The Icelandic Weather

More often than not, your outfit for the day may be dictated by preparing for the Icelandic weather.  After all, you could encounter rain, blizzard-like conditions, gale force winds, sand storms, freezing temps, etc.  Additionally, it’s important to also research the time of year the couple is getting married and the region of Iceland in as well.  Truly so many factors to consider!  Furthermore, the best way to figure out what to wear to an Iceland wedding would be tracking the weather on Vedur.is.

What to Wear to an Iceland Wedding Adventure:

As a general rule, remember that weddings are semi-formal regardless of the location, but the translation of that to an adventure wedding in Iceland is as follows:

• Boots and Suits (meaning nice on top for photos and rugged on the bottom to navigate comfortably through the terrain).
• Ladies, we would encourage you to wear something nice with FLAT shoes / boots.  This could mean a cute warm long sleeve dress with fleece lined leggings, layers, and like an awesome pair of hiking or Sorel boots

Overall, if you are attending a wedding we have personally planned…. For sure, you will need hiking boots and waterproof outerwear.   Further, we also encourage you to bring a “go bag” which contains things like layers, extra socks, extra shoes, Hot Hands, and snacks.  Iceland Wedding Planning Tip: Ask your couple further on how to prepare (will vary depending on their Iceland wedding locations).  Additionally, it is also proper etiquette to ensure you do not wear anything that will draw attention away from the couple.  Below we have compiled our list of “do not ever wear to a wedding” items.

What NOT to Wear to an Iceland Adventure Wedding:

• Jeans (they will get wet and uncomfortable).
• Shorts (you will likely be cold).
• Tee-shirt (on the outside, not nice enough for photos).
• A fluorescent colored shirt/dress.
• White/Ivory/Champagne colored dress or suit or coat.
• Skimpy Dress (you’ll freeze).
• Animal print or camouflage.
• Trainers / Running Shoes (trade them in for hiking boots if your couple is doing an adventure wedding)
• Heels over 2 inches (save them for the reception!)

Now that you know what you should never wear to an Iceland adventure wedding, we’re going to narrow down what wear to an Iceland wedding.  Firstly, you may find our previous blog post on “What to Pack,” helpful as you pack for that Iceland destination wedding.  Secondly, the best way to communicate your desired attire for your guests would be through your wedding website.  For example, is easy to include a section focused on this topic on your webpage explaining the expected attire.   Thirdly, some example Iceland wedding scenarios below you can draw from as well as you educate your guests on this topic…

What to Wear to a Iceland Waterfall Wedding:

When you decide to get married at a waterfall in Iceland, there is a lot to consider!  After all, how do you plan a waterfall wedding?  Next, if the wedding in Iceland is happening at a waterfall please consider the following advice:

• Clothing: Layers!  Wear warm enough clothing to be outside in for 1-2 hours at a time in temperatures just above freezing or lower.  Why?  Because no matter the time of year you visit Iceland the wind can plummet the temperatures to be below freezing.
• Outerwear: Rain Gear and/or a Parka depending on time of year and how cold you get!  Maybe even both are good to have!
• Recommended Shoes: Hiking Boots (our faves are Salewa), low wedged heels (think Sorel’s or Sperry’s) or Hunter Rain Boots.  Regardless of shoe type please make sure they are closed toe!
• Reception: Bring cocktail attire to change into for the Iceland wedding reception if your couples says to!  For instance, some couples may encourage you to stay cozy / comfortably casual for part two, the dinner.

Furthermore, we would love to share specifics of what guests have previously worn… First, may opt in for a suit and tie (no shame in rocking long-johns or Smartwool underneath!).  Second, others guests wore dresses with lined leggings and boots.  Third, all of guests wear / brought a coat and simply took it off for a few minutes when participating in Iceland wedding photos.  Next, the majority of guests change into cocktail dresses upon the return for the Iceland wedding dinner!

What to Wear to a Glacier Wedding Ceremony:

If you’ve visited a glacier before, you know they are ever changing from day to day and season to season.  Therefore, it is best to consult your Iceland Wedding Planner on what the anticipated conditions could be and what to wear to an Iceland wedding at a glacier.  Also be aware that there can be a different in how to dress if planning an ice cave wedding or one just at or in front of the glacier.

Firstly, going to either one, proper hiking boots are a must.  Why?  Because there is uneven ground that can easily twist an ankle.  Second, there can be a chance you’ll encounter glacier quick sand or need to cross a river so boots are beneficial regardless of the terrain.  Third, weather can be more volatile at the glacier areas so dressing in layers becomes a MUST.

Forth, making sure you have waterproof outwear (with a hood) is important too as the wind can be insane and sideways rain or sleet isn’t nice if ill prepared.  Likewise if you’re heading up to one of the countless the glacier areas in Iceland, you have hired a local professional that will provide required safety gear, wear it!

How to Dress for a Cave Wedding Ceremony:

Heading to a natural cave in Iceland to witness a wedding ceremony is the most indoor yet, outdoor experience you can have.  To illustrate, here you can get away with more formal attire and still be comfortable.  Meaning, not aerating the landscape or falling on your bottom.  Also, if you’re working with a local Iceland Wedding Planner there is an opportunity to bring in rentals like heaters, firepits, etc to warm the place up!

But that being said, what to wear to an Iceland wedding in a natural cave?

• Layers – Continuous theme for having an Iceland adventure wedding with guests!
• Coats- Wind still blows into the cave and sometimes if a sunny day outside, it’s colder inside the cave than out!
• Boots- Are still suggested as depending on the weather or season there can be ice on the floor, mud, and for sure dirt no matter what!  Therefore, we would shy away from any open toe shoes unless you do not mind dirty feet!

Iceland Church Wedding Location:

Having a church wedding in Iceland is the easiest option for your guests to dress because it is the same as it is for any local or destination wedding elsewhere.  You can keep it simple and offer the following as suggestions to your guests:

• Semiformal attire or casual depending on your vibe!
• Whatever shoes you wish!  However, a pair of comfortable walking shoes (if you plan on having a little country or city tour after) could come in handy.

Basic Iceland Adventure Wedding Attire:

In conclusion, if you have decided to hold your destination wedding on one of Iceland’s many rugged landscapes make sure you prepare your guests for your adventure!  Via your wedding website or email are the best routes so folks having something to look back on and find as they pack.  For instance, give your guests ideas on what they may need…

• Hiking poles.
• Dress in layers (state what the average temperature may be on your wedding date).
• Dress to possibly withstand high winds, rain and / or sand storms (IE, layers like long johns or Under Armour).
• Waterproof coat with a hood.
• Wear hiking boots.
• Gloves & Hat.
• Sunglasses.
• Sunscreen.
• Be prepared to walk on uneven surfaces, loose rock, mud, or sand.
• Plan to encounter strong wind gusts, sometimes gale force gusts!
• Make your guests aware of how long they may be outside (IE, 20-40 minutes at a time, etc).
• If applicable: Cocktail Attire for indoor reception / dinner.

Hope this gets you thinking!  In the meantime, we hope you have enjoyed today’s post on what to wear to an Iceland wedding!  Furthermore, if you’re a client of our Iceland Wedding Planner team, please link your guests to this page via your wedding website.

Lastly, feel free to contact us if interested in planning your own exciting adventure wedding in Iceland!

© 2002-2023, Photos by Miss Ann, All Rights Reserved.

The post What to Wear to an Iceland Wedding (Updated 2023) 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.

Our event colors were white, lime green, with spotted fuchsia accents which were so us and oh-so summertime!  When our guests arrived they were greeted with champagne, micro-brews, and ice cold glass bottle sodas.  The pole tent was decorated with different sized paper lanterns, glowing lights, and a super cute handmade cardboard “Happy Birthday” sign.  The tables were set with a charger plate, full silverware, water goblet, and lime green linen napkins.

As you know from our previous post on Iceland Wedding Favors, we are big fans of dual purpose favors and this event would be no different.  After a few weeks of brainstorming we had decided we would DIY our 30th birthday favors make unique olive oil and balsamic vinegar sets for our guests (yummy dipping oil combo!).  We found some adorable 9 inch bottles, spent the time creating our own blends, and bottled them for our guests.  Before we placed a bottle at each place setting, we added a unique bottle place card tag on them that had each guests name on it in our event colors and also featured a note of gratitude to our guests.  Also on the table, you found centerpieces that followed suit with our lime green summery theme by incorporating tall vases, fresh limes, roses, mums, and strategically placed rhinestones.

Our event was catered by the fabulous Elite Catering from Livonia, Michigan.  We highly recommend them!  Our menu for the evening soiree follows below:

Appetizer: Pierogi Bar

Buffet Menu:

Michigan Salad

Honey Roasted Chicken

Sausage and Pasta

Roasted Potatoes

Peas with Mushroom and Onions

Dessert:  Strawberry Shortcake

A crazy twist to our party was Chris surprising me with a “Be Ann” photo booth.  Ha, yes a 20×30” basically life size canvas of me was made with my face cutout so all our friends and family could really “Be Ann” in a photo.  It was totally ridiculous!  Luckily great minds think alike and I had a trick up my sleeve too.  I had a few 8×10’s printed with Chris’s face on them and altered them just enough for everyone to have the pleasure to “Be Chris” too.

The other special part of our event was a hilarious game Chris came up with to play during dinner called, “Ann, Chris, or Mr. T.”  Oh yes, if you do not remember or know who Mr. T is you better Google him right now for a chuckle.  Believe it or not, there are actually some crazy similarities between the 3 of us that seriously tripped up our guests which proved to make it a rip roaring good time.

Chris usually asks me if I want anything special for my birthday.  My answer almost every time is always “You + Me = Couples Portraits.”  The session usually gets pushed out until the late fall on a random weekday evening but this time we actually were the closest we ever have to my birthday, yeah!  We chose our gorgeous downtown of Plymouth, Michigan as our location and spent a few minutes at the Daisy Air Riffle Factory (Circa 1886) for some romantically historic couples portraits.  If you love these images and would love your own engagement session here please contact us!

Such a fantastically fun event!  We hope you find yourself delighting in some of our details!  The majority of our details could easily be turned into Iceland wedding reception details so please contact us for more information on how to make that happen!  We are super excited to see what this next decade in our lives holds for us no doubt there will be endless adventures and gorgeous couples to photograph in Iceland.  We cannot wait to meet you!

With a smile, Chris & Ann Peters

Iceland Wedding Photographers and Iceland Wedding Planners

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

Please take a moment to check out our awesome vendors we had for this dazzling 30^th birthday:

Event Planning & Oil and Vinegar Party Favors: Iceland Wedding Planner

Lime and Roses Centerpieces: PBMA Rose Boutique

Catering: Elite Catering

Rentals: Canton Canopy

Photography: Photos by Miss Ann

Menu’s and Favor Labels: Pixels to Paper

Handmade Lime Green & Pink Happy Birthday Sign: Audriana Paper

Birthday Girl’s Dress: Stop Starring

Headpiece: Bat Cakes Couture

Birthday Girl’s Shoes: Poetic License

The post Event Planning: Our 30th Birthday Party! appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

We hope this finds you well and super excited for the fabulous week ahead of you!  Working in the wedding industry for more than a decade now, has given Chris and I a lot of insight into all different types of wedding locations and situations.  That is one of the reasons why we planned to have a destination wedding -we personally wanted somewhere different that most.

Specifically, we were interested in a location we had never photographed before, that none of our guests had been, offered dramatic backgrounds for our wedding photos, and a place that would have more natural wonders then we could count –this was Iceland for us.  In April 2012, we flew in 40 of our closest friends and family from around the world for our Iceland destination wedding at Seljalandsfoss waterfall.  Following our Iceland wedding ceremony, we had planned a wedding day adventure for our guests that included a fun champagne toast at the famous black sand beach –Vik Beach, a stop at the powerful Skogafoss waterfall and an amazing 5 course wedding dinner alongside of the Ranga River.  During our adventure wedding in Iceland, we were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights too <yes even in April>!

Ah, love + Iceland, still gets me off track every time!  Now back to today’s Iceland wedding planning topic of the week…When Chris and I photograph each wedding, one of the “swoon worthy wedding moments” we always enjoy is capturing is the kiss!  It is such an epic moment that signifies so much and is frankly loaded with a ton of firsts.

• Usually the first kiss of the day!
• First kiss as husband and wife.
• First kiss of the rest of your lives <insert corny cliché, lol!>
• The culmination of so much awaited anticipation.
• Your first kiss in front of one of Iceland’s dramatic landscapes!
• Serves as the seal of your marriage vows.
• Your first PDA in front of all you love and adore!
• The foundation of your marriage and your wedding vows (Remember, each time you kiss your husband/wife it should bring you back to that moment in time).

*Disclaimer: Alright so the rest of this post is a tad bold… But we seriously hope it stirs some dialogue between the two of you as you plan your dream wedding ceremony in Iceland.*

One of things we like to encourage our destination couples to is practice their Iceland wedding ceremony kiss.  I know it seems totally silly, but you both need to be on the same page on when and how you will.  <Insert slightly awkward moment>.  Ha, yes I said “how!”  So now that I have you thinking about the big moment and picturing yourself in it, let’s go over some helpful guidelines from our perspective as Iceland destination wedding photographers.  Without further ado here are 10 tips to the perfect wedding kiss:

1. Know when the kiss is going to be.  Will it be at the end of the vows? After your unity ceremony?  At the end of the ceremony?  Will your Iceland wedding official make a formal announcement?
2. Whose nose will be towards the crowd?  Do you care?  I personally did because I’ll be frank and say I’m not a fan of my nose.  So when Chris and I practiced our kiss for our Iceland destination wedding at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, I was adamant about ensuring Chris’s nose would be towards the crowd.  Practicing helped this be totally natural the day of our April wedding day in Southern Iceland.
3. Don’t rush it!
4. Put your hands on each other, yes I said it!  Your kiss at the end of your Iceland wedding ceremony will be way more amazing if you go from standing side by side to holding hands or embracing.  Cannot stress enough how important this is for photos so we can document that amazing connection.  So grab her, grab him and bring each other in to really kiss!
5. Make eye contact, smile, do the “slow lean in,” and tip your head.
6. Close your eyes!
7. KISS!  Now, when I say “kiss” this does not condone “making out” in front of your wedding guests.  You need to find a nice balance between the above and the millisecond kiss.  Real Iceland Wedding Example: When we said “I do” during our Iceland wedding ceremony, we opted for holding hands and we went for the “1 one-thousand, 2 two-thousand, 3 three-thousand and complete,” kiss!  That route adds to the dreamy feel your wedding photos will have and also allow for your Iceland wedding photographers to get a couple of shots and angles.
8. Iceland Wedding Photographer Tip: Sneak in another kiss ½ way down the aisle.  This makes for a gorgeous photo opportunity with your ceremony site in the background!
9. Practice!  …and repeat!
10. Share with your photographer ahead of time if you plan to do something epic like a “woohoo” with the fist, jump for joy, or first kiss dip.

We hope our Iceland wedding blog post today, will prove to be catalyst of conversation between you and your soon to be so you can be ready for the sweetest kiss ever!  Below, we share with you some super sweet first kisses!

With a smile, Ann & Chris Peters

Iceland Wedding Planners & Iceland Wedding Photographers

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

The post 10 Tips for the Perfect Kiss from an Iceland Wedding Photographer appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

I hope this finds you well and excited for the day!  This week, we are taking a break from our Iceland wedding planning advice to share with you the other side of our fabulous Iceland wedding business: Photos by Miss Ann.

I flew solo at James and Rochelle’s wedding last week and they had such a whimsical day (Chris is so jealous he didn’t get to photograph them)!  The bride, Rochelle is the kind of girl who just lights up the room when she enters.  She is clever, stunning, super sweet and nothing compares to seeing her on her wedding day.  James is witty, extremely thoughtful, and handsome.  Perfect combination between the two!  All of their bridal party members, family, and friends followed suit, as they were all uber welcoming.  Lucky me as their wedding photographer, right?!  Yes!

These two were simply delightful to be around and the kisses they shared were storybook! Clearly they have found their lifetime loves and their affection for each other will warm your heart!  To Rochelle and James, I had a blast being a part of your wedding day and hope that you treasure these images that are bursting of your love for each other… Enjoy!

With a smile, Ann Peters

Expert Destination Wedding Photographers Iceland

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

The post Destination Wedding Photographer Photos by Miss Ann 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.

Wedding favors typically serve 4 purposes:

1. To “thank” your guests for coming to your Iceland destination wedding.
2. To be a reflection of your style as a couple that also compliments your wedding theme.
3. To serve as a memento to your guests of the Iceland location you have chosen.
4. A snack for your guests if you have chosen to not have Hors D’oeuvres or a Night Glow hour.

Think back on the weddings you have attended…What types of local or destination wedding favors made the largest impression on you?  Usually, if you’re having a local or destination wedding in Iceland, wedding favors usually fall into 4 overall categories:

• Edible – You can be simple by having M&M’s, mints, coffee/tea, caramel corn, gumballs, etc, or you can be elaborate in your edible wedding favor design.  Some of our brides have had personalized treats like cupcakes, cake pops, cookies, cocktail jelly beans, mini champagne bottles, rock candy, chocolate covered items, or our personal favorite for a fall wedding in Michigan is caramel apples and apple cider!

• Practical –Guests love a wedding favor they can use and remember where they got it from when they use it.  A couple examples of practical wedding favors that hold a lasting impression would be seed packets, wine corks, frames, cookie cutters, love measuring spoons, whisk, ice cream scoop, engraved luggage tags, cheese board/knife, passport holder, local Icelandic books (about the dynamic sites, culture, or folklore) , etc.

• Sentimental –Wedding favors with heart are always super sweet because they convey a special thought and detail that is usually important to the bride and groom.  For instance, a destination wedding couple may choose to do a donation to their favorite charity in lieu of providing their guests with a favor.  That couple might print out a small card and put it at each place setting stating why they have chosen to do so (in honor of a family member who passed away, etc).  Or we have seen couples personally make a special item their guests like homemade wine, jam, sauce, so the item may be enjoyed at a later time.  Any wedding favor that manages to emit emotion from the bride and groom to their guests is truly noteworthy.

• Fun –If you’re a fun loving couple who just want to make your guests smile on your wedding day with entertaining wedding favor we have seen a few couples give their guests sunglasses, sandals, shot glasses, drink cozies, etc.  Destination weddings may also want to consider having a special memento from the state/country you’re holding the wedding in as guests usually get pretty excited for that extra detail.

What should you spend on a wedding favor?

There is not a specific algorithm to get the answer to this question.  It frankly depends on your budget and guest count.  For example, we only planned on 45 people attending our Seljalandsfoss wedding (traveling also to Vik Beach and Skogafoss during our Iceland wedding) so we splurged a little more and spent $12 per luggage favor tag.  Generally though, simple or homemade wedding favors may only cost .80-$5 per person; whereas, more extravagant or personalized favors may cost $6-15 each; and the top of the line wedding favors would be $15+.

Once you have decided on what type of wedding favor you are going to give your guests the next step is to determine the presentation.  Ask yourself a couple of questions… Do you need certain packaging to hold everything together (wrapping, ribbon, etc.)?  Is there a theme you’re trying to exude throughout the day (IE, Married in the Land of Fire & Ice?)?  What will your wedding packaging and label look like?  Where will your favor be positioned on the table when your guests sit-down at your Iceland wedding reception?

Wedding Favor Label/Packaging Ideas:

• Incorporate your wedding colors.
• Match your invitation theme.
• Say “Thank You” to your guests somehow on it.  (DIY Iceland Detail: Maybe in the language of your destination wedding country?)
• Put your wedding date on the tag or engrave it on the item (Guests always appreciate this detail, especially when they use your gift at home later!).
• Have personalized ribbons (Iceland wedding planning tip: Double-faced satin looks the best).  For our Seljalandsfoss wedding we had “Ann & Chris” printed on rolls of ribbon to use for all of our Iceland destination wedding events.
• Make your wedding favor dual purpose (i.e. turn it into a place card, versatile to be used again or have it communicate something to your guests).

As Iceland wedding planners, we encourage our clients to choose wedding favors that serve a multiple purpose.  Here is a real Iceland destination wedding example:  Chris and I chose to have metal luggage tags.  Doesn’t really sound all that exciting and seems pretty simple for a destination wedding in Iceland, right?  We thought the same thing so we put our own twist to it.  We used our luggage tag favors in the following ways to serve several wedding day purposes (I know you detailed pretties out there will appreciate this!):

1. Our luggage tags were our wedding favors to our guests for our wedding reception at Hotel Ranga in Hella, Iceland.
2. The Iceland wedding favor luggage tags also served as a souvenir for our guests to instantly use (then and later).  The tags we felt, represented our Iceland wedding day adventure: from our Seljalandsfoss wedding ceremony, a champagne toast at Vik Beach, and wedding photo stop at Skogafoss waterfall.  We specifically had the back of each guest luggage tag engraved with “Iceland 2012,” then Chris’s said “Groom Iceland,” and mine said “Bride Iceland.”
3. The front of our destination wedding luggage tags also operated as our seating chart (Iceland wedding place cards) and gave the Hotel Ranga staff information on each guest’s meal choice for that evening.  Iceland DIY Details: Before our Seljalandsfoss wedding weekend, we had purchased 4 colors of metallic card stock; designated a corresponding color to go with the 4 main meal choices (Example: Gray = Salmon; Gold = Lamb; White = Vegan; Blue = Child menu), printed out our Iceland wedding logo (A?C) at the top and on the next line we put the guest’s name.
4. The final function of our Iceland wedding favor was as a place setting napkin ring/holder for our pin-tucked napkins.  How fun, right?  Finished photo example from our Hotel Ranga wedding here.

Specific Iceland Wedding Favor Examples:

• Edible: Rock Candy Swizzle Sticks with a tagline that says “Married in the Land of Fire and Ice!”  You could even go so far to actually pair it with something that relates to fire like hot sauce or matches in a vial.  We used blue and orange rock candy swizzle sticks to emulate the glaciers and fire in our Iceland wedding photo examples.

• Practical Usage Wedding Favor: Luggage tags, Icelandic wool knit item ( everyone loves wool socks, right?), moss candles, a game unique to Iceland, and frankly the possibilities are endless because Iceland rocks!  Having an item that is dual purpose allows your guests to really remember how epic your wedding really was later too.

• Sentimental: A gift certificate for your Iceland wedding guests to do a post wedding activity.  Admittance maybe to Iceland’s Blue Lagoon?  Rent a bus a day following for your wedding party to tour Iceland’s famous Golden Circle together as a group?  Take a tour of Iceland’s other famous natural wonders such as the glacial lagoon, stunning waterfalls, black sand beaches, sod farms, boiling mud pots, lava fields, or glaciers?  If you do decide to go this route make sure you let your guests know ahead of time.  That way they can plan for it in their travel plans ahead of time and you are not disappointed that they have already done it.

• Fun Iceland Wedding Favors: If you’re not going to do a wedding welcome bag for your guests it would be really sweet to put together as your wedding favor to them a box or bag of Icelandic made treats (like candies, trinkets, coffee, lava rock/ash, Icelandic water, etc) or an Iceland Survival Kit.  I would envision an Iceland Survival kit to be similar to our Iceland wedding guest welcome bag with inclusions to accommodate all ages, folks from all different climates and needs.  Other amazing options you may want to consider specific to Iceland: Krona key chain, wool bookmark, Icelandic moss candle, Icelandic wool blanket for your guests to each take home, lava rock mementos, etc!  The possibilities are endless, be creative!

I hope that our post today on Iceland wedding favors generates your own awesome ideas for your destination wedding in Iceland!  Chris and I would love to hear more about you and your big day in the making feel free to contact us directly here for more information!

With a smile, Ann Peters
Expert Iceland Wedding Photographer and Planner

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

The post Iceland Wedding Favors appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Hopefully you are aware that we are not only Iceland wedding planners, but we are also local and destination wedding photographers. In general we love, love especially capturing it in action.  So although we have a sweet spot for photographing Iceland weddings we do delight in shooting local weddings in Michigan too!

On Saturday, June 1^st, Chris and I had the pleasure of photographing Danielle and Jon’s wedding day.  When they first came to our home studio in Plymouth, Michigan to meet with us, they expressed how detailed they were.  Instantly, we knew we’d be a perfect fit since Chris and I are the same way!  We were so excited to tell the story of their big day, photograph the love between these two and all of the people who adore them!

The entire week before their wedding there were crazy thunderstorms, heavy rain, and even on the actual day the skies still threatened 70% chance of rain hourly.  So, what are a bride, groom, and wedding photographers to do?  Embrace it!  I think by embracing the chance, knowing rain on your wedding day is good luck, and being armed with umbrellas we warded off most of the rain.  Chris and I had a blast photographing their bridal portraits along the river at Bishop Park in Wyandotte and also at Cass Benton in Northville.  You can clearly see their tenderness for each other captured in their wedding photos!  Congratulations Jon and Danielle!

A few days after their downriver wedding, they sent us this wonderful note, reviewing Photos by Miss Ann’s services so we’d like to share it with you today!

“Hi Ann and Chris,
Jon and I wanted to get in touch with you right away to let you know how impressed and thoroughly pleased we were with the wonderful job you did for us on our wedding day.  You were both absolutely wonderful in every way imaginable.  From the very beginning for the getting ready pictures you were prompt and took initiative getting photos and working with little help or direction as to what was going on while the girls and I were busy.  Then you were right in the heart of all the chaos and moving around furniture, clothes, makeup, etc. to make sure you were able to take all our pictures.  You were so fun to work with and very positive, which just helped to put everyone at ease.  Also, thank you for doing such an awesome job at getting all of the pictures that we listed on our must have photo list that we gave you at the last possible moment- we really appreciate that. 

At the ceremony you were both great about moving around and taking multiple shots, while also being discrete and staying out of the mix of things.  For the wedding portraits, family shots, and bridal party shots you did a great job of giving direction and working around our smiling and blinking issues.  We really appreciated how well you managed everyone and got in so many pictures in such a short period of time. 

Your attention to detail was also much appreciated and certainly contributed to making the pictures as perfect as they could be.  We were also really impressed with how good you both were with navigating each different setting that we were in (i.e. you were on a ladder, moving around couples dancing, helping to hold the umbrella, etc.).  We also appreciate your flexibility in working with finding the best areas at the locations we wanted to take pictures at.  You had some really great ideas for pictures that we never would have thought of that were also a lot of fun as well. 

Throughout the entire day you were consistently very professional, upbeat, positive, and cheerful- you were pretty much every adjective that conveys a positive connotation.  So many people have commented to us at how good of a job you both did and how accommodating and helpful you were in taking requests for pictures and just doing an overall amazing job.  Jon and I just wanted to convey how much we appreciate you both being such a wonderful part of our special day and adding to our confidence and happiness that day.  Everything turned out so much better than we could have even imagined and you were both an instrumental part of that success.  We are so glad that we chose to have you photograph our wedding day.  We are truly confident that no one else would have done a better job for us!

Thank you both for all that you do,
Danielle and Jon”

Awwww!  We love and so appreciate our clients!  See Danielle and Jon’s gorgeous wedding photos below!  Enjoy!

With a smile, Ann & Chris Peters

Photos by Miss Ann (Local, Destination and Iceland Wedding Photographers)

Iceland Wedding Planner (Iceland Wedding Photographers & Planners Combined)

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

The post Photos by Miss Ann Review [Iceland Wedding Photographer] 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.

This past week was a perfect example of April showers bringing May flowers.  Three days of rain suddenly brought green grass, blossoming trees, tulips, engagements, weddings, and babies!  Crazy amounts of sweet newborns have come through our home studio in Plymouth, Michigan for newborn portrait photography (hello 2013 spring baby-boom!).

This week, we’re backing up to update you on one of our previous posts… Several of you ladies have emailed us to get more background on why we chose to have a Love Letter Ceremony when we held at our Iceland wedding at Seljalandsfoss waterfall in April of 2012.  Good news, we wrote a fabulous Iceland blog post on this last year entitled, “Alternative Unity Ceremony Idea: Love Letter Ceremony,” so please check it out first!

In the meantime, I will give you a little more background and an update to that post!  You see, when we were planning our Iceland destination wedding, we tried finding Icelandic traditions to possibly incorporate.  Although neither one of us is from Iceland or any of our guests, we definitely wanted to bring in the uniqueness of the country being nothing like any other.  It is seriously unlike any other country you will visit, so embrace it!  Most of the Icelandic traditions involve having very simplistic wedding plans like holding the ceremony at a local country church and reception at the bride’s family’s home.  Nevertheless, we did come across three Icelandic traditions we did want to integrate into our action packed wedding day at Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Vik Beach, with a stop at Thorvaldseyri Farm (at the foot of the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano that famously erupted 2 years before- exactly to the date of our wedding day), and Hotel Ranga, follow below:

1. Holding a wedding welcome dinner the evening before our Iceland destination wedding.  Icelandic natives turn their weddings into a span of a few day celebrations.
2. Providing our guests with a 5 course wedding meal.
3. Love letters: In early Iceland, we found that love letters were the foundation of courtships.

From everything my husband and I read, researched, and have experienced we have found that the Icelandic culture loves the outdoors no matter the temperature, celebrates with fresh foods, smoked meats, strong drinks, and camaraderie.  Very much in tune with what we were after for our Iceland destination wedding.  So along with planning and providing a 3 course “welcome dinner” the evening before our wedding day for all our Iceland wedding guests, we also felt it was important to have a 5 course Iceland wedding reception meal so that our guests could partake in the unique, fresh, and memorable food Iceland had to offer.  The third thing that was Iceland inspired for our wedding day was integrating the love letters, by adding our own unique twist.  We made the letters tradition a part of our Iceland wedding ceremony at Seljalandsfoss waterfall and had that be the foundation of our unity ceremony.  It was a unique alternative to the other unity ceremony options we see every weekend.  Feel free to read our Iceland blog post on this topic for specific details and wording for the unity letter ceremony.

If you’re a weekly visitor of ours (thank you!), you know that Chris and I just celebrated our first year wedding anniversary on April 14th with an Iceland inspired couples session last month, check it out here if you missed it!  After we took photos inspired by our Seljalandsfoss wedding and the gorgeous Vik beach cave and rock formations, we said our wedding vows to each other again, and then we also did an update to our original Love Letter Ceremony.  Okay, so we actually didn’t “lock” our love letter ceremony box when our Iceland wedding officiant closed it during our Iceland wedding ceremony because we had to stuff more things inside of in order to pack efficiently.  When we returned home we did just as the ceremony said, we displayed it in a prominent spot in our home (our china cabinet we pass by many times throughout the day).  But the more I thought about the meaning behind the ceremony itself and how much our lives have changed in the last year, I thought it would be important to do an update and write another letter to our future selves.

Now selling my husband, Chris on the idea was tougher (lol).  Lucky me though, he sees the value in it.  So on the actual day our wedding anniversary, April 14^th we opened up our last bottle of our Iceland wedding champagne from Domaine Chandon, pulled out our last Papyrus stationery card, and wrote a new letter to each other.  I personally wrote about how much I have struggled with finding the right balance. Most of the married couples that have come back to us through the years for Plymouth, Michigan portrait photography all say the first year is the hardest, and I must agree.  Mainly because you are finding that balance for communicating, domestic chores, planning and cooking meals, working crazy schedules, idiosyncrasies and still finding the time to go out on dates!   So! Chris and I toasted to another great year, sealed the letters together and wrote on the outside of the envelope “Written on our 1^st Anniversary.”  How fun, right?  I think this is an awesome addition to a love letter ceremony tradition, so much that maybe we’ll do this every year on our Iceland wedding anniversary!  Gives me chills just thinking about the impact all these letters will have on our future selves!

Have you thought about what sort of unity ceremony you will have for your Iceland destination wedding?

Our destination wedding style in Southern Iceland (Hella, Iceland) was very adventurous, action-packed, romantic, energetic, and very particular about food and drinks (in quality, quantity, and menu uniqueness) for ourselves and our guests.  It was important to Chris and I to plan an Iceland wedding reception that was focused on those elements versus “partying” or dancing.  So if you’re thinking of a comparable focus for your Iceland wedding, please contact us to be your inclusive wedding planners and photographers!

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 Icelandic Wedding Traditions: Love Letter Ceremony Update appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.