Happy Spring!  The hustle, bustle, and warmer temperatures have finally arrived (in theory at least)!  Although, we didn’t feel it this past weekend as we made our way to Southern Ohio for Broomball Nationals 2013.  We had to make our way back home through a wicked snow storm and then came home to our backyard ice rink looking pathetic, so that means its spring, right?  My husband and I are cold weather folks so we are sad to see winter go.  But!  Spring being here, does make us super excited for our upcoming wedding seasons.  Some also fun news, Photos by Miss Ann this last week, was featured in DIY Bride for 2 awesome events… One of our favorite couple’s destination weddings here and our own bridal shower details from last year, here.  Check it out and contact us about your own awesome DIY Iceland details!

Today’s gorgeous topic is Iceland Bridal Bouquets.

Wedding bouquets are an expression of the bride, her style, and interests.  Even as an age-old-tradition it is an awesome one.  Bridal bouquets in Iceland are typically unique.  You either have to trust the local florists to create exactly what you are envisioning or you must create your own.  This can be a tough choice.  I know when we were Iceland wedding planning I felt like I was over-the-top communicating with our Icelandic florist on the exact shade of pink I needed in my bouquet.  There was definitely a point where I felt it would be easier to either do myself or have an alternative bouquet made and brought in for our Seljalandsfoss Waterfall wedding.  Throughout the last 10 years of destination wedding photographing and planning we have seen all types of elements used from flowers to fans to muffs.  The first step is deciding on a destination wedding bouquet style type- which kind appeals to you more?

1. Hand Tied Bouquet (Think: Round, visible stems, and an accent ribbon). This style is most popular to have.  My Iceland wedding bouquet feel into this category with 2 shades of pink, exposed stems, sage and brown ribbons, a sweet little broach added for extra wedding day bling.
2. The Posey Bouquet (Think: Round in shape and wrapped stems).  This style is most popular with brides with roses or peonies.
3. Presentation Bouquet (Think: Miss Universe.  The bouquet is spread-out and lies in your arms).  Calla lilies, sunflowers, daisies, and local flowers to your destination wedding country are often used for this design.
4. Cascading Bouquet (Think: Princess Diana). Roses and lily of the valley are often used together for this bouquet.
5. Muff Bouquet (Think: Winter wedding or a wedding in Greenland or Antarctica).
6. Nosegay Bouquet (Think: Flowers slightly angled to the ground and usually in a cone shaped holder of some type.
7. Alternative unique option such as the below are also fun to do…  (IE: Our Amazon Storefront is an awesome option to search for ideas if you’re stuck).

• Feather Bouquet
• Burlap Flower Bouquet
• Broach Wedding Bouquet
• Crochet/Lace Fan Bouquet (really neat for warm destination locales)
• Baskets
• Fabric Bridal Bouquet
• Flower Balls
• Candles/Lighted Bouquet (How fun for a Northern Lights Wedding?!)
• Fruit Bouquet
• Pearl Bouquet
• Silk Flower Bouquet
• Paper Bridal Flowers
• Hand Tied Rose Bouquet

8. Rent a bouquet from our Iceland Wedding Planner team!  See more info on our rental section HERE.

Next Step:  If you have decided on a flower bouquet what sort of flowers do you see yourself carrying down the aisle?  Iceland imports 98% of their flowers from the Netherlands so do not expect your wedding roses to be grown local.  The only flowers Iceland grows naturally are their national flower, the Dryas Octopetala, Icelandic poppies, and Lupines which look like wild lilacs.  Unfortunately, you will only find those flowers growing and blooming mid to late summer in Iceland (July).

To give you a better visual… This past week, I recreated my Iceland wedding bouquet in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary on April 14^th =)  It was styled to be just like the one that I carried down the aisle during our Seljalandsfoss Waterfall wedding, which then made it to Vik Beach, Skogafoss Waterfall, and back to our reception at Hotel Ranga.  It was a hearty wedding bouquet and lasted the enter day without water.  The only difference with this recreated bouquet versus my first was that the roses were a tad larger this time as they were imported from South America (versus Holland).  I truly hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I did creating the Iceland wedding bouquet!

With a smile, Ann Peters

Ann and Chris Peters have 10 years of destination wedding photography and planning experience.  The husband and wife team were married in Iceland at the majestic Seljalandsfoss waterfall and have photographed throughout the country.  They know first-hand how epic of a country Iceland is and how special it is for you to plan your wedding in Iceland!

Photos by Miss Ann (PBMA / Iceland Wedding Planner), believes that in order to fully create and capture your wedding day vision, personalities, style, and your destination wedding properly, we need time with you!  No silly time constraint rules.  For us, getting to know you as a couple and getting to know your wedding destination is an important base for creating truly unique stunning images for you and your loved ones.  All of our wedding packages offer basic wedding planning and full day Iceland wedding photography please contact us for more details on how we can complement your adventurous wedding day in Iceland!  Iceland + Weddings is our passion, contact us to understand why =)

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

The post Iceland Bridal Bouquets appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

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

Definition of HONEYMOON  (Source: Merriam-Webster )

1: a period of harmony immediately following marriage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 1: Fly to LAX and stay overnight.

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

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

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

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

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

Day 8:  Go Canyoning in Bali

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

Day 10: Scuba Dive Tulamben – USAT Liberty Wreck.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yours in Iceland destination wedding photography and planning, Ann

13 Must Dos for your Wedding Day

Best Destination Wedding Tips for Obscure Locations

Aisle Perfect / Perfete Bali Honeymoon Feature

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

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