Life for us here at Photos by Miss Ann is somehow stuck on the fast forward button so please forgive us on the delayed posts!  The baby-boom of 2013 has come!  So many little ones have come through the studio in a past few weeks, lots of baby snuggles!  Chris and I have also begun looking our “final home.”  We currently live in Plymouth, Michigan and have a 1920’s home just outside of the downtown.  Gorgeous, but we need more room!  So we’re on the hunt for the home where we will have acres of land to photograph our clients, woods, pathways, a separate studio on the property, and the perfect home where we will one day raise a family and retire in.  Big decisions and big excitement is surrounding us and we are blessed to be savoring every minute of it!  If you are apart of the Photos by Miss Ann Family- be excited!  Big exciting things are happening for the rest of 2013 and 2014!  Woohoo!  Feel that energy?! Now lets channel it back to Iceland wedding planning!

Today’s topic: Iceland Wedding DETAILS!

Last week Photos by Miss Ann mailed out a super awesome welcome package to a newly booked Iceland destination wedding couple.  The intent of the package serves several purposes.  First it is a “thank you for booking us and we are really excited to be working with you!” gift.  Second, it gives the bride and groom some instant details!  Third, it provides wedding inspiration tailored to the type of wedding the bride and groom are envisioning.  For this specific Iceland Bride and Groom, we included the following items:  Burlap “bride” bag, “I do” blue bridal shoe stickers, “She’s Mine” groom shoe stickers, a Diamond Ring Key Chain (design inspiration to be used as a napkin holder), “Love” Cookie Cutters (wedding favor inspiration), Heart Wine Cork (favor inspiration), Heart Purse Hook (design and favor inspiration), Mini Sewing Kit (always prepared!), Mr. & Mrs. Luggage Tags, and a few other PBMA items like a thank you card, Photos by Miss Ann pen, and business cards.  This sort of package instantly provides whirling ideas and starts the destination wedding planning momentum!

Details in Destination wedding planning may seem small and monotonous but they are the amazing little touches your guests will see and appreciate.  Most times, those details are the ones that set your wedding apart from other weddings.  So you ask…. How does the detail planning start?

1. Color schemes!  Play with them =)
2. Pick your Iceland ceremony location and Iceland reception place (An Iceland waterfall wedding? A church in Budir? Hotel Ranga? Vik Black Sand Beach? Glacial Lagoon,? Or have a wedding under the Northern Lights?)
3. Picking your one of a kind Iceland wedding dress! Vintage? Modern? Romantic? A traditional veil? Bird cage veil? A romantic hood?
4. Creating Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations that compliment your destination wedding location and colors.
5. Choosing what your future husband will be wearing!  It’s okay to be more on the simplistic side when getting married outdoors in Iceland.
6. Figuring out what your maid of honor and best man will be wearing.
7. Now it’s time for the fun decisions!!!  The food!  5-course sit down or buffet? Photographers will usually (if they are pro level like us) take photos of this because 20 years from now you will not remember how awesomely delicious it looked!  Your Wedding Cake: Have sample photos of cakes you like to communicate your vision.  Ensure your baker or wedding planner knows what style you are after.  Then comes flavors!!  Yum!  We were non-traditional and decided no formal wedding cake but rather each guest received their own chocolate lava cake with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream!  Maybe be unique and have Icelandic Skyr cake for your wedding dessert?
8. Other food decisions would be whether or not to have a cocktail hour, snacks for your guests, a champagne toast, a themed cocktail at the bar (Like: “Cranberry Kiss,” “Godiva Chocolate Martini,” Wedding Oasis,” etc.!)  So fun for guests and personally, I love to photograph these type details!
9. Party Favors at each place setting and/or a welcome bag.  These can be fun-themed by the country you are holding the wedding in, special to you and your soon to be, and/or useful items the guests can use later and think of you both!
10. Flowers:  Flower colors are very important to the details.  From your bouquets, boutineers, corsages, petals for the isle way, guest petals to throw or bubbles, to the centerpieces at the Iceland wedding reception tables.
11. Memorial Flowers to remember those who have passed before or unable to make the journey to your Iceland destination wedding.  Couple of ways to do this…  At our wedding we incorporated our passed love ones in 4 sets of white roses and ribbons and had the flowers in the first row at our ceremony and then someone carried them around as we did group photos.  One of my favorite ways I have seen this done is a bride ties small little locket size portraits of the grandparents.  See our below photos for examples and this shop on Amazon if you’re curious to purchase.
12. Table Design for your reception.  Will you have seating name tags?  How will you determine how your meal is being handed out to each guest- color code? Table runners? Pin-tucked Place-mats? Formal Napkins?  How do you want them folded? Silverware settings? Charger?  Will you have water glasses, champagne glasses, and 2 types of wine glasses on your table?  Round tables or long coupled tables?  Will you be at a sweetheart table? Bridal party table? Bride and Groom banner sides for your seats?
13. Gift table design?
14. Bar Design and Bar Menu
15. Decorations!  Elaborate or Simplistic?
16. 5 Course Wedding Meal: Will you have a menu card?
17. Will your maid of honor or best man be decorating the honeymoon suite?  Let the Iceland wedding photographer know, those setup details are special!
18. What sort of hanger will you hand your dress on?  Look into getting a gorgeous personalized on that says, “The Bride,” “Future Mrs,” Mrs. Peters,” etc!  My favorite website Classy Bride sells them, check it out.  Awesome details for your Iceland wedding photographer to capture.
19. Will you be traditional and have the something new, something old, borrowed, and something blue?  Lay it out for your photographer.  Details you spent so much time picking out should be captured!
20. The rings!  If they are in a special box like Tiffany’s have it out so your photographer can get some fun shots.
21. I know it’s going to sound silly but details that are often overlooked… Are the big kiss and cake cutting… practice!  Make sure you’re comfortable!  If doing a cake cutting, Photos by Miss Ann walks you through in the moment what needs to be done (and I always provide forks, lol!).

I hope this blog post today, has provided insight on some of the awesome things you get to plan for your epic wedding day in Iceland.  Chris and I planned our own wedding at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and hand picked all of our vendors.  We would love to have the opportunity to help you plan your flawless wedding day in Iceland and capture your epic Iceland wedding portraits!

Lots of smiles to you!  Yours truly as experts in Iceland wedding planning and Iceland Wedding Photography, -Ann Peters

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

The post Iceland Weddings: Detail Planning appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.