Good, bad, ugly- it’s an inevitable topic of conversation.  So why not make sure your Iceland wedding meal boasts something totally unforgettable that will be talked about for years later?  Today, I’d like to help you do just that!

One of the many Iceland wedding budget items I often talk to my clients about is whether or not they want a 3 or 5 course meal.  The cost difference can vary depending on the region of Iceland, but the average (as of when this post was written) is approximately:

• 3 Course Iceland Wedding Meal (per person) = $65 USD
• 5 Course Iceland Wedding Meal (per person) = $100 USD

The majority of my adventure wedding clients plan a non-traditional Iceland wedding reception which is typically more food, cocktail, and conversation focused versus full on DJ/band dance party.  And because of this, my clients usually do budget in a little more luxury details being included in their Iceland wedding reception such as the following: Iceland Wedding Favors, Iceland Wedding Menus, an Icelandic Wedding Cake on display, and table styling (table runners, accent napkins, centerpieces, place cards, candles, chair sashes, etc).  Guests always swoon over those extra accoutrements, especially when they are in-between courses.

Now on to the mouthwatering part of this post… the actual food options you could expect for your Iceland Wedding Reception Meal.

Let’s start with the most common Iceland Appetizer options…

• Mushroom Soup
• Fish Soup
• Meat Soup
• Smoked Puffin
• Langoustine
• Salmon Tartar
• Shark
• Whale
• Mussels
• Smoked Arctic Char

Iceland Wedding Meal Main Courses…

• Rack of Lamb
• Arctic Char
• Salmon
• Monkfish
• Cod
• Trout
• Chicken
• Veal
• Beef Tenderloin

Iceland Wedding Desserts:

• Skyr Cake
• Mandarian Orange Cheesecake
• Icelandic Torte
• Chocolate Lava Cake
• Slöngukaka
• Iceland Wedding Cake
• Raspberry Sorbet

Iceland Wedding Meal Vegetarian Options:

• Smoked Leek and potato soup, hazelnuts, sour cream.
• Braised celeriac, roasted onions, onion jus and pickled mustard seeds.
• Green salad, pickled pearl onions, pureed sunflower seeds.
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Mushroom Risotto
• Confit Fennel
• Slow cooked toasted barley.
• Baked red beets, horseradish, poached egg and balsamic reduction.

I hope today you found yourself inspired by all of these delicious Iceland wedding reception menu choices!  Please enjoy the delicious images of these food items below!

With a smile, Ann Peters (Iceland Wedding Planner and Photographer)

© 2015, Iceland Wedding Planner /  Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Iceland Wedding Menu Ideas appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

I hope this finds you well and oh-so excited for the beginning of this gorgeous holiday season!  The wintertime is hands down my favorite season… Cold weather girl here =)  There is just something so incredibly romantic to walk hand in hand down a fabulously decorated downtown lit up while the snow is falling!  Makes me swoon just thinking about it!  But before we get fully immersed in the change of the seasons we must finish out sharing the fabulous Iceland wedding adventure of the lovely Tiffany and Brian!  Over the past several weeks you delighted in the following recaps of their adventure:

• Iceland Engagement Session in Hellnar
• Iceland Pre Wedding Session in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula
• Iceland Wedding Ceremony at Hotel Budir
• Iceland Wedding Portraits at Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall
• Skarðsvík Beach Iceland Wedding Photos

During my 21 months of planning time with Brian and Tiffany we brainstormed and mocked up all sorts of ideas for them to finalize a fabulous design and style scheme.  Their perimeters were that they wanted to incorporate the colors peach, champagne, and a soft silver.  It was also important have it flow throughout all of their stationary and decor.  We carried those colors throughout their Iceland save-the-dates, Iceland wedding invitation, place cards, timeline cards, favor tags, menu, and their stunning Iceland wedding reception centerpieces!  I think it all came together, eh?  I’ll let you be the judge as you delight in the awesome Iceland wedding reception images below!

Tiff & Brian,

I wish you two lived closer!  You guys were so much fun to work with and I’m glad throughout this process we had so many awesome laughs, smiles, and shared 3 days of adventure together!  Thank you for choosing Iceland Wedding Planner and Photos by Miss Ann to forever pause this unforgettable time in your lives!  I challenge you to come back in 5 years to renew your vows and do a super awesome Iceland post wedding portrait session with me =)

Lots of Hugs and Love to You!  -Ann Peters (Iceland Wedding Planner and Photographer)

© 2002-2014, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Iceland Wedding Reception | Tiffany + Brian appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Skarðsvík Beach is a dreamy little gem in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula that is gloriously golden!  You’ll find this beach slightly off of Route 574 (Útnesvegur Road).  The road twists through moss covered lava fields and then opens up to beautiful basalt rocks with remarkable ridge-lines.  From the car park, you take a short stairway down to the beach and you will be instantly greeted with soft golden sand under your toes!

This was a sweet little stop during Tiffany and Brian’s Iceland wedding day adventure.  Feel free to go back to the earlier days events in case you missed them here:

• Iceland Wedding Ceremony at Hotel Budir
• Kirkjufellsfoss Mountain & Waterfall Iceland Wedding Portraits
• Iceland Engagement Session (here and here)

Tiffany and Brian very romantically ran around together hand in hand laughing and chatting!  <SWOON> The 700,000 year old Snæfellsjökull Glacier offered up a supreme backdrop as well!  Without further delay… Enjoy their stunning Iceland beach wedding photos below!  PS- Stay tuned next time for their Iceland wedding reception!

With a smile, Ann Peters (Iceland Wedding Photographer and Planner)

© 2002-2014, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Skardsvik Beach Iceland Wedding Photos appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

This week we were featured on two fabulous blogs and wanted to take a moment to share!  Pretty My Party published a wonderful bachelorette party we planned, styled, and photographed in November of 2013, take a moment and check it out here.  The stunning Eco-Beautiful Wedding Magazine today also published Thomas and Emily’s DC engagement session and extravagant Iceland destination wedding invitation.  Take a moment and bask in the wonderful Iceland wedding details here.

Over the last few weeks, the other side of our business Photos by Miss Ann has received some wonderful PR from the following blogs as well. So if you have a moment, check each one out:

Storyboard Weddings

Borrowed and Blue

La Petite Peach

The Trendy Groom

The On the Go Bride

The Emma Magazine

Baby Lifestyles 2014 Love Magazine  (We have been featured for 2 sessions (5) full page images each session, check it out!)

I Love Farm Weddings

The Knot / Wedding Channel

Stay tuned shortly for our next blog post on a very important detail every bride getting married in Iceland needs!

With a smile, Ann (Iceland Wedding Photographer & Planner)

2014, Iceland Wedding Planner, All Rights Reserved.

The post Iceland Wedding Photographer & Planner Published! appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Welcome to Part 3 of 3 of our series on destination wedding invitations.

A few weeks ago, we featured the fun topic of Extravagant Destination Wedding Invitations and last week, we chatted about Creative Destination Wedding Invitations for Iceland Weddings that were of a moderate cost and added in few unique inclusions.  Today, we are going to talk about the final level and option for destination wedding invitations: the whimsical kind!

One of the really wonderful things about having a wedding invitation that has minimal frills but still is fanciful, is that you save on you wedding budget.  Who doesn’t love that?!  Having no specific needs for elaborate inserts, visuals, extra envelopes, (etc.,) really decreases the costs that can quickly emerge as you design your local or destination wedding invitations.

I’ve peaked your curiosity you say?   So you’re dying to know what is classified as a whimsical invitation design, I bet.  According to us, it is an invitation that is vibrant in color, has a dreamy font, eloquent in statement and most of all reflects you as a couple!  An invitation that makes your guests say, “Aww, how cute are they?!  I cannot wait for their wedding!”  We’re seeing a new trend emerge that takes a lighter and even humorous approach to the usual RSVP/Reply Card for weddings which add in some guest banter like inserting your own wedding “Mad Lib” for your guests to fill in (example below).  That option may be something you’ll want to consider if you’re not head over heels about the typical reply cards.

The invitation does not need to be elaborate in fact; many guests appreciate the frankness of a modest destination wedding invitation rather than having the cutesy frill inclusions.  They simply just want to know who, what, where, and when.  Each to his own, right?  I can appreciate all sides particularly when this side of the fence can be a significant Iceland wedding budget saver.  Especially if it means you can allocate those funds toward other things like having an awesome  destination wedding planner and a husband and wife Iceland wedding photography team! =)

To give you a real wedding in Iceland example, one of our favorite couples for 2014 made the unique decision to email their wedding invitations to their 50+ guests.  They plan to have each guest respond via their fun wedding website (Think: Iceland destination wedding RSVP).  This could easily be a savings of $200+ USD depending on how large your guest list is.  So now I’m guessing the big question you have is how do you execute this idea properly?  Good question!

Here’s our advice on the steps to a flawless destination wedding invitation timeline:

• First, set a wedding date that is more than 10 months before your desired date.  If you have done so, make sure you send out Iceland Save-the-Dates several months before so your guests know to reserve that time period ahead of time (emailing this is an option too!).  But giving everyone an opportunity to plan/save ahead time is proper wedding etiquette.

• Second, know your vision for your wedding day… do you want it to be soft and sweet, bold and adventurous, or an in between neutral mix?  Figuring this out will allow you to choose colors and the vibe your invitation will exude to your Iceland wedding guests.

• Narrow down what you would like to include with your destination wedding invitation (see last week’s post here on what is usually included).  [Invitation wording can be tricky but don’t fret; we’ll have a future blog post guiding you on this subject!]

• Have your awesome Iceland Wedding Planner design/find/present to you unique options for your wedding Iceland wedding invite.

• Discuss with your fiancé(e) the pros, cons, and feel of each option.  Which option reflects the two of you and your wedding style best?  How do you think your guests will react?

• {If printing} Decide on your favorite and get them ordered! (Iceland Wedding Planner Tip: Order 8+ months before your big day to avoid rush charges).

{Step by Step Directions: If Emailing Your Wedding Invitation}

1.   Create a wedding only email address that will be used strictly to catch all of your Iceland wedding guest RSVP’s (IE, EmandPenIceland20XX@gmail.com).  This makes life more organized if your guest list is larger than 10 people.

2.   Setup an RSVP page on your wedding website and also input your meal choices if possible (so you do not need to collect this information separately).  Note: If having an Iceland Wedding Welcome Dinner (Iceland Wedding Rehearsal Dinner), you may also want to have folks RSVP at that time as well.  Or else send another RSVP for that event 3-4 months before.

3.   Collect everyone’s email addresses (if you haven’t yet).

4.    Plan to email the invitation ~8-12 months before your wedding date and give your guests 2.5 months to acknowledge and reply.  For instance, if getting married in Iceland in October 2014 you would want to send out your wedding invitations no later than November 2013 and ask for your guests for the favor of their reply by February 1^st 2014 (8-9 months before) or sooner.

Two options on how to approach actually emailing the wedding invite:

•  Blind Copy (BCC) your guests in a mass email wedding invitation.

• Personalize to each guest (our recommendation to you).  If personalizing, you should formally invite your guests.  For instance, address by saying, “Ms./Mr. & Guest” or “Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Peters.”  Wedding invitations are formal so it is important to still convey that even through an email.

5.    About 3 weeks before your requested RSVP date, plan to send out a follow up email gently reminding your Iceland destination wedding guests about finalizing their decision.  Usually when people get that kind reminder they will jump into gear to request time off, book flights, reserve a room at your Iceland wedding host hotel, and browse around your wedding website for your pre/post wedding itinerary.

6.    Any stragglers that have not responded two weeks past your requested response date I would email them a personal little note checking in to make sure they received the email invitation and were able to open it.  That simple, leave the ball in their court with no pressure and if more time passes (another 2 weeks) and no response call them.  Whoever is closer to the friend or family member reach out to them individually and understand what might be keeping them from replying.  Is it a timing issue, money, travel fear, inexperience, etc?  See what you can do to help get them there.  …and if nothing, do not worry yourself over it, you tried your best to accommodate their situation.

7.    At the 90, 60, 30 day countdown to your wedding day in Iceland send an email or write a blog post about your excitement and share your activity itinerary with your guests.

8.   If you’re a super planner like we were, calling your guests 15 days before to ask them if they had any questions is a really sweet gesture especially to those who do not travel all the time.  That call will give them confidence!  [Personal Experience: The majority Ann’s family members had never traveled outside of the Midwest, so many of them had anxiety over traveling to Iceland.  That phone call days before gave them the boost they needed to put on their “adventurous game face.”]

9.    Remind your guests it’s a good idea to bring the wedding invitation, a copy of their passport (along with the real thing), and travel itinerary so that they can quickly get through customs with no issues.  Feel free to also share with them our previous blog post on what to pack as an Iceland wedding guest here.

Hopefully you found the above a pretty straightforward timeline on how to execute your destination wedding invitations.  Below, you’ll find some gorgeously fun examples of some whimsical Iceland destination wedding invitations.  We’d like to thank Brian & Tiffany for allowing us to share some of their Iceland wedding invitation options they were considering and Paisley & Robert as well! Thank you!  Lastly, we’d like to give our compliments to the two gorgeous vendors that worked with us on some of these design elements within the invitations below:  Thank you May and Belle and Wedding Chicks!  Check them out!  [As a side note about May and Belle: She is a talented designer from Australia who creates map related stylish wall art and a few are geared specifically for weddings, so fun!  She so beautifully created the Iceland heart map used in Paisley & Robert’s Vik Beach wedding invitation you see below].

In case you’re finding this blog post at the end of this series; feel free to go back to our previous posts for additional Iceland wedding inspiration:

Creative Destination Wedding Invitations for Iceland Weddings (Part 1 of 3)

Extravagant Destination Wedding Invitations (Part 2 of 3)

Otherwise, we hope you have enjoyed our posts the past few weeks as much as we did creating them.  These posts made us feel like newlyweds all over again swooning all over these choices and details!  If you’re planning a wedding in Iceland, love details, adventure, and awesome photography- we’d love to hear from you feel free to contact us!

With a smile,  Ann & Chris Peters

Iceland Wedding Planner & Iceland Wedding Photographers

© 2002-2013, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Whimsical Iceland Wedding Invitations (Part 3 of 3) appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

As we saw in last week’s post on Extravagant Destination Wedding Invitations, this is the part of wedding planning you should take a moment to “Oooh and Awe” over.  Picking a destination wedding invitation can be serious business!  After all in many cases, invitations can act as an additional selling point to your guests.  Having extra visuals in front of your guests may add the additional intrigue for them to say, “Heck yes, we’re coming to Iceland for your wedding!”  And in the end, that is what we all want that, right?

Regrettably, not everyone has the limitless wedding budget we all wish we had… so having super elaborate wedding invites may not be in the cards for you.  Which might be why most of us fall into the other two awesome wedding invitation categories:  Creative (today) and Whimsical (stay tuned our part 3 installment, next week!).  Today, we’re going to review some of the detailed but still reasonably priced possibilities for your Iceland destination wedding invitations and what specifics your invite should include.

Speaking from example, this is the section that our invitation fell into for our Iceland wedding at Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  We had wanted our invitations to be a fabulous visual to put in front of our guests but one that would still stay in line with our budget of $6-8 per wedding invitation (including postage).  Our Iceland Wedding Invitation Story:  Everyone thought for sure since Chris and I have been in the wedding industry for so long we would choose a winter wedding date in an exotic locale.  A location that would be surely be international, beach-side or up in the mountains of somewhere with an epic view.  But we wanted something completely opposite of what we have photographed when we personally said our “I do’s.”  <Enter in from right stage Iceland, Greenland, or Sweden’s Ice Hotel, please!> When we were narrowing down destinations we knew a cold weather locale would be more “us” but would be a really hard sell for our guest list of 90.  Especially since most of them would want to escape the North American winter weather in April!  Keeping that in challenge in mind, we started to design a 4 part package for our Iceland wedding invitations.  We in the end, decided on the following inclusions:

1. Our Iceland wedding invitation was designed in our wedding colors, brown and sage.  We also had a catchy line that opened our wedding invites saying: “We’ve Traveled All Around, Now It’s Time to Settle Down.”  We cordially invited our guests to join us for this epic adventure in Hella, Iceland on Saturday, April 14, 2014.
2. The Iceland RSVP Card was included the guest(s) name, decision of coming or not, meal choice, when the RSVP needed to be returned by, self-addressed postage paid return envelope.
3. The Iceland Wedding Insert Card (Opening line of: “Please Join Us in the Land of Fire & Ice!,”  accommodation details, and our Iceland destination wedding website which was chock-full of the full details on everything happening).
4. The last thing we included were Iceland scenery photos we felt would attract our guests to come (volcanoes, whale watching, the Northern Lights, natural water wonders, etc.) all tied together by sweet little sage and brown ribbon.  On the back of each one there were details on the trip (IE, what it was, location, duration, and cost for the adventure) to give our guests an easy understanding of the incredible adventure that awaited them!

We felt that by providing our guests with an undeniable visual as to why we chose Iceland (IE, dramatic scenery, endless adventures, etc) and putting as much information in front of them as possible would make the decision easier.  Most of our guests were skeptical of traveling to Iceland so overcoming those inhibitions was important and we did this with our invitation and destination wedding website.  So maybe think about putting your own twist on something similar?  I challenge you to have fun with it!  For a moderately priced detailed destination wedding invitations like the ones photographed below, you can expect to budget ~$4-12 each (plus postage).

In the meantime, you may be overwhelmed by the pages of options for destination wedding invites and what your Iceland wedding invitation should include?  We’ll break it down for you pretty simply here:

Invitations should reflect the style of your wedding decor and/or color theme.  For instance, are you planning a wedding in Iceland that will be soft, romantic, simply sweet, rustic, earthy, whimsical, or bright and bold?  What characteristics will encompass your wedding flair or accents?  Once you have narrowed down your path you can concentrate on what you would like your destination wedding invitation to say…

Invitations should at the very least communicate the following:

1. Who
2. What
3. When (Date/Time of Ceremony)
4. Where
5. Menu Choice
6. RSVP Reply Card
7. Wedding Website
8. Any additional important information (booking or discount codes).
9. Style
10. Color

Iceland Wedding Photographer Tip:  Send your Iceland destination wedding photographer an invitation so they can photograph it!  [But if sending our way, please put the envelope that you would normally send to your guests inside a bubble wrap mailer (still have postage on it) to prevent damage upon arrival.  That way we avoid water damage, bends, torn envelopes, etc and in the end we are able to photograph your gorgeous invite details fully intact!]   Or if you forget, bring one and lay it out for them to photograph the day of with your Iceland wedding details.  This is a fun element you’ll melt over later!

We hope you have found today’s blog post on moderately priced but creative destination wedding invitations helpful as you plan your dream wedding in Iceland!  A big “thank you” goes out to my lovely Iceland bride and grooms for allowing me to share these details with you today- we have the coolest clients!  Another awesome shout out goes to the tremendously talented folks we partnered with to have these remarkable Iceland destination wedding invitations created.  Check them out and keep them in mind as you plan your destination wedding in Iceland (or in some other fabulous destination wedding locale).  They all were a breeze to work with, super detailed, and had all of their products in very unique packaging when they arrived in person!  I encourage you to check out their gorgeous invitations we photographed below for more Iceland wedding inspiration!  ….Enjoy!

• Precious Invitations
• Sunshine and Ravioli
• Invitation Consultants

As a final thought, stay tuned for next week’s final installment on Whimsical Iceland Wedding Invitations (Part 3 of 3)!  Oh oh oh and also…. If you are considering having an Iceland Destination Wedding, please  contact us!  We’d love to hear more about you as a couple and understand more about how you see your dream wedding in Iceland!  Let’s set a time to Skype and talk details!

With a smile, Ann and Christopher Peters

Husband & Wife Team Wedding Photographers & Supper Planners Specializing in Iceland Weddings!

© 2002-2013, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved

The post Creative Destination Wedding Invitations for Iceland Weddings (Part 2 of 3) appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.