1. Are you an adventurous couple who is in search of a wedding day EXPERIENCE versus just having a wedding “day?”
2. Do you hold travel + adventure as core fundamentals of your relationship?
3. Are you willing to put on waterproof gear (or get wet a little) to hike over some rivers or waterfalls for the most EPIC Iceland wedding photos on the planet?!
4. Are you dying to hold a whimsical elopement in Iceland or have the token “wedding of the year” as you marry in Iceland?!
5. Are you just too darn busy to plan your wedding or elopement AND cringe at the idea of finding time to plan your post wedding adventures as well?
6. Do you want the BEST and most detailed Iceland wedding team, directing you to through this awesome time in your lives?!

If so, planning Your Adventure Wedding with Iceland Wedding Planner might be right up your alley…  You should watch this video and then contact us for more information!  …Enjoy friends!

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

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

The post Adventure Wedding Film | Iceland + Patagonia 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.

As you probably already know, from reading our fabulous “About Us” section, I was too =)  I actually planned my Iceland adventure wedding long before it was cool to get married there.  Shortly after, Iceland Wedding Planner emerged as the #1 Official Resource for any couple considering to marry in Iceland!  Thanks for continuing that trend!  We feel honored to help you plan your Iceland Wedding, even if you are not a direct client!  ? ? ?

Today, I wanted to go back in time and pull some of our amazing Iceland Wedding Planning advice from our 5+ years of archives and put them all in one spot for you to read through and enjoy!

Iceland Wedding Bridal Advice:

1. Iceland Wedding Shoes
2. Iceland Wedding Coats
3. Iceland Bridal Bouquets
4. Preserving your Bridal Bouquet
5. Emergency Kit for your Iceland Wedding Day
6. Day of Gift Ideas
7. Iceland Wedding Ceremony Vows
8. Love Letter Ceremony (Type of Unity Ceremony’s)
9. 10 Tips for the Perfect Iceland Wedding Kiss!
10. Iceland Wedding Rings: Engraving Ideas

General Iceland Wedding Planning Advice:

1. 10 Biggest Myths About Getting Married in Iceland
2. Best Time of Year to Marry in Iceland
3. 20 Tips on Planning Your Iceland Wedding Part 1
4. 20 Tips on Planning Your Iceland Wedding Part 2
5. Iceland Wedding Timeline Advice
6. Planning an Iceland Destination Wedding (My Story from 2011)
7. Questions to Ask Your Iceland Wedding Photographer
8. Iceland Destination Wedding Etiquette
9. Protocol for Family Issues (Advice for Parents)
10. Iceland Wedding Save The Dates!
11. Iceland Wedding Invites Part 1 (Extravagant Destination Wedding Invitations)
12. Icelandic Wedding Invitations Part 2 (Creative Iceland Destination Wedding Invites)
13. Iceland Wedding Invitations Part 3 (Whimiscal Destination Wedding Invitations)
14. Iceland Wedding Detail Planning
15. Why You Should Have an Unplugged Iceland Wedding
16. Iceland Wedding Locations (Mainstream)
17. Iceland Engagement Guestbook
18. Iceland Wedding Welcome Bags
19. Iceland Wedding Favors
20. Importing Your Iceland Wedding Details
21. Iceland Wedding Reception: Menu Ideas
22. Iceland Wedding Reception Table Setup
23. Iceland Wedding Ceremony Music Ideas
24. Iceland Wedding Reception Music Ideas
25. Iceland Wedding Reception Alcohol Advice
26. Iceland Wedding Cake: Kransekake
27. Tipping in Iceland
28. Things You Should Know Before Having a Wedding in Iceland
29. To Seat or Not to Seat Your Iceland Wedding Guests
30. Iceland Wedding Signature Drink Ideas!

Iceland Wedding Guest Advice:

1. What to Wear to an Iceland Wedding
2. What to Pack for an Iceland Destination Wedding
3. How to Drive in Iceland
4. Things to Do in Iceland!
5. Things to Do in the Snaefellsness Peninsula
6. Iceland Destination Wedding: Guest Advice
7. Best Hot Springs to visit in Iceland
8. Top 12 Restaurants in Reykjavik
9. Most Adventurous Things to do in Iceland

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

PS- This information is copyrighted, so please don’t make us sad and steal our years of hard work.  But do feel free to read, take notes, and possibly link to our site!

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

The post Iceland Wedding & Travel Expert: Official Iceland Wedding Planning Advice appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

To Have or Not Have an Unplugged Iceland Wedding?

Okay okay okay, Picture THIS!  So there you are in Iceland and it’s your wedding day.  You know at like a secret waterfall, cave, glacier, black sand beach, you know the usual awe-inspiring nature stuff   You’ve invited all those you love and adore and they are there in total bliss from all of magical surroundings you have chosen as your location to marry in Iceland!  …Anxiously waiting for you as you walk down the aisle, they all raise their iPhones and cameras to capture this epic moment in time for you!

<Hold your breath!>

Because, wait!  Now, let’s take it one step further like a month later and you’re reliving your amazing day through your fabulous Iceland wedding photos from your talented Iceland wedding photographer… As you flip through you remember that epic moment as you walked down the aisle and you notice everyone’s FACES are BLOCKED by their cameras and phones!

<Insert sad face!>

Then you get further into your Iceland wedding ceremony and you see in all of the beautiful overview shots, at least one guest is standing up (or standing off to the side) taking a photo or a video of you guys.  It’s sweet of that well-meaning guest, but how much more amazing would it have been had you been able to see everyone’s faces or have everyone’s full attention, reveling in your Iceland wedding day with you?

<Insert HAPPY face!>

Today I share with you 8 reasons why you should consider having your Iceland wedding ceremony be unplugged:

1. If their camera or phone is in front of their face, you cannot see their face and they cannot see yours!
2. The Sound. –Hello distraction!
3. The Flash – It can create unwanted shadows for your hired Iceland Wedding Photographer!
4. People will see your wedding day through their phone and not actually EXPERIENCING it with you in that moment. …you don’t want that do you?
5. People running around in the dynamic Icelandic landscapes can cause unforeseen injuries if they have the camera or iPhone to their faces the whole time. Not kidding folks – THIS HAPPENS!
6. Focus Beams – For the guests that are DSLR lovers, their red focus beam could show up in the photos.
7. You do not need extra paparazzi running around! 1 or 2 Iceland pro photographers is enough right?
8. My Personal Fave: By having an unplugged Iceland Wedding: No one will spoil the surprise to everyone back home by Instagram-ing or Facebook-ing photos of you, your dress, or the locations earlier than you wish!

My two cents on the topic!   So your next question is how do you communicate an Unplugged Iceland Wedding Ceremony to your guests?  A kind note like the following on your Iceland Wedding Website (or on your Wedding Program or Timeline Card) would do the trick:

“Guess What?!  You’re in Iceland!!  Please be present reveling in this moment with us!  We’ve hired someone awesome and that we trust to capture it fully (and we’ll share the photos after, don’t worry) so please sit back and enjoy this time with us without a electronic on or in hand.  We kindly ask so that throughout the day we can also see your faces and you can see ours smiling at you =)  After all, are in Iceland, so let’s savor it unplugged!”

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

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

The post Iceland Wedding Photographer Tip: Why You Should Have an Unplugged Wedding appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

As Iceland wedding planners and destination wedding photographers, we strive each week to bring you unique Iceland inspired blog posts that motivate, elaborate, educate, and offer support to aid you for your biggest adventure yet, your wedding day!

A few of you have privately messaged us to ask how Iceland Wedding Planner began… Short Answer: Our love of wedding details, planning, destination wedding photography, and Iceland fueled it.  Long Answer: Must be over wine and a Skype session

Good news though!  You are not alone; we’ve personally been in your shoes trying to plan an unique and adventurous wedding in Iceland.  We actually held our April 2012 Iceland destination wedding at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, took our guests for a wedding day tour by having our champagne toast at Vik Beach, stopped for rainbows and horses at Skogafoss Waterfall, held our reception on the Ranga River (in Hella, Iceland), and also organized pre/post wedding itinerary for 40 guests from around the world.  Countless hours were spent researching, phone calls, designing, creating, asking endless questions, scouting trips and networking with Iceland’s premiere wedding vendors.  All of which have led us to be an experienced leader in Iceland’s wedding industry who can now help you plan your dream wedding in Iceland.  Please feel free to contact us for more information on planning or photographing your stunning Iceland wedding day!

For this week’s Iceland wedding blog post, we are going to expand on everyone’s favorite detail: The bridal bouquet and teaching you how to preserve it!  When choosing your Iceland wedding flowers, first check out our blog post on this very topic, here.  It may be helpful to you as you Iceland wedding plan and consider the endless Iceland wedding bouquet options out there.

So it’s months later and there you are in Iceland and it’s your wedding day, woohoo!  Your Iceland florist or Iceland wedding planner delivers your wedding flowers to your hotel room and hopefully you’re in awe!  You will be if we are organizing your Iceland wedding arrangements.  Do a little happy dance and squeal a bit in excitement because you’re getting married in Iceland today!

Iceland Wedding Planner Tip:  If you have chosen a fresh flower wedding bouquet, keep them in water as much as possible when you are not holding them.

Iceland Wedding Photographer Tip: Bring a special and/or colorful broach to put on the stem of your flowers, it’s a super sweet detail that helps make your bouquet pop in your Iceland wedding portraits!  Rhinestone pins also bring an incredible elegance to your bouquets and centerpieces. <Real Wedding in Iceland Example: We had some vintage rhinestone pins mixed in with our Iceland wedding reception centerpieces and got so many compliments from our guests for this extra detail!>  See our Iceland wedding photos below for an example of wedding bouquet broaches.

Once you’re in your Iceland wedding dress, ready to walk down the aisle at your gorgeous Iceland wedding ceremony,  pack a vase (or more if you have bridesmaids) to take with you along with you as you travel throughout your wedding day adventure.  Being able to keep the bridal bouquet hydrated throughout your wedding day gives your fresh flowers the best chance to have continuous beauty during all of your Iceland wedding photo locations.  It is also a good idea to bring a small towel or wash cloth to wipe off the excess water each time you pull it out.  That way, as you travel around with your Iceland wedding photographer to iconic wedding photo spots, your dress stays dry and your flowers hydrated!  Once you arrive back to your reception spot, get them back into water if possible.  If not, this is the point that you can begin your preserving process.

Preserving your fresh flower Iceland bridal bouquet is super easy if you follow these steps <We personally did this, so rest assured it is tried and true>:

Step 1: Keep the wedding bouquet in water until it begins to wilt.

Step 2: Take a satin ribbon/yarn that is ~2 feet and on one end tie a tight knot to the bulk stem of your bouquet.

Step 3: Turn the bouquet upside down (so that it is hanging upside down) and take the other end of that ribbon and tie it to something in the hotel room (a lamp or closet hangers are perfect for this part).

Step 4: When you are leaving Iceland to go back home, wrap the bouquet in a plastic or cloth bag, add silica drying beads (if you have them) and pack it in with your clothes in the bag that you are checking <this is easiest because each county’s custom rules are different>.

Step 5:  When you arrive home from your Iceland wedding adventure, hang the wedding flowers back up in a cool dry place so they can continue to dry out.  <Mine hung in our basement>.

Step 6: After 3-4 weeks, your bouquet should be dried out and ready to be put away as your special keepsake of your wedding day in Iceland!

Back when all of our parents were getting married, fresh flowers were not as popular as they are now (silk flowers were most popular then).  As the eras have gone on, it seems as though wedding niceties have become more detailed and elaborate.  One way many years ago to preserve your wedding details was to shadow box it and display it somewhere in your home.  This is totally still an option but not everyone has the space to do this.  An idea for you from our Iceland wedding experience: Put your favorite wedding items in your Love Letter Ceremony Box!  Why?  Because it serves a dual purpose!  It helps you transport your items safely back to your home country once your destination wedding in Iceland is complete and also acts as a time capsule of your wedding day.

Although our love letter box was “locked” during the ceremony, we unlocked it once we returned from our Iceland Seljalandsfoss Wedding, so we could store the following mementos inside:

• Our Iceland Wedding Vows.
• Our Iceland Wedding Place Cards from our wedding welcome dinner and our wedding reception.
• Iceland Wedding Love Letters to each other and letters from our parents.
• Chris’s Boutonniere.
• Ann’s Iceland Wedding Bouquet <It is very small and crispy now as you’ll see from our photos below>.
• Heartfelt cards we gave to each other when we exchanged day of gifts and special cards our guests also gave to us.
• Our Destination Wedding Champagne Glasses.
• Iceland Wedding Invitation.
• Our Newspaper Announcement.

Even if you do not perform a love letter ceremony, having a special keepsake box after your wedding used to gather your details in, is a timeless idea.  How fun to grab it each year on your wedding anniversary and reminisce?  We strongly encourage you to do this, keep that newly wedded bliss going for a lifetime!  For a few of our clients, we have made a leather bound album box with one of their wedding photos on it and they used that as the keeper of their wedding relics.  Neat ideas –so think about what works best for you and your Iceland wedding details.

Iceland Wedding Planner, would love the opportunity to help you brainstorm, book, create, mock  up, and be there to ensure your amazing wedding in Iceland is flawlessly perfect.  Photos by Miss Ann would also be honored to be the one who captures such an epic time in your lives so please contact us for more details on how to make that happen!

With a smile, Ann & Chris Peters

Expert Iceland Wedding Planners & Iceland Wedding Photographers

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

The post Preserving Your Iceland Wedding Bouquet appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

I hope this finds you well and in the midst of a fantastic and productive week!  So sorry for the delayed post- The week got away from me!  Between the beautiful children and newborns that we have had the pleasure of photographing in our Plymouth, Michigan portrait studio, the marvelous weddings we have photographed lately, Chris turning the big 3-0, Photos by Miss Ann has been sweetly swamped but savoring ever second.

A few weeks ago in our Iceland Reception Music blog post, I had mentioned that my mother and I shared a mother-daughter dance and one of our readers asked why I chose to do that.  Well, good news lovely, my answer is going to be rolled into this week’s topic Iceland Wedding Protocol for Family Issues & Advice for Parents.  Welcome to part 2 of 2 of our mini-series on some sensitive issues you may encounter while planning a destination wedding in Iceland (see our 1 of 2 post here on how Iceland Love Conquers All Things)!  Today, I am going to walk through some family issues Chris and I specifically ran into while we planned our Seljalandsfoss wedding and explain how we handled in hopes of helping you!

So!  Buckle your seat belts; this is going to be a long Iceland Wedding Blog Post!

You might be surprised to know, that Chris and I are both only children and come from extremely small families.  His parents are still married celebrating 30+ years of marriage and mine are divorced.  Between the two of us we also only have 25 living relatives that are spread between the USA and as far as Australia.  So you’d think having a small family equals no drama right?  Sigh, one would hope!  A little personal background on myself… My parents divorced when I was 6 years old.  I was raised by a very strong-willed single mother and have had very little contact with my father for various reasons since.  That being said, this has caused a few issues and lots of tension in our family throughout the years.

Issue #1:  Deciding on whether or not to invite a disconnected parent, certain family members, or a problematic friend to your wedding in Iceland.

As Chris and I were planning our Iceland destination wedding at Seljalandsfoss, Vik Beach, and Skogafoss Waterfall, he asked me if I wanted to send an invitation to my father or to anyone on that side of the family.  Out of respect for my father, his family, and for myself, I decided to not rush into an absolute decision.  Do you ever wonder what the protocol should be on how to handle these concerns?  I know I did!  In the beginning of our Iceland wedding planning, the first step was asking myself a few questions before drawing any pivotal conclusions.  If you’re in a similar situation with a family member or friend and find yourself torn, the below may be helpful questions to ask yourself as you plan your Iceland wedding guest list:

• Have I spent time with him/her in the last 5 years?
• Has he/she spent time trying to get to know my fiancé?
• Has he/she held a significant overall impact on my life?
• Was he/she there to support me when I had humbling or exciting life moments?
• Is the relationship worth improving?  Or is it on the contrary, toxic or drama filled?
• Would my Iceland wedding day be incomplete without him/her there?
• Would his/her presence cause drama between any other Iceland wedding guests?
• Would I regret my decision years later when I look back on my Iceland Wedding Photos?

Answering those questions may shed a bit more light your complicated relationship with that person.  Some of you may also find the above questions to be a guideline when figuring out your guest list too (we took a very similar method for our overall guest list too in order to cut it down to ensure an intimate affair).  Fortunately, in my case it was an easy answer in regards to my father.  But I know there are other Iceland destination wedding brides and grooms out there right now that might be struggling with a similar decision.  To be honest, Chris and I tend to let the rule of thumb be: no drama in all facets of our life.  It is not worth being stressed out on what should be the deemed the “happiest day of your life” because of a family member or friend.  Life is too short for that nonsense.  Instead, turn your focus to the positive people who will be there in Iceland supporting you on your big day!

Issue #2:  Who walks you down the aisle when you do not have a father to do so?

Because I chose to not have my father attend my Iceland wedding, it left 2 wedding customs open.  The first being, who would “walk me down the aisle” and the second, who would I honor with a dance at our Iceland wedding reception?  I had contemplated having my mother walk me down the aisle but I did not think she (or I) would be able to make it down the aisle without tearing up.  My future father-in-law also offered to walk me down the aisle but the more I thought about it I declined the sweet offer.  In the end, I thought it was ridicules that I even felt like I had to have someone walk me down the aisle.

The tradition itself roots from an old world tradition of arranged marriages where the family would “give away” the daughter to the husband and his family.  I instead chose to walk myself down our wedding aisle at Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  It was super surreal too; I remember every second… Jumping out of the Iceland super jeep, walking towards everyone I love, 60,000 pink rose petals, all eyes on me, how I paused and took a deep breath at the start of our aisle way, how my eyes locked onto Chris instantly, the exchange of smiles, and how my future happiness all flashed before my eyes.  For sure, one of my “somewhere in time” wedding moments!

If you find yourself in a position like I was but do want someone to walk you down the aisle, I suggest you choose someone important to you.  After all, it is an honor for them to walk you down the aisle and a special memory you will forever cherish.  We have seen many of our local and destination brides (and grooms) choose their step father, mother, father-in-law, a grandfather, a brother, godfather, an uncle, cousin, best friend, or even a son (if applicable) and actually one couple even walked down the aisle together!  Shape your Iceland wedding ceremony walk exactly to what you are comfortable with; it is your big entrance!

Issue #3:  How do I honor my parents during the Iceland wedding weekend? 

Now I know you have heard me say this before, but Chris and I typically do not embrace tradition…  We did however; feel as though our parents needed to be honored in some way during our Iceland wedding planning process too.  So we let each of our mothers choose a wedding reception song.  It was super special and a moment I know our mothers will always remember.  The typical wedding dance practice is for the bride share a dance with someone special (i.e. father or grandfather) and then the groom dances with his mother or (or grandmother).  Others we have seen choose to have each set of each parents join in the bridal party dance.

If you wish to not go that route there are other ways you thank them.  This could be as simple as a card or gift.  After our wedding was completed we created a special flush mount Iceland wedding album (we use the professional print lab: Millers) as a keepsake for our parents.  We had photos spanning from our Kauai engagement session, a few images we could salvage from our hired photogs (there were many mistakes they made that we personally had to edit out, and lots of details/candids were unfortunately missing), Iceland wedding detail photos we recreated ourselves when we returned from the trip, candid photos gathered from friends of our Iceland wedding, and some post wedding trip photos.  Giving your parents an album of your wedding day allows them to relive the big day too =)

Issue #4:  A death in the family close to your Iceland wedding day:

Sadly, I have experience on this topic too.  Literally the morning we were all driving from Plymouth, Michigan to the Toronto airport (YYZ) to catch our Iceland wedding flight (KEF) I received word that my grandmother had passed away.  I had 7 family members down in Ohio instantly affected and they called me debating on whether or not they would be coming.  I had a selfish bridezilla moment… Here I was 2 days away from saying “I do” in the land of fire and ice, why did this have to happen?!

Unfortunately, it’s at this point where you have to pick up and be a family “rock.”  I felt terrible in that moment saying this at the time, but the death had happened and there is nothing to do to change it right now.  I literally remember telling my mother, “Plans need to continue, grandma would not want for us all to stay here to bury her and grieve.  You need to see me get married in Iceland mom.”  If someone passes away that close to your wedding day it is hard for people to refocus and find the joy in your day, but I promise you that they will once they arrive at your stunning Iceland ceremony site.  We even found a way to turn the sadness into a positive.  For instance, each time we saw a picture perfect spot or a rainbow during our wedding weekend in Iceland we all said it was my grandma who had brought it to us.  Doing that really made her a part of our day and made the tragedy easier to cope with.

Overall it was really sad that it had happened so close to our wedding day, but in the grand scheme of things, life is filled with losses and I think wedding bliss and births are the things that balance them.  I’ll be honest though, if this happens to you, you will have no time to grieve.  For months after we returned I still hadn’t given myself a proper chance to grieve because Photos by Miss Ann went right into high wedding season upon our return from our wedding in Iceland.  It wasn’t until this past Jan-April that my grandmother’s death really hit me.  It was then, I finally had given myself time to grieve and honor her.  At the end of the day, you need to do what is best for you so stay strong!

Issue #5:  Someone is late to your Iceland destination wedding events: 

This one is frustrating and rightfully so.  Not 10 minutes late either… I am talking about 30+ minutes which can really have an impact to the meticulously planned wedding day itinerary.  Regrettably, this specific issue happened to us both during our Iceland wedding rehearsal (Iceland wedding welcome dinner) and at our actual destination wedding reception too.  My best advice to you is to stay positive when this actually happens, you can only change what is in your control.  Be gracious even though your first instinct will be to be upset at their inconsideration.  People do get distracted, get lost, lose track of time (especially in such an amazing locale as Iceland!), under estimate how much time it takes to get somewhere and then again there are also those folks who are always notorious late for everything.

So you’re wondering how do you combat this potential wedding problem and ensure you set him/her up for success?  Your best bet is to personally provide them with an Iceland wedding timeline card, a destination wedding schedule, or a very detailed outline/itinerary of where they need to be and when.  This detail is especially needed if this person is one of the wedding VIP’s (ie, parents, bridal party, people that affect the overall events).  We had wedding timeline cards given to the guests at time of check in at Hotel Ranga and also in their wedding welcome bags.  But looking back on our Iceland wedding weekend, I still wish I would have provided a nitty-gritty outline for our wedding VIP’s of where and when to be the day before our Seljalandsfoss wedding day.  It may have made that portion of our planning a tad bit smoother and less maddening.  Worst case scenario also would be telling that person who is particularly late, that the time to meet is actually earlier (IE, they must be present by 4pm instead of 5pm).  Then hope for the best because you have done all you can do!  If they are late, move on without them because the rest of your event and guests should not have to suffer.

Issue #6:  Either set of parents are too involved in your wedding planning or you are worried they could potentially cause an issue during:

Woohoo, we actually didn’t have this problem!  My wonderful mother, Chris’s mother and father were all very hands off when it came to our wedding plans.  After we were engaged, they merely assumed that we would be planning a destination wedding somewhere and just prepared for an extreme location.  Ha, my mom new it was going to be somewhere out of the ordinary and I think Chris’s parents hoped for a destination wedding in Australia.  Little did they know that Chris and I had already preliminary decided on just about everything even before we told them Iceland.  The things we finalized with them was the date, guest list (family addresses), any must haves they felt needed to be included, and what time-frame they would like to stay.  Later on we did finalize our 5 course wedding menu with them but luckily there were no objections to all of our hours of planning and research.

Conversely, I know of many destination wedding couples where the parents are tremendously involved and almost to a suffocating amount.  Here are a couple of mini issues that may come up within this larger issue and how you can possibly respond:

a)      Situation:  The parents are not contributing to the wedding budget and are insisting on making decisions (and/or having their names on the invitation).  What to do:Make it politely clear that this event is being funded by you and therefore all direction also is led by you.

b)      Situation: Parents insist on inviting all of their friends, co-workers, and acquaintances that you do not know.  What to do: Circle back to the root of why this event is happening, the two of you and your love.  Let them know you are uncomfortable with inviting people that you do not know and that you want this lifetime event to be one you can look back on fondly celebrating with all the people you love and adore.

c)      Situation: Your mother or mother-in-law wants you to wear her wedding dress or use mementos from her wedding day.  What to do: If you like them, use them!  Many times those items can be your “something old or borrowed.”  If not, kindly decline saying that you had a specific vision for that items role in the wedding (or you would rather not travel all that way with something so special to her) but do express your immense appreciation.  Or if you feel totally obligated to use the item (IE, like a garter, ring, or handkerchief) at least put them out for your Iceland wedding photographer to take detail photos of as you are getting ready.  Many times brides in this situation will also use the item in a different way.  Example, one of my brides pinned the handkerchief to the inside of her wedding dress and another wore the grandmother’s ring at the wedding welcome dinner the evening before (versus on the wedding day so it did not compromise her style).

d)       Situation:  <In a separated family context> One parent threatens to not attend the wedding if the other parent attends (or a certain family member).  What to do: Call his/her bluff.  It is foolish he/she would give you such an ultimatum on the most important day of your life.  It is important to make it clear that kind of behavior during your wedding weekend will not be tolerated.  This wedding is about your love and the celebration of it and he/she must put their differences to the side during.  One thing you can do to rest their worries is to let your Iceland wedding planner know to not seat them together for any of the weekend events and that there may be confrontation.  Also, let your Icelandic wedding photographer know ahead of time that there is an issue and to not put that group of family together for any wedding portraits.  Sometimes we are used as a buffer to ensure everyone behaves!  This information helps to make your big day flawless.

e)      Situation: The parents purchase items (without your input) for your wedding and they do not go along with your overall wedding vision.  What to do:  Lead by gratitude by thanking them for their continuous consideration but that you had a specific vision on that detail that you had already planned on incorporating.  If you feel obligated, try to incorporate that item (or wedding favor) into your bridal shower, bachelorette party, or wedding welcome dinner instead.

f)       Situation: Someone cannot responsibly handle alcohol.  What do to:  Make your destination wedding planner aware so they may make the reception locale aware to limit service.  You must do something about it or else you are enabling your family member to possibly cause a disruption to your lifetime event.

Iceland Wedding Planner Tip: 

Advice to parents who have children planning a destination wedding in Iceland:

• Don’t convince the couple to change their mind on their wedding location.  Iceland may sound cold, unattractive, and not on your bucket list at first to you but it will not disappoint, I promise!  You will love every second of your trip and return renewed, revived, and refocused in life.  The beauty you will experience in the Icelandic people, food, countryside, and incredible natural wonders will leave your life changed for the better.
• Remember the wedding weekend is about your child getting married!  No matter the external/internal family issues that are happening they should not be of concern during this magical time for your son or daughter.  Please put those worrisome things aside and embrace the excitement he/she is feeling.
• Offer to help.  Even if you cannot offer something financially, offer to help with the small tasks like folding invitations, putting together welcome bags, carrying the brides wedding dress while traveling, folding napkins, labels on water bottles, etc.  Any genuine thought is appreciated, I assure you.
• If you have decided to help your son or daughter financially with their Iceland destination wedding in some way, please tell them early!  Budget management is something we specifically work on early with our couples so we can stay on target to narrow or expand on “must have” and “would be nice to have” lists.
• Please do not wear the colors white, ivory, champagne, red, or polka dots.  Solid and/or neutral color tones are best in family portraits and do not detract from the bride and groom or the dynamic Iceland landscape.  Examples would be black, browns, grays, lavender, muted silver, light/royal blues.
• Give the bride and groom a heartfelt card.  Not only give them a card but write a message in there to them.  Ideas: How excited you are for them, welcoming the bride or groom to the family, marriage advice, how amazing they are together, or how proud you are.  This goes a long way now and later, I guarantee you.  Chris and I still have our cards from our parents in our Iceland love letter ceremony box.

Phew, that was a long one =) Now onto the photos of the week!  In honor of this blog topic, our parents, belated Mother’s Day and upcoming Father’s Day, please enjoy some of our family portraits!  We hope you have found this Iceland Wedding Tips Blog Post helpful as you wedding plan.  No matter if you are planning a wedding at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Snaefellsness Peninsula, Vik Beach, Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon or another stunning part of Iceland we can help you secure locations, plan every detail, keep the peace between family members, and capture every detail with our experienced Iceland wedding photography skills.  Please feel free to contact us directly to chat more about your big day in making!

Lots of Iceland Wedding Smiles,  Ann and Chris Peters

Expert Iceland Wedding Planners and Iceland Wedding Photographers

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

The post Protocol for Family Issues & Iceland Destination Wedding Advice for Parents appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Last weekend was action-packed to say the least!  Within minutes of arriving to the stunning Eyry of the Eagle Estate I knew it would be an eventful day and my expectations did not disappoint!  As the day unfolded, I had some firsts happen: I was spat on by an alpaca (first), had goose bumps, tears (first), acquired poison ivy, and for the first time ever, I had sunset couple’s portraits photo bombed by donkeys (yes, I said donkeys)!  Hilariously true and so worth it to endure for the crazy undeniable love Carrie and Wally have for each other!  I love my job being a wedding photographer not only because I never have a duplicate moment; but, I also get the chance to watch wedding plans unfold with an outside eye and capture it at its very best.  Truly, I really cherish that part.

This past weekend’s Michigan wedding at Eyry of the Eagle in Grass Lake really brought me back down to the basics, raw love.  No elaborate frills, no buts or what if’s but just crazy awesome I will love you until the end of time, love.  Carrie and Wally’s wedding day really left me inspired and grateful for love.

On that note, today’s blog post is going to be a 2 part series on some sensitive issues you may encounter while Iceland wedding planning.  This week we’ll be talking about how your “Iceland Love Will Conquer All Things” and next week stay tuned for “Protocol for Family Issues & Parents” while Iceland destination wedding planning.  That being said, I will add this disclaimer to my post:  Sensitive Issues will be discussed with real wedding examples, followed by my personal experience/opinion on how to approach. –Thanks!

Carrie and Wally contacted me over a year ago to be their Michigan wedding photographer.  Although, they were not planning an Iceland destination wedding, Photos by Miss Ann still loves having local Michigan weddings in unique locations!  From the minute I spoke with Carrie on the phone, I knew that they were a fun-loving, laid back, super sweet retro couple and were oh-so excited to be engaged.  They had reconnected a decade later after knowing each other in high school.  A lot had changed over the years for each of them.  But if you spend 10 minutes with them you would know that they were destined to come together so they could not only strengthen each other but also serve as an inspiration to all who love them.

In January of this year, Carrie and Wally stopped wedding planning to manage through a time of trials and tribulations.  Even before they were married, life was testing their relationship resilience.  First, they had found out they were expecting a baby, who would make her appearance into the world on April 14^th (destined by dates, I think)!  After that exciting news came, baby prepping overtook their life; that is until more life changing news came.  What started out as Wally having a minor back injury, evolved into weeks of doctors’ visits, MRI’s, and numerous other tests, that then turned into a very real conclusion of cancer.  They found out together on Valentine’s Day of this year that Wally had a very rare form of cancer in his spine.  Not only that, but that the cancer had also spread into his lymph nodes and began spotting in his lungs.  Weeks before their May 25^th wedding day, Wally began rounds of aggressive chemotherapy.

The groom, Wally said to me on his wedding day while I was photographing their Michigan couple’s portraits, “Carrie has brought me an endless amount of strength.  This is my second battle with cancer in 10 years and she has been there for me more than anyone.  She has been my rock through the good, bad, and ugly somehow always bringing a smile to my face.”  The bride, Carrie told me during her bridal portraits before the wedding that they, “have endured insurmountable struggles in the last year and prevailed.  They will prevail over this too.” <Insert goose bumps!>

Spending the day with Carrie and Wally last weekend, I saw firsthand how love conquers all things.  From the positive energy they exude together, encouragement they give each other, the endless love and excitement their family’s shared, and the look of adoration they held in their eyes for each other, totally made my eyes well up!  Their love has been tested, tried, and totally true.

It was fitting they have the most beautiful day in Michigan for their wedding day.  The scene was set in the Grass Lake Michigan countryside where you hear and see chickens running around, a gorgeous 125 year old barn, walk a stone path passing by alpacas and donkeys to get down to a beautiful lake, stunning tall woods, a brick pathway to charming wedding pergola.  The bride and groom had a playful funky style, created all of their flowers, reception decorations, and other details all themselves and were so ready to get the show on the road!  Their wedding vows expressed their unremitting adoration and respect for each other.  It was lovely along with the rest of the evening’s events!  Feel free to check out a few of their Metro Detroit wedding photographs below.

I went home that evening and while my wedding images were uploading to the computer, (I totally interrupted the Red Wings playoff game) and bombarded my husband with “what if” scenarios.  Some were valid and I’ll be honest some were farfetched and ridicules but I felt the need to ask to understand that if we were challenged with such situations how we would handle together.  Chris and I have gone through our own struggles as a couple over the years with health distresses, losses, along with other sensitive family issues that have surfaced, but none to the life-threatening level that Carrie and Wally have been united through.  Going through a time of uncertainty of your future is scary especially when you are wedding planning and faced with the detrimental odds.

So you ask, how do you cope?  How does love conquer all things before and after your Iceland destination wedding?

• Positivity.  Staying optimistic is one of the most important things you can do when faced with health, economic, or other dramatic life changing events.  It affects your attitude, demeanor, outlook, and those you love.  At times it may be very difficult and you may have to “fake it to make it” but it will make a world of difference.
• Get educated.  Take the time to do research and understand what is really going on along with your immediate/long term options and a timeline.
• Turn the negative into a learning lesson that you will come out of a better and stronger willed person/couple.
• Honesty.  Be truthful about everything with yourself, your soon-to-be, with family, and other involved professionals.
• Open Communication.   If you feel sad, anxious, fear the unknown, or frustrated –talk about it, don’t hold it in!
• Get professional help.  If its health related seek additional opinions, the best doctors, etc.  If it’s economic, seek professional advice (i.e. financial advisors, resume gurus, career sites, etc).  If it is personal, seek 3^rd party professional help from a counselor, psychologist, or life coach.
• Be a Team.  The key though is to do this together and incorporate your families; they can bring you additional support, a shoulder, an extra ear to vent to, etc!
• Compile a plan of attack.  Sort out what things you have control over and what you do not and create a plan of how you will tackle the situation and respond to the different outcomes.  Having a strategy allows you focus short and long term.
• Take up a new hobby to refocus your negative energy/thoughts.  Blogging, collecting, clubs, etc!
• Take time to smile and laugh with each other.  This could be as simple as having a date night picnic in the living room!  Even in time of hardship, let your love thrive.

With the above tools in use, you can conquer just about anything and everything together.  So if you find yourself in love, engaged, planning a wedding in Iceland (or anywhere) or you’ve already been married in Iceland and are faced with a misfortune somewhere along the road remember these tips!  And also remember Iceland Wedding Planner and Photos by Miss Ann is here to help you tackle that overwhelming task of planning your wedding in Iceland with inclusive Iceland wedding photography packages too!  Please feel free to email us for more details!

Lots of Iceland wedding photography & planning smiles to you, Ann & Chris Peters

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

The post Iceland Love Conquers All Things appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Outside of holding our Iceland wedding ceremony at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, one of my favorite “gives me goose bumps” moments from our Iceland wedding planning was arranging my husband, Chris’s day of wedding gift.

So many of you might be scratching your head right now wondering what I mean… So you ask, “Ann, what is a day of gift?”  A day of gift goes both ways: Bride surprises her soon to be and groom surprises the bride with a gift, showing the enthusiasm and anticipation of their wedding day.  This can be simplistic or elaborate; it’s all in how you are as a couple.  I’ll paint a picture for you on how we planned and exchanged our wedding day of gifts in Iceland so you may understand better.

Chris and I in a nutshell are “Type A” personalities in case you haven’t figured that out yet.  We are crazy detailed, thrive on adventure and we really seek it out in our travels and everyday life.  Fun fact: This is exactly why our Photos by Miss Ann tagline was coined years ago as, “Thriving on Adventure and Love…”  As cliché as it sounds, we truly do live life with no regrets and strive each day to do so as we build our personal lives together and individually, our businesses, and our bucket lists.  That being said, buying gifts for each other is really hard!  Neither of us wears jewelry nor have a burning desire for a specific tangible good, but we do both enjoy a challenge that is near to impossible.  So when we talked about whether or not we would exchange “day of gifts” on our wedding day in Iceland, we both agreed it would be fun and then swapped sneaky smiles!  Our marvelous challenge for Iceland wedding day of gifts commenced!

I racked my brain for a few days on what sort of everlasting sweet gift I could give Chris that could forever hold an impression on our marriage, make him tear up, and then it came to me!  One of our all-time favorite movies on the planet is “Somewhere in Time,” (circa 1980).  It’s a mushy time traveling film with Jayne Seymour and Christopher Reeve that is about two soul mates finding each other despite there being generations of time between them.  The catalyst of the time travel is a pocket watch from the early 1900’s and that simple element ignited my memory!  Chris had inherited one from his great grandfather decades ago, that he had always talked about getting restored to its original glory, just never had.  It was in really bad shape i.e., missing glass, hands, internal components, and needed heavy refinishing, so it took several months for the clock shop to find parts.

A week before we were leaving for our Iceland destination wedding, I picked up the pocket watch gift and was in total awe.  My gift to Chris was going to be time…Why?  Time is something we all run short on when we fall in love.  It seems like once we say, “Yes!” to “Will you marry me?” life gets jammed on the fast forward button and goes faster than we wish.  I think as couples in love, we forget to keep “dating” each other and do not always savor those small moments in the midst of all those big upcoming life moments.  Does that make sense?  Truthfully, I am not a woman of many emotions, but seeing and holding that watch, knowing what it represents, and then putting it inside the engraved box, immediately brought tears to my eyes.  The outside of the box was engraved simply with, “Today, I promise to love you until the end of time.”  There was no way I could have chosen a better wedding gift for him, it was truly priceless.  To top it off, I did add a super sweet card to his wedding day of gift that I had planned to hide in his tux pocket that playfully said, “I cannot wait to see your smile down the aisle!”  I packed everything in my polka dot carry on that night and did not even think about that he was going to give me a gift too!

Fast-forward to barely a week later, we had made it to Iceland, got our marriage license, checked out our wedding ceremony location at Seljalandsfoss, saw some rainbows at Skogafoss, and ran around Vik Beach just to make sure all three were our final choices for the following wedding day adventure.  After we finished, all of our to-do’s and were awaiting the start time of our Iceland wedding welcome dinner.  Chris suggested then, that this would probably be the last quite moment we would share together before the hustle and bustle of the wedding weekend had begun.  We decided to give each other our wedding day of gifts the evening before our wedding day.  I grabbed my special gift to him and gleamed with excitement as I handed it to him.  Chris gave me a curious look but still had no idea as he unwrapped the gift and read the outside of the special box.  Once he opened the box and saw his grandfather’s watch in its pristine glory, he instantly got choked up and shed a few tears even!  <Success! Bridal happy dance!>

After a few minutes he collected himself and told me to close my eyes <Eeeeek, I hate surprises, grrrr!> it was the longest 5 minutes ever!  I heard him fumbling around but didn’t really realize what he was doing until he said, “Open!”  Chris had spent months tirelessly building Photos by Miss Ann a new website from scratch, no templates, no predesigns, only him and the world of coding!  How incredibly thoughtful and such a unique surprise for him to give me!  All those months before our Iceland destination wedding, I had just thought he had been gaming on his computer until the wee hours of the night (Ahem, while I Iceland wedding planned, LOL) and really he had been doing a labor of love for my photography business!  <3

Chris and I dislike traditional things for the most part, but one thing in our wedding planning we did keep was ensuring he did not see me in my wedding dress until I walked down the aisle to him.  So after breakfast the morning of our Iceland wedding at Seljalandsfoss, we parted ways.  The really sweet thing was that we had saved exchanging cards until the morning of when we were both getting ready at Hotel Ranga.  I was getting my Iceland wedding dress on in the Royal Honeymoon Suite with my maid of honor and Chris was getting ready in another room with his best man.  Reading his card once I had my Iceland wedding dress on made it even more real and made me blaze with even more excitement!  Chris went to put his antique pocket watch in his inside tux pocket and was surprised to find my card while he and the rest of our guests loaded the bus for our surprise Iceland wedding ceremony location: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  Sharing our Iceland wedding gift moment with Chris, will be forever be that “somewhere in time” moment for us!

In our opinion, day of gifts set the tone of the wedding weekend or wedding day.  Every bride wants her groom completely enamored with her on their destination wedding weekend especially in Iceland!  This little detail of gift giving before your wedding day expresses the appreciation you have for each other and exciting captivation you both have for saying “I do!” that day.  We’d love to share with you some ideas for your day of gift to your soon-to-be:

Day of Gift Ideas for the Bride:

• A Heartfelt Card.
• Red Roses or her favorite flower!
• Diamond earrings or her birth stone (whichever she may prefer).
• A Bracelet or Necklace (ladies do not feel obligated to wear it on your wedding day).
• An item to complete your home (Example, A small bistro set for the porch or backyard to have dinner or coffee on together).
• Book an exclusive dinner for your Honeymoon (Example: Like what we did on our honeymoon at the Ayana Resort in Bali Indonesia: Pesta Lobster dinner on their private jetty).
• Something from Tiffany & Co.
• A sweet Souvenir from the destination wedding location you have chosen (maybe something that goes along with an inside joke you guys have?).
• Have the wedding night suite furnished before your arrival with a rose petal pathway, champagne, and fresh fruit (all the fabulous hotels we work with in Iceland offer this as an add on)!

Day of Gift Ideas for the Groom:

• A Heartfelt Card.
• A Basket of His Favorite Things.
• A Watch (Feel free to totally steal our pocket watch idea- just make sure you have your Iceland wedding photographer take a photo!)
• Book a surprise adventurous activity for your awesome honeymoon!
• That “must have” electronic he has been eying.
• An item to complete your home or to support his favorite hobby (Example, A workbench for him to build projects on).
• A World Map of your Travels Together (past, present, and future)!  This was actually Chris’s first gift he ever gave me.  Three years later, we still love plotting our travels on it, so much fun!
• Have a sweet saying engraved on the inside of his wedding ring. (Ideas: “Forever,” “Better Together,” “Fire & Ice,” “A Perfect Fit,” “Remember When…” “I Choose You, Every Day,” “Love Never Fails”).

If you’re having a destination wedding in Iceland and the wedding gift is too big, bulky, isn’t tangible to bring, it’s totally okay to print out a picture of your gifted item, put it in a small box, and wrap it for him/her to open.  In the end, it’s all about the thought and adding to the excitement of your wedding day!  We hope this blog post featuring our destination wedding in Iceland tip: “Day of Gift” has encouraged you and your soon-to-be to exchange special wedding day gifts!

Epically Yours as Iceland Wedding Photographers and Planners,

Ann & Christopher Peters

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

The post Destination Wedding in Iceland Tip: Day of Gift appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

I don’t know where you are… but I am writing from Plymouth Michigan today and it is a balmy 55 degrees on January 12th!  Wowza- where did winter go?  Well let’s get wedding planning!

Today’s topic is Wedding Day Timelines:

Depending on the location you have chosen and the type of bride and groom are… your schedule will vary obviously!  However, having over 10 years of wedding day experience Photos by Miss Ann would like to offer up a better visual to help you in your Iceland destination wedding photography schedule and beyond.

First Step: Decide whether or not you want to see each other before the ceremony.  First Look versus Traditional Schedule.  There are truly pro’s and con’s to each one.

Second Step: Hire a Iceland Wedding Photographer that does not limit you to silly “continuous time” rules.  Some of the time will be traveling around to the the epic Iceland Wedding Portrait Spots so they will not be photographing anyhow so don’t hire anyone that limits you (we made that mistake).  Photos by Miss Ann does not limit you as far as timing on your wedding day we are there for you!

Photos by Miss Ann is personally a fan of not seeing each other before and having your wedding day be an adventure!  Our wedding day in Iceland is a perfect example of a traditional but adventurous wedding schedule.

Our Wedding Day in Iceland Schedule Follows:

Friday:

7-11pm – Welcome dinner for all guests!

Guests were given Iceland wedding welcome bags and wedding timeline cards after their 3 course welcome dinner meal.

Saturday (Wedding Day):

9-10am: Buffet Breakfast.

10-12pm: Hair and makeup for the Iceland bride and maid of honor in the Royal Suite.

12:00pm: Bus Departs from hotel for Iceland wedding ceremony with groom and all guests.

12:15pm: Bride and maid of honor depart hotel in Icelandic Super Jeep for ceremony entrance.

12:30pm: Arrival to wedding ceremony site: Seljalandsfoss wedding.

12:30-1pm: Iceland Wedding Planner sets up Iceland ceremony chairs, chair ties, lays down rose petal aisle way, and Icelandic DJ plays pre ceremony music from our playlist.

1-1:30pm: Iceland Wedding Ceremony at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.  We said our own wedding vows, held a love letter ceremony, and greeted our guests after.

1:30-2pm: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall Wedding Photos.

2-2:40pm: Our 40+ guests hopped on to a chartered bus for a surprise day trip to Vik black sand beach for a champagne toast!

2:40-4pm: Vik Beach Wedding Photos: Group champagne toast, bridal party destination wedding portraits, friends, just the two of us for romantic Iceland wedding portraits.

4-4:50pm: Pit Stop at the Iceland’s best wool shop.  It’ll be hard to get your guests out of here!  Be diligent.

4:50-5:30pm: Travel to Skógafoss Waterfall for Iceland wedding portraits.

5:30-5:50pm: Skógafoss Waterfall for double rainbow wedding photos!

5:50-6:30pm: Travel back to hotel for wedding reception along the Ranga River.

6:30-7pm:  Bus arrives back at the hotel – Guests freshen up after their Iceland Wedding Adventure! …I will say our guests were exhausted at this point- but easily found their second wind!

7-11pm:  5 course wedding reception dinner.

Our 5 course  Iceland wedding menu consisted of the following amazing items:

Course 1: Mushroom Soup

Course 2: Lobster Skewers

Course 3: Smoked Icelandic Puffin

Course 4: Lamb or Icelandic Salmon

Course 5: Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream (Our Iceland Wedding Cake!)

11pm We closed our reception with sharing our first dance, Chris with mother, and myself with my mother.

::Note::

Before the trip, we made it very clear to our guests that this trip to Iceland was not our honeymoon. We asked them to please plan on joining us on some of these wonderful adventures in the days following of our Iceland newly wedded bliss!

Sunday, April 15th:

Driving Day Tour of some of Iceland’s most iconic spots!

10:30am Guests Depart from our wedding hotel, Hotel Rangá to visit Keldur, home of the oldest Turf Houses in Iceland (15 min drive).

Next stop is one of the most scenic waterfalls in Iceland Gullfoss (1h 15 min drive).  Following, we will visit the most active Geyser in the world (erupting every 4-8 min) Strokkur (26 min drive).

Then, we are off to the Kerid Volcanic Crater Lake, (30 min drive) followed by a stopover at the Seltun/Krysuvik Lava Fields (1h drive time).

Our last stop was at the relaxing Blue Lagoon Geothermal Lake (1 hour drive time). Prices for the Blue Lagoon here.

This will be a good place to have dinner at, and after we have a therapeutic dip Chris and Ann will check in to their hotel the Hilton Reykjavik (45 min drive).

Monday, April 16th:

Scuba Diving/Snorkeling & Caving: Begin by exploring the hidden world of the lava field under the Þingvellir national park. Walking in a cave and discovering the marvels that volcanic activity has created in the past is a trip that everyone can undertake. The Gjábakkahellir cave is a perfect example of an Icelandic lava tube and is situated in one of the most active volcano areas in the world.  Scuba Diving or Snorkeling in the Silfra (in between the tectonic plates!) is our second adventure. The Silfra fissure is one of Iceland’s best-kept secrets, an otherworldly scene that is world famous for its heavenly shades of blue. The crystal clear water in the deep fissure gives you a feeling of being weightless as you float down with the lazy current.  6 hours total time.  See our post here for photos of our adventure!

Tuesday,  April 17th:

We will be hiking and ice climbing the Sólheimajökull Glacier on this 9 hour tour.  There is also a glacier walking tour that is less strenuous.

Wednesday,  April 18^th:

At 10:00am we will depart the Hilton for the Iceland National Museum in Reykjavik.  Next we will have lunch and some spectacular views at The Perlan.  After lunch we will depart on Icelandair Flight #603 to Toronto at 5:00pm.

__________________________________________________________

So!  You’re not getting married in Iceland?  Photos by Miss Ann, would love to help you still!  Even though we are wedding photographers in Plymouth, Michigan we are still a premiere destination wedding photographer and I am very experienced on all types of weddings, cultures, and schedules.  That being said, I would like to share with you two more schedules you will find helpful: traditionally not seeing each other before VS the first look schedule.

Traditional Wedding Day Schedule (not seeing each other before):

1-2 hours: Getting Ready!  Photographing the Details: dress on hanger, shoes, jewelry, bouquet, getting hair and makeup done, getting in your dress, laughing with your ladies, finishing touches, dropping in on your soon to be husband.

30 Minutes: Brides before portraits- Alone, with bridesmaids, and immediate family.

30 Minutes: Grooms before portraits- Alone, with groomsmen, and immediate family.

30 Minutes before the ceremony start time: No formal portraits, details, candid photographs of guests arriving, last minute jitters, additional shots of your awesome details, and setup time for photographers.

30 Minutes-1 hour: Ceremony.

15-20 Minutes: Exit & Guest Greeting Line.

20-30 Minutes: Formal family portraits.

10-20 Minutes: Fun Bridal Party Portraits!

20-30 Minutes: Formal Couples Portraits; Relaxed and crazy fun ones too!

30-60 Minutes: An additional portrait spot at another locale?

30-45 Minutes: Cocktail Hour.

3-4 Hour: Reception Coverage.

First Look Wedding Day Schedule (seeing each other before):

1-2 hours: Getting Ready!  Photographing the Details: dress on hanger, shoes, jewelry, bouquet, getting hair and makeup done, getting in your dress, laughing with your ladies, finishing touches, dropping in on your soon to be husband.

30 Minutes: The First Look!  An amazing spot to see each other before, be your playful selves, and have some epic wedding couples portraits done by your photographer, Photos by Miss Ann!

20 Minutes: Bridal Party + you two!

30 Minutes: Formal Family Wedding Portraits.

30 Minutes before the ceremony start time: No formal portraits, details, candid photographs of guests arriving, last minute jitters, additional shots of your awesome details, and setup time for photographers.

30 Minutes-1 hour: Ceremony.

15-20 Minutes: Exit & Guest Greeting Line.

20-30 Minutes: Formal portraits with any additional important folks at the ceremony site.

30-60 Minutes: An additional portrait spot at another locale?

30-45 Minutes: Cocktail Hour.

3-4 Hours: Reception Coverage.

I hope these wedding day schedules help you lovely brides-to-be in your wedding day organization!  Photos by Miss Ann would love to be a part of your special day so please feel free to contact us for additional information.  We are here for you in the start to your epic life adventure!

Epically yours as a Iceland wedding planner and a Iceland wedding photographer,  Ann

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

The post Destination Wedding Day Timeline Advice appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.