For one, you have a really good chance of seeing Northern Lights during the months of December-March.  Two, during your Iceland elopement you could hold your wedding ceremony in natural ice cave!  …and how epic is that thought?!  An ice cave will melt over the summer and never exist again for anyone else, only for you in that moment!

But with all of that good stuff, there are some potential challenges that can also emerge with planning a winter wedding in Iceland…. Such as a snowstorm (or blizzard), gale force winds, and road closures.  It’s all about timing and having plan A, B, and C options in place ahead of time (and we got you covered!).

Knowing all this, Trishia and Chris who hail from the big island of Hawaii embraced all that winter could throw at them and were super excited to EXPLORE on their Iceland wedding day.  So come along with us today and experience their adventure wedding in Iceland!

The perfect combination for an elopement in Iceland: Lace Wedding Dress and BOOTS!

Our Iceland wedding hair and makeup team always does an incredible (and long lasting) job on our brides!

Trishia’s Iceland wedding bouquet made me swoon hardcore! So wild and wonderful!

…and Chris’ Iceland wedding boutonniere was the perfect mix of rustic elegance!

Hiking to their Iceland wedding ceremony location!

Safety first… time for crampons!

My favorite thing about ice caves is hunting for new ones at the beginning of every season AND knowing they will never be the same after the season ends… Making it a naturally unique Iceland wedding location!

The textures and tones an ice cave presents… Layers of black, white, and blue!

Chris and Trishia’s Iceland wedding ceremony in an ice cave was simply INCREDIBLE!

Oh la la the magic in their Iceland wedding photos!

Fun Fact: Chris proposed to Trishia on a beautiful black sand beach in Hawaii so it was only fitting that we find some black sand near this subglacial volcano!

Tiny people, Big landscape.

Add in the beginning of a snow storm, some cuddling and the romance ensued!

Snow up to your knees at times, no sweat for this adventurous couple during their elopement in Iceland!

After their glacier cave wedding ceremony, we found our way to one of the most AMAZING places I have ever found to have an Iceland Luxury Picnic!

Seriously, most amazing place I have ever found… These two rocked the romance in it too!

The colors and textures were indescribable for their Iceland elopement photos!

The snow was really putting on a show for us!  All apart of the unforgettable Iceland wedding day EXPERIENCE!

After all that white, we went on plan b… Searching for some GREEN!  This secret canyon is usually pretty green no matter the season but the storm took over as we arrived creating a super fun exploring experience!

When Iceland gives you sleet and snow, you reply back with smiles and jokes!

Plan C enters…. And I gave them GREEN!  The beauty of hiring a local Iceland Wedding Planner and Photographer… We know this place like the back of our hand!

These quite sweet moments get me every time during an Iceland wedding day… Pretty pretty!

An afternoon snack of dried fish and Brennivin (aka Black Death) was on the agenda and these two savored every bit!  It’s fun to introduce cultural elements to your Iceland elopement.

After a quick rest and refresh, they enjoyed a romantic delicious dinner for two for their Iceland wedding reception!

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

The post Iceland Winter Elopement in an Ice Cave appeared first on Iceland Wedding Planner.

Thank you for stopping by our blog!  Planning a destination wedding in Iceland is a tall order even for super planners.  With no elaborate wedding industry as there is in North America it surely complicates things.  There are so many twists and turns that you could have within your day it takes a professional to pull it all together and capture your vision flawlessly.

That being said… Welcome to the Iceland Wedding Planner Blog!  It is our intention in creating this blog to be informative about planning a wedding in Iceland and leave you inspired during each visit.

My Story:

My name is Ann Peters (formally Ann Rezbanyay) and I have a passion for destination weddings!  I am a seasoned destination wedding photographer and owner of Photos by Miss Ann.  Over the last decade, I have had the pleasure of being a part of and photographing over 500 wedding weekends/days local and destination weddings.  In October of 2011 my fiancé (now husband) Chris and I brainstormed on where to hold our wedding day.  So one thing was for sure, it was a no-brainier we were going to plan our wedding in a crazy-awesome-adventurous location that would stun our guests.

Our Must Have List:

1. The location needed to be somewhere Chris and I had never been to.
2. A location where no one on our guest list had visited.
3. A locale that offered endless outdoor adventures.
4. A place where the scenery was completely different than all the yearly weddings I photograph (from beaches to mountains).  We needed dramatic scenery!
5. Where the food was full of flavor and unique to the country.
6. We would receive personal service from our vendors.

What locations made the list!

1. Sweden Destination Wedding
2. Iceland Destination Wedding
3. Bali, Indonesia (we ended up doing our honeymoon 6 months later there)
4. Greenland Wedding
5. Antarctica Wedding
6. Faroe Islands Wedding

Loving Nordic cold weather, Chris narrowed the list down to Sweden or Iceland.  I sent away for travel guides, books, spent hours researching, and calling.  Because the next most important thing was securing locations within our country of choice.

• Wedding at Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden.
• Wedding in Southern Iceland.

Iceland was our answer.  More endless hours of research brought us to the decision of getting married at Seljalandsfoss waterfall and hold our Iceland wedding reception in Hella, Iceland.

We bravely decided on April 14^th 2012 as our wedding date (ask any Icelandic native and they will tell you we were crazy!).  We kept the location a secret until our custom wedding invitations went out in November (see our destination wedding invitation samples below).

The benefits of holding your wedding November-April in Iceland follow:

1)      Best chance to see the unforgettable Northern Lights every day.

2)      Seeing Iceland in its winter/spring glory.  It looks like a completely different country!

3)      In April the temperatures can still be a balmy 45 degrees!  Our day was and with that sun shining it felt even warmer!

4)      Low tourist season.  No fighting crowds for your stunning wedding photos.

5)      Vendors cater to you during the off-season which equal discounted rates and individualized service!

6)      Slower time to import goods which equals less hassle (IE, I imported my own rose petals as a cost saving) and assurance you’re getting the right shade of pink!

7)      Although there may be a chance of snow or rain on your wedding day (which both are good luck!) wait 10 minutes and you’ll probably get some sunshine.  The weather is always changing.  I think we had all 4 seasons in 1 day and it rocked!

8)      You’ll make headline news from being the brave souls who said “I do” at a waterfall in winter or late spring!  See our wedding on the Icelandic News!  We still get photos emailed to us from random people who witnessed our wedding there =)

Our Iceland guest list included a total of 120 guests both from as near as Syracuse, New York and as far away as Perth, Australia (42 hours of traveling).  Our wedding invitations gave the initial shock to our guests of “Iceland!  Really, Iceland?!”  Luckily, we had ~40 guests RSVP yes before January, so we were stoked!  Honestly, we would have been happy if it had just been ourselves, a glacier, a waterfall, and our parents.  So we were seriously overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from our family and friends.

When our guests received the wedding invitation, they received 4 things in the envelope:

1)      The actual Iceland Wedding Invitation.

2)      An “Accommodation” Card that shared our wedding website: chrisandann2012.com – This website (when it was fully active, communicated air transport, lodging, car rental coupons, and schedule for the week).

3)      The RSVP return card and envelope (We went for the 5-course  menu).

4)      4 photos of the amazing sites our guests would see if they attended.

It was important to us to communicate to our guests why we were drawn to marry in Iceland and why they should travel to the Land of Fire and Ice.  This trip was not only about saying “I do” for us but to have all the people we love, adore, and appreciate all in one amazing place to partake in this adventure with us.  Once guests visited our website and saw that everything was planned and available for them to easily book through the website- excitement began!

Chris and I spent weeks planning all of the available activities in and around the area.  Although, when we arrived in Iceland we devoted the first 1.5 days to finalizing food and wine choices, putting together welcome bags, decorations, and getting our marriage license we made ourselves available to our guests.  This was our wedding week/end, not our honeymoon so it was critical for everyone to feel included young and old.

For more tips on planning a wedding in obscure locations check out the article written by Ann on Wedding Photos USA along with the rest of this Iceland wedding planning blog!  This is just the beginning so some really awesome posts on Iceland weddings!

Who are we?  We’re a very detailed, adventurous, energetic husband and wife team who have a passion for weddings and Iceland.  We are, Ann and Chris Peters and we have 10 years of destination wedding photography and planning experience.  Traveling the globe photographing love stories and wedding adventures is seriously the best career on the planet (in our opinion)!  Not only all that, but we were also married in Iceland at the majestic Seljalandsfoss waterfall on April 14th 2012 (our 40 person Iceland destination wedding even made the Icelandic News)!  So we truly know first hand, how epic of a country it is and how special it is for you to plan your wedding in Iceland!

Throughout the last decade, we have learned what our couples desire in a wedding planner & destination wedding photographer.  Which means knowing what you want and us providing the most cherished experience possible.  We’re so excited to meet you!!

With a smile, Ann & Chris Peters  (Feel free to contact us directly here)

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

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