Although these two had been to Iceland once before, they were called back to this magical landscape to have their dreamy Iceland elopement!  Iceland is one of those countries that you can continuously visit and never see the same thing twice, forever!  Seriously folks, I live here and I am still adventuring to new places each day/week!

This winter has been one of the mildest on record for decades.  Typically in March, we have a lot more snow in the mountains and the ground, but for Stacey and Aaron, this was the PERFECT amount!  So come along with me today to witness their beautiful elopement in Iceland!

Ohhhhhhh swoon!  Look at that Iceland wedding dress!

….and Aaron’s tartan suit!

Stacey’s arrival into that sweet little black church gave me goosebumps!

Awww and Aaron’s reaction of seeing his beautiful bride was uber sweet!

Can we hit the pause button for a sec and admire Stacey’s unique Iceland wedding bouquet?!

Every Icelander will tell you that the Snaefellsnes is not only a stunning place to visit but that the peninsula is enchanted!

Don’t worry, even though it’s been a super mild winter, we found a glorious amount of snow to have for some romantic Iceland elopement photos!

Kirkjufell Mountain (and waterfall) is incredibly beautiful when it has a light dusting of snow on it… Making way for stunning elopement photos!

There are many secret places within the Snaefellsnes Peninsula to escape away from tourists… We took a little trip to one of my favorite secret waterfalls for a fun little adventure crossing rivers and such!

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is known to have an abundance of golden sand beaches ready for you to explore!

Ever think about venturing to a shipwreck beach with crazy awesome lava rock formations?!  These two ROCKED IT!

Toasting with bubbles cliffside, is a must do during your Iceland elopement!

When the weather changes in Iceland, it’s just a wonderful opportunity to HUG harder!

…and laugh harder that you have somehow experienced 4 seasons in one day

Take a page out of Stacey and Aaron’s book and make sure you take time to truly enjoy the view too!

As if their day was not adventurous enough, these two opted in on my suggestion of heading down inside of a 8,000 year old lava tube to explore it!  Special Note:  All of these images were taken in 100% darkness!  How cool, right?!

After 10+ hours of awesome adventures, it was time to rest, refresh, and get their second wind for their Iceland wedding reception for two!

It started snowing again so sadly no Northern Lights graced us, but we mocked up a super fun nighttime wedding photoshoot instead for Stacey and Aaron!

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

The post Iceland Elopement at Hotel Budir appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Do you remember their stunning Iceland wedding last April?  It was magical.  If you cannot recall right away, I encourage you to go back HERE or to Destination I Do  Magazine to swoon over their dreamy Iceland wedding day!

Bethany + Richard, we wish you an endless amount of more anniversary’s to share and we welcome you back to Iceland anytime =)  …savor this amazing time together!

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

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

The post Idyllic Iceland Wedding Anniversary appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Six things that keep me always coming back is the following:

The quality of food.

The flavor ingenuity.

Presentation: How it’s plated.

The vibe and atmosphere.

The drink options.

The service of the staff.

That being said, I would love to share with you my favorite restaurants in Reykjavik today!

1. Snaps
2. Fiskmarkaðurinn (Fish Market)
3. Grillmarkaðurinn (Grill Market)
4. Matarkjallarinn (Food Cellar)
5. Public House Gastro Pub
6. Slippbarinn
7. Dill
8. Fjallkonan
9. Mathús Garðabæjar
10. Apotek
11. Kol Restaurant
12. Duck & Rose

Note: If interested in dinning at any of them, I strongly encourage you to make in advance reservations, especially on the weekends or high season summer days.

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

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

The post Iceland Honeymooning | Top 12 Restaurants in Reykjavik appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

I hope this finds you well and super excited for the wonderfully exciting week ahead of you!  Crazy busy season here at Photos by Miss Ann and we are loving every second of it!  Today’s post is a long super informative one so let’s get right into it!  When planning your Iceland wedding reception, it’s important to know four things:

1. What alcohol can you bring into Iceland?  …and how much can you bring?
2. What alcohol is made locally in Iceland?
3. What selection of liquors, beers and wines may be available for your Iceland wedding reception?
4. What are the prices you may be expected to pay for your Iceland wedding reception alcohol?

Many items of alcoholic content are imported into Iceland and may be more expensive than other locations you may have visited.  An alternative option may be to bring your own wedding champagne or specific alcohol so that you may save within your Iceland wedding budget.

Real Wedding in Iceland Example: When we held our Iceland destination wedding adventure at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Vik Beach, and Skogafoss waterfall we knew that purchasing champagne for 40 people was going to be expensive.  For instance, if we would have purchased 10 bottles for our 40 guests (based on 4 glasses per bottle) to do our wedding champagne toast at Vik Beach it would have cost us $1,500 USD (if we purchased house champagne at Hotel Ranga).  Chris and I decided that those funds would be better spent elsewhere in our Iceland wedding ­budget but did want to still have a champagne toast for our guests during the sightseeing excursion.

After further research, we found that each person could bring 3 bottles of wine OR 1 bottle of wine and 1 liter of alcohol.  So we spent a weekend wine and champagne tasting in Napa Valley (see one of our destination engagement sessions we have done in San Francisco/Napa Valley, here) and found a delicious variety from Domaine Chandon in fact, it was their vintage reserve brut from 2007.  We bought a case (for only $600 USD) and shipped it home to Plymouth Michigan in anticipation of our April wedding in Iceland at Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  When we packed our bags for our Iceland destination wedding, we made sure to bubble wrap the bottles, and designated a few of our friends to help us abide by the 2-3 bottle per person restriction.  Luckily, all of the bottles arrived to Iceland in one piece along with our champagne glasses we also imported (our wedding host hotel was going to charge us $5 USD per glass to rent).

Question #1: What alcohol can you bring into Iceland?  …and how much can you bring?  Answer:  The specific guidelines directly from the awesome KEF Airport states the following on their website:

“Travelers can import duty-free alcoholic beverages and tobacco products as follows:
Alcoholic beverages:

1 litre of spirits, 1 litre of wine and 200 cigarettes (1 carton) or 250 g of other tobacco products;

or

1 litre of spirits, 6 litres of beer and 200 cigarettes (1 carton) or 250 g of other tobacco products;

or

1.5 litre of wine, 6 litres of beer and 200 cigarettes (1 carton) or 250 g of other tobacco products;

or

3 litres wine and 200 cigarettes (1 carton) or 250 g of other tobacco products.

Spirits comprise alcoholic beverages having 22% alcoholic content or more; wines comprise alcoholic beverages, other than beer, below this alcohol content.  The minimum age for bringing alcoholic beverages into Iceland is 20 years, or 18 years for tobacco.”

Question #2: What alcohol is made locally in Iceland?  Answer: Iceland produces some delicious beers at the following breweries:  Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson in Reykjavik and Vífilfell.  The Reykjavik Distillery is another amazing local option for liquor.  They make several schnapps called Brennivin in interesting flavors like: Brennivin 50, Brennivin 64, Blueberry, Crowberry, Rhubarb, Bilberry, and Juniper.  They all have organic ingredients like potato, herbs, seeds, Icelandic water, etc.

One of the other token alcohols is called, Reyka Vodka.  They have such a fun tagline too, “When you live on the edge of the Arctic Circle, you need to know how to have fun.”  Ha, love! The company itself is also known for being a “green” vodka because it is produced using sustainable energy.  The vodka itself is made from organic wheat and they do a final filtration through lava rock –how fun, right?

Questions #3 & #4: What selection of liquors, beers and wines may be available for your Iceland wedding reception?  What are the prices you may be expected to pay for your Iceland wedding reception alcohol?  Answers:  They follow below!

<Please note that all prices below are approximations and are also from our direct personal/professional experiences for wedding receptions in Iceland.  The list below is also to provide you with an idea of what alcohol could be offered during your destination wedding reception in Iceland.  Prices vary depending on your chosen Iceland wedding hotel or restaurant.  All prices are featured in ISK (Icelandic Krona) and converted to USD (United States Dollar) as of today’s exchange rate (and by the bottle)>.

Iceland Wedding Champagne and Sparkling Wine Prices:

• House Champagne (Example: Ayala Brut NV): 19,000 ISK (Icelandic Krona) = $150 USD
• Louis Roederer Cristal:  234,000 ISK (Icelandic Krona) = $1,890 USD
• Tosti Asti Sparkling Wine: 5,200 ISK (Icelandic Krona) = $45 USD

Wedding Reception in Iceland Wine Price Examples:

• Santa Cristina Cipresseto Rosato (Italian Rose): 6,500 ISK = $55 USD
• Rene Mure Riesling (French): 7,800 ISK = $65 USD
• Bolla Pinot Grigio (Italian): 6,600 ISK = $53 USD
• Vina Maipo Gran Devocion Sauvignon Blanc (Chile): 8,500 ISK = $69 USD
• Sky Valley Chardonnay (New Zealand): 8,600 ISK = $70 USD
• Chateau Branaire Ducru Grand Cru St. Julien (Red/Bordeux): 29,800 ISK = $240 USD
• Chateaunauf du Pape E. Guigal (Red/Rhone): 22,000 ISK = $178 USD
• Domaine Faiveley Corton Grand Cru (Red/Burgundy): 45,800 ISK = $395 USD
• Colome Reserve Malbeq / Cabernet (Red/Argentina): 25,900 ISK = $210 USD
• Gen Carlou Syrah (Red/South Africa): 10,950 ISK = $90 USK
• Spy Valley Pinot Noir (Red/New Zealand): 8,500 ISK = $70 USD
• Delicato Shiraz (Red/USA): 6,500 ISK = $53 USD

Side Note: Typically the per glass cost is 1,600 ISK ($13 USD) and for champagne per glass cost is usually around 3,800 ISK ($32 USD).

Iceland Wedding Beer Choices:

On average a bottle or glass of beer is around 900 ISK ($8 USD) and the most often found beer varieties in Iceland follow below:

• Einstok Pale Ale (Icelandic Beer)
• Hrammur Lager (Icelandic Beer)
• Víking Gold (Gullfoss): Best selling beer in Iceland (type: lager).
• Víking Stout (Icelandic Beer)
• Víking Pilsner (Icelandic Beer)
• Egill’s Gull (Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson in Reykjavik)
• Freyja (Wheat Beer from Selfoss Iceland)
• Móri (Icelandic Red Ale)
• Lava Stout (Southern Iceland Beer)

If you plan to have an open bar for your wedding guests please note that the 3+ star hotels in Iceland offer a very exuberant list!  This is awesome, but can become expensive very quickly.  Here was our example list of what we featured for our Iceland Open Bar Menu (outside of the above we already posted):

Cost was ~1,800-4,000 ISK ($15-32 USD) per pour:

• All Schnapps Available & Mixers (Like Jagermeister, Baileys, Triple Sec, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, etc).
• All Beers, selected wines, and champagnes.
• Berneroy Brandy
• Brennivin
• Bombay Gin
• Chopin Vodka
• Fonseca Guimaraens Port
• Glenmorangie Single Malt
• Havana Club Rum
• Jameson (18 years old)
• Johnnie Walker Gold (18 years old)
• Remy Martin Cognac
• Reyka Vodka
• Tequila: Silver Patron
• Vermouth Rosso
• Whiskey: Woodford Reserve

Iceland Wedding Planner Tip: If you’re having an Iceland wedding welcome dinner the night before maybe choose 4 specific wines and beers you will serve with dinner.  Having an Iceland Bar Menu helps too!  Then for your Iceland wedding reception, keep the options open by the glass (not the bottle) but limit what brands you would like to have served to your guests.  Example, we limited our guests to only being able to order 18 years old scotch/whiskey/brandy/ports because Hotel Ranga had some rare whiskey that were 25+ years and more than $75 USD per glass.  We had selected as a couple a “do not serve” list of those rare brands and also selected our favorite brands in each mixed drink category.

We hope that this blog post today on Iceland Wedding Reception Alcohol will prove to be a useful tool to you as you plan your wedding day in Iceland!  If at any time you need assistance planning your Icelandic destination wedding or need an Iceland wedding photographer, we would love to help you!  Our packages include Iceland wedding planning and Iceland wedding photography (we’re a husband and wife team: Photos by Miss Ann) allowing us to be your one point of contact for you throughout this amazing process so please contact us for more details!

With a smile, Ann & Chris Peters

Expert Iceland Wedding Planners & Iceland Wedding Photographers

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

The post Iceland Wedding Reception Alcohol appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

With wedding season in full swing, we are in photography heaven with our bride and grooms so far this year.  They have chosen stunning dresses, DIY details, and been really amazing to work with.  Especially Photos by Miss Ann‘s most recent couple who was willing to take an adventurous walk to get to a pretty weeping willow tree!  Check out the striking Plymouth, Michigan wedding portraits of Traci and Jimmy Meyers below and may her DIY wedding details inspire you to have sparkly niceties of your own!

Our destination wedding in Iceland topic of the week is all about your reception music options.  Iceland has disc jockeys (dj’s) to be the MC of your event, many Iceland hotels also offer a speaker system throughout their banquet rooms that you can plug an IPOD into, there are a few Icelandic bands also available for booking.  But, my challenge to you is… Think about the wedding receptions you have been to throughout the years, did you love or hate the music?  Annoyed by the DJ?  Were you greeted with bellowing Frank Sintra songs? Songs about love and marriage? Disney themed songs?  An earthy harpist? Orchestra music?  A poppy band?  Celebrity impersonators?

A couple questions you need to ask yourselves as you consider what kind of music you would like to have played during your Iceland wedding reception:

1. What kind of music do you and your fiancé love?  Genres, vibe, tone, lyrics, etc.
2. What kind of music is enjoyable to your VIP’s (parents, bridal party, family, etc) and guests?
3. Do you want to have formal dances?  If so, you may want break the music into sections to build the energy of the event.  Example: Cocktail Hour, During Dinner, Formal Dances, and Fun/Dance Songs.
4. Are there songs on your “do not play” list?  This piece is important if hiring an Icelandic DJ for your wedding day.
5. Is there a speaker system at your Iceland wedding host hotel?  Can you plug an IPOD into the sound system?  <This is a wonderful Iceland wedding cost savings if you can. Which means you can allocate more to your Iceland wedding photography fund, woohoo!>
6. Who will you designate to run (or check in on) the wedding IPOD playlist during the event?  They will also need to be the person who ends up with the IPOD at the end of the night (if you and your hubby leave the reception early).

When planning for our destination wedding in Iceland reception music at Hotel Ranga we took a bit of an old school approach.  We wanted a formal event that still had fun laid back elements to it.  We’re not big “dancing fools” so we wanted to have some older genre easy-listening songs that would make people smile, reminisce, and laugh to.  The music would be more background music to us than anything else because our reception was focused on the 5 courses, conversation, the location, and our newly wedded bliss =)  Without further delay, here is our inclusive list of our Hotel Ranga wedding reception playlist we played from our IPOD:

Iceland Wedding Cocktail Hour Music:

“Can’t Smile Without You” by Barry Manilow

“Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra

“When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole

“You are so Beautiful to Me” by Joe Crocker

“When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge

“Georgia on my Mind” by Ray Charles

“What the World Needs Now is Love” by Jackie Deshannon

Hotel Ranga Wedding 5 Course Dinner Music Playlist:

“Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol

“Lost in Love” by Air Supply

“You Light up my Life” by Debby Boone

“Blue Eyes” by Elton John

“Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elivs Presley

“After All” by Cher & Peter Cetra

“Whenever I Call You Friend” by Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks

“That’s What Love is For” by Amy Grant

“True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper

“My Love” by Lionel Richie

“September Morn” by Neil Diamond

“Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor

“She Believes in Me” by Kenny Rogers

“Oh Girl” by Paul Young

“Lady” by Little River Band

“Love of a Lifetime” by Firehouse

“Something” by The Beatles

“The Lady in Red” by Chris Deburgh

“You Got it All” by The Jets

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles

“Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx

“Eternal Flame” by The Bangles

“Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen

“Crazy for You” by Madonna

“Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers

Even though we were not participating in anything traditional during our 5 course wedding reception in Iceland, we felt it was important to share 3 special dances of honor in front of all we love and adore.  Our first dance was together as husband and wife, the second was shared between Christopher and his mother Donna, and the third was shared between myself and my mother, Irene.  All were super special and I am thankful we honored our parents.  Here are the song choices we picked for our Iceland wedding dances at Hotel Ranga:

Iceland Wedding Formal Dances:

Chris and Ann’s 1^st Dance Choice:  “Don’t Know Much” by Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville

Chris & His Mother’s Dance Choice: “A Song For My Son” by Mikki Viereck

Ann & Her Mother’s Dance Choice: “Anyám Lánya” by Agi Szaloki (Yes, we have very strong Hungarian roots!)

After Dinner Music for Our Iceland Wedding Reception at Hotel Ranga:

“Slow Dancin’” by Johnny Rivers

“Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer

“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson

“All She Wants to do is Dance” by Don Henley

“Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money

“Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & The News

“Old Time Rock & Roll” by Bob Seger

“White Wedding” by Billy Idol

“Pink Cadillac” by Bruce Springsteen

“Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton

“The One” by Elton John

“Thank the Lord for the Night” by Neil Diamond

“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys

“Young Americans” by David Bowie

“We’ve Got Tonight” by Bob Seger

“The Finer Things” by Steve Winwood

“Stuck on You” by Lionel Richie

“Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand

“Midnight Show” by The Killers

“Stars and Boulevards” by Augustana

“New Year’s Day” by U2

“You Need Me” by Anne Murray

“Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams

“Tonight Tonight” by the Smashing Pumpkins

“Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco 3

“Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top

“The Longest Time” by Billy Joel

“Counting Cars” by Dishwalla

“Wonderwall” by Oasis

“Beautiful Day” by U2

“Shout by Tears” for Fears

“Heros” by the Wallflowers

A couple of you lovelies have also inquired and asked what our playlist was also for our Iceland wedding welcome dinner (or some call it our Iceland Wedding Rehearsal Dinner).  I would love to share that Iceland wedding weekend playlist with you too!  Our wedding welcome dinner was held at Hotel Ranga from 7-11pm.  We had a cocktail hour, 3 course meal for our guests, had a “welcome” and “thank you” toast, celebrated our best man’s 29th birthday and also handed out our Iceland destination wedding welcome bags to each couple/person.

Our IPOD Playlist for our Iceland Wedding Welcome Dinner at Hotel Ranga (Hella, Iceland):

“Get Closer” by Seals & Crofts

“Close to You” by the Carpenters

“Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon

“Lonely People” by America

“Everything I Own” by Bread

“Don’t Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle

“Fire and Rain” by James Taylor

“I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” by Jim Croce

“Midnight Blue” by Melissa Manches

“Silly Love Songs” by Paul McCartney

“Your Love has Lifted Me Higher” by Rita Coolidge

“I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher

“In My Life” by The Beatles

“Sailing” by Christopher Cross

“More than Words” by Extreme

“Angel” by Jon Secada

“You Make it Real” by James Morrison

“All I Want is You” by Barry Louis Polisar

“Oh My Love” by John Lennon

“Morning has Broken” by Cat Stevens

“Mad About You” by Belinda Carlisle

“Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes

“The Next Time I Fall” by Peter Cetera & Amy Grant

“Endless Summer Nights” by Richard Marx

“Stay” by Lisa Loeb

“Just You and Me” by Zee Avi

“Sweet Pea” by Amos Lee

“The Luckiest” by Ben Folds

“Dearest” by Buddy Holly

“Truly” by Lionel Richie

“Straight from the Heart” by Bryan Adams

“Making Love out of Nothing” by Air Supply

“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper

“Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney

“To Be With You” by Mr. Big

“Do You Remember” by Jack Johnson

“Everything” by Michael Buble

“You and I Both” by Jason Mraz

“This Will Be Our Year” by The Zombies

“Little Shadow” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

“12 Sea of Love” by Phil Phillips

“Love Never Fails” by Brandon Heath

“Making Memories” of Us by Keith Urban

“I Go Crazy” by Paul Davis

“Can’t Take My Eyes of You” by Frankie Valli

“Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts

“Fallin’ In Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

“You Decorated My Life” by Kenny Rogers

“Linger” by The Cranberries

“You Gotta Love Someone” by Elton John

“She’s Like the Wind” by Patrick Swayze

“Perfect Girl” by Sarah McLachian

“Only Time” by Enya

“Masterpiece” by Atlantic Starr

Phew, that’s a lot of songs!  Hopefully you’ll find yourself grabbing a few of these songs (or from our previous post Iceland Ceremony Music Ideas) to create your own amazing Iceland destination wedding reception music or Iceland wedding IPOD playlist!  I know all of these little details may be overwhelming especially making it all happen in Iceland, but that is exactly why we are here to help you smooth out those overwhelming bumps!  Please contact us at any point to help you plan and also be your awesome photographers for your unforgettable destination wedding in Iceland!

Keep Smiling and Iceland Wedding Planning,  Ann Peters (Expert Iceland Wedding Planner & Iceland Wedding Photographer).

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

The post Iceland Destination Wedding Reception Music Ideas appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.